Every now and then, I miss the shows I used to adore during my childhood. Whether it was watching the adventures of five mischievous babies, laughing along to the happy vibes of a sponge that always seemed to be excited about the day, or watching two intelligent young boys build everything but a kitchen sink on their endless summer vacation, it was a part of my life.
Most of these shows do not run anymore, have changed, or I have just discontinued watching. But these shows are still important to me, because they were a key part of my childhood.
And so taking a look back at all these shows, it's interesting to see what about me has changed, not just what has changed on the television. For a show like Rugrats, where I would always be on the side of the babies and what they were trying to do, I felt a growing sympathy for Angelica. Even though sometimes she reacted way too harshly for a little childish fun, and maybe she wasn't always the best older sister, she had to have it hard sometimes considering a group of babies were running the place without getting in any trouble from any of the adults in the show. Sound familiar? It mirrors the pains Candace must have felt. Phineas and Ferb are a dream team, but can you imagine going to your parents everyday to tell them something your siblings did and right at that very moment, it was gone?
Speaking of the not-so-liked underdogs of childhood shows, let's take a look at Swiper. The poor guy has never been actually successful in his efforts, but for some reason he keeps trying. He always comes out alone and empty-handed. Maybe he just needs a friend, or maybe he tries to swipe so many things because he doesn't have that much. Then there's Sesame Street, and we can't forget Oscar the Grouch. Okay, he wasn't the best to others, but his favorite thing is trash and he lives in a trash can. It isn't exactly fair of us to expect him to be all sunshine and cupcakes.
We also have Helga from Hey Arnold. People were hard on her all of the tim,. but look at her. She has a deep crush on someone who does not realize it, and it is clear that her family situation isn't the most normal. Her troubles with parents, perfect sibling, and unrequited love lead her to spiral into negativity sometimes, and cause her to be looked down upon. And we have Randall, tattletale boy, from Recess. But as annoying as his attitude was, you had to feel a bit for him; he didn't really have any other friends, and you could tell he wanted to be accepted at times though it got overshadowed by his love of snitching. (Okay, he's a bit questionable, but I had to cut the kid some slack).
And after all this, I can't not talk about one of my own personal favorites, the show that is either loved or hated. Spongebob Squarepants, the embodiment of a pure and optimistic soul, always giggling and trying to spend time with his friends. And he loved work. What?!
Then there was Squidward, who was basically the opposite of Spongebob. Pessimistic, grumpy, and hated work... and annoying people.
Years ago, I would love Spongebob and I still do, but I have begun to understand Squidward better. It isn't always easy to be nice to everyone, and it is a lot easier to complain about things that aren't going well. Truth is, life isn't perfect, and we all need to realize that there has to be a balance between our Spongebob's and Squidward's values in life in order to create a realistic situation.
We've all seen that meme floating around about how we started as Spongebob but grew up to become Squidward. Who knows? Maybe we did, maybe we didn't.
There are more examples, but you get the point. So maybe all these characters were tripping, but maybe they weren't so far off. Maybe they were just misunderstood, or parts of us that we'd discover while growing up along the way. I guess I have to repeat; who knows?
