Helga Pataki—queen of sass, RBF, smack-talking and not giving a damn.
But underneath her hard exterior, she has a soft side. Along with her secret, bottled-up side of passionate, undying love for Arnold, she is a sensitive soul just trying to make it in this harsh world. Emotionally unstable and guarded—we can see a lot of ourselves in Helga.
All 90s babies know how important the show Hey Arnold! was, and the meaning behind it. This classic cartoon portraying the struggle of urban life and community got way too real sometimes. The characters reflected many real-life situations that kids everywhere could relate to.
I’m sure many of us could see ourselves as a kind-hearted person like Arnold, or a chill sidekick like Gerald, but those of us who have mood swings and intense emotions can truly relate to Helga. Sometimes you just feel the need to punch Brainy in the face.
If you are an emotional wreck, yet don’t care what people think about you like Helga, then you’ve most likely experienced one of the following:
1. When you hate socializing.
Yes, it’s not good to be anti-social, but sometimes we can’t help but to just not feel like dealing with people. Helga doesn’t do anything she doesn’t feel like doing. And neither should you.
2. When you bottle up your emotions.
Sometimes when emotions get the best of us, we can be a ticking time bomb. Bottling up every single little ounce of anger, hate, frustration, and sadness, and just waiting for it to explode at any given moment.
3. When you just want to be brutally honest.
This chick held nothing back. And sometimes that’s good for us to do too. Just try not to be as mean as her. She was pretty ruthless.
4. When you can't properly express your feelings so you do it through anger.
Sometimes, anger is the best medicine. It’s not nice to take your anger out on other people but sometimes they deserve it. And that can feel really good.
5. When you don't know what the hell you're doing in your love life. Like at all.
As we all know, Helga’s history of epic meltdowns and secret obsessing over Arnold was probably the worst way to approach a relationship. Honestly, we’ve all been there one way or another by totaling sabotaging our love-life before it has even really started.
6. When you feel less than perfect compared to others.
Helga faced a lot of neglect in her home life and lived in the shadows of her “perfect” older sister Olga. This is relatable to everyone who feels constantly compared to others. Like the coldness of Helga, you can’t let it bring you down.
7. When you get caught up in daydreaming.
I mean who doesn’t do this though?
8. When you're on point with your comebacks.
Helga always had the smartest remarks and was quick to put people in their place. Sometimes, we all need to unleash a little bit of the Helga.
9. When you tend to get a little too overdramatic.
An absolute drama queen to the fullest, Helga is a perfect example of the crazy side of us not everyone gets to see when we lose our shit behind closed doors.
10. When you always seem to get yourself in a pickle.
Love makes us do crazy things. And when you’re emotionally unstable, you kind of hold nothing back. This can definitely get you in trouble. Try to think with your head and not your heart, because emotions are uncontrollable and you never know what kind of mess they are capable of stirring up.
11. When you stress eat.
Many of us struggle with stress-induced bad habits. Much like Helga, if we don't take out our emotions on other people, we must take them out on ourselves. As a result, we can't help but to stress eat our pain away. Hey, it's better than smoking, drinking, or doing drugs now isn't it? Even though Helga was in elementary school and stress-induced behaviors weren't quite as dangerous for her as it is for us grown folk, we can totally relate.
12. When you can't admit your problems.
One of her biggest struggles was admitting her own problems. She lived in denial just as many of us do when our problems actually surface and need to be addressed. The episode where Helga sees a therapist and finally reaches her breaking point of emotional denial is very symbolic of the point many of us need to reach in our lives.
The first step to any type of recovery is acceptance. Accepting your emotions, addressing them and searching for solutions is the only way people can heal and get past emotional obstacles that are holding them back in life. Like many real life-relating episodes of Hey Arnold!, this one spoke volume.
13. When you feel like you really don't have your sh*t together.
If your life is in shambles, don't stress too much. We've all been through at least one point in our lives where we feel like we're just never going to get our shit together.
14. When you simply just don't give af.
If you're a sassy, RBF-having, smack-talking, not-giving-a-damn type of chick like Helga G. Pataki, then this expression basically sums up your entire existence. F the haters—you're not a cold-hearted, abrasive, emotional, mean b*tch—you're just as real as they get.
