Let's Change Names Because They Don't Know

Recently, the cancer support organization known as Gilda’s Club announced that they are changing their name to Cancer Support Community. The reason given is that most of their younger patients don’t know who Gilda Radner was. Instead of continuing to seize the opportunity to educate others about the life of one who suffered as they do but didn’t have their benefits, they’ve decided to change their name so as not to confuse the young patients.

You’re kidding, right?

We often see the issuing of an “Amber Alert” for a child. This has become the term for “A child has gone missing. Please be on the lookout for that child”. How many people know why the term “Amber Alert” is used? How many people know that the “Amber Alert” program is the living memory for Amber Hagerman?.

Over 16 years have passed since one family’s heart-shattering loss was rallied into a nationwide program that coordinates information outlets to locate abducted children.

Somehow, I doubt they’ll stop calling it an “Amber Alert” just because few people know, or remember, the story behind it.

If we’re out to accommodate the youth, we may as well start changing all street names, building names, park names and countless foundation names every two or three years. Just think how much confusion that would relieve all those precious little youths of having to learn about.

This got me to thinking about ordinary words we still use despite very few people knowing anything about them anymore.

Car engine power is described in “horsepower”. Ask the average driver what that means and you’ll probably get some vague answer about the speed of the vehicle. The fact that one horsepower is roughly equivalent to 746 watts of electricity is not exactly information hanging on most people’s refrigerator door. These days, engines can have anywhere upwards of 140 horsepower or more. Numbers like that don’t really make a horse sound all that strong. They could use the term “mouse power” for all most people care. As technology advances, the horses (and wattage) keep piling up.

Speaking of technology, our lives are increasingly surrounded by digital everything. The days of the round faced clocks are fading away. Does today’s youth still know what the terms “clockwise” or “counter clockwise” refer to? To them, a clock is a numeric display rather than a round disc of numbers where time is expressed by the position of two different sized sticks.

With the advancement of computers, many kids learn how to type before they learn how to write with pencils or pens. Yet we still see the image of a feather dipped into a bottle used as a representation of a writer. How many people still know that this feather is called a quill pen? In an age of instant things, how many people would understand the concept of having to continually dip the quill into the bottle of ink in order to write?

Our world is full of antiquated terms and names still in common usage with little regard to why they are used. Changing something because it might “confuse the youth” has got to be one of the sorriest excuses that I’ve ever heard.

As a side note, the “Cancer Support Community” gave each local chapter the option of changing their name or keeping the name of Gilda’s Club. I’m pleased to say that my local chapter chose to keep Gilda Radner’s memory alive through the use of her name.

Footnotes:

Special thanks to Pepe K. for word ideas.

Information gathered from the following sites:

Gilda Radner’s Internet Movie Database page
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0705717/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Amber Alert America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response http://www.amberalert.gov/

The Story and History of the Amber Alert http://www.amberalertcreator.com/

“Horsepower” entry on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horsepower

Quill pen image from “Sweet ClipArt” http://sweetclipart.com/

Concepts of Ages

I’m beginning to write a story which involves a grandmother telling her granddaughter a story. A real conceptual change occurs to me that I hadn’t realized before.
Grandma and Grandpa are no longer the people who lived through the Great Depression or the World War II decades. Grandma and Grandpa are now the ones who protested for equal rights among the races and genders, went to Woodstock and fought in Vietnam. Drive-ins and disco are now what grandparents know.
What’s even stranger is that in only a few years (if not already) Grandma and Grandpa will be the ones who played arcade games and listened to cassettes. Individually, these concepts of age shifts have happened to many people. It’s only now that the children of the late 60s, 70s and 80s are in their 30s and 40s. Mainstream society is accepting the shift in age concepts. Even the people who aren’t parents can’t deny the generational shifts.
That’s a lot to think about. To us “grandparents” listened to the radio and worked to support the war effort. To our kids, “grandparents” watched the original airing of Howdy Doody, Star Trek and Batman as well as living through the Red Scare, Nuclear threats and the space program.
On the one hand, the shifting thoughts of the generations are disturbing because it means that we’re progressing through the ages of society. In another sense, it’s rather fascinating to see the age thought shift in action. It’s a gradual change. But I feel like I’m just now really beginning to understand the age shift as a mainstream thing.
Creepers, I’m getting old. Oh well. HEY YOU KIDS, GET OFF MY LAWN BEFORE I BLAST SOME R.E.M. DOWN YOUR EARLOBES!

Care Bears Teach Broken Aesops

According to “Tv Tropes”, a ‘broken Aesop’ is “a story where the moral presented just doesn't match the moral that the story actually contained”.

I bring this up because I encountered it over the weekend.

The Care Bears have received, yet another, incarnation in 2012’s CGI animated “Welcome to Care-A-Lot”. Admittedly, the drawing style is reminiscent of the old 80s Nelvana Care Bears series brought into a more 3-D form. Looks-wise, it is rather appealing.

Sadly, that’s about the only good thing about it. The bears have been reduced to single layered character stereotypes. Instead of just helping kids overcome issues, the bears usually have to learn moral lessons themselves. Um, why should a child listen to your caring preaches when you have to learn the lesson yourself?

Some folks may wonder why I’d watch some show aimed at the preschool sect. The simple reason is that I was a child of the 80s. I like to look in at the reboots of old shows. Plus it’s amusing to check in on what they try to shove at little kids every so often.

The episode that I caught this weekend was called “Welcome to Grump-A-Lot”. Grumpy Bear prepared to watch the ‘Honey Bowl’. He laid out a great snack spread for himself and made himself nice and comfortable. Just as he started to watch the game, Funshine Bear came along and helped himself to Grumpy’s snacks. Then he invited himself to watch the game with Grumpy all the while still hogging the snacks. Next, Harmony Bear showed up asking Grumpy to build something for her. When she found out he was trying to watch a game, she invited herself to watch as well...and wouldn’t shut up. Then we see Share Bear, Cheer Bear and, the obligatory obnoxiously precocious child character, Wonderheart Bear each show up to further prevent Grumpy from watching the game.

Naturally, Grumpy finally became extremely upset with everyone. His tummy symbol released a nasty storm cloud which changed everyone to negative versions of themselves. Poor Grumpy is forced to fix the situation because the annoying forest creatures wouldn’t leave him alone since the other bears weren’t around to coddle them. For some reason, the production crew felt that Grumpy Bear was the one in the wrong and needed to learn a lesson about controlling his frustration.

I’m sure their intentions were in the right place. Unfortunately, their presentation was very badly done. This episode showed that it was ok for others to walk all over a person without regard to their personal space or feelings and that person should accept that.

Now I know that the moral values and attitudes have changed quite a bit since the 80s. But is that really the kind of lesson we want kids to learn? I guess the Care Bears think so.

Footnotes:
Thanks to the following sites for info and images.
Tv Tropes tvtropes.org
Internet Movie DataBase http://www.imdb.com
Tumblr tumblr.com

Resurrect: Reboot: Repeat

Besides being a 1994 CGI animated series, ‘reboot’ has become Hollywood’s buzzword for the 21st century. With remakes like Frankenweenie and Dark Shadows as well as series reboots like Steel Magnolias, GI Joe and Scooby Doo, it seem that Hollywood has well and truly given up the ghost on new concepts.

Of course, remaking previously told stories in some ‘new’ way is nothing new for Hollywood. Thomas Edison’s The Great Train Robbery (1903; directed by Edwin S. Porter) has been remade at least four times over the past century. Even Thomas Edison chose to ‘remake’ the movie with a child cast as a 1905 parody.

Let’s not forget the more than 20 incarnations of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Each version tried to ‘reimagine’ the story in its own unique style.

Have you ever been stuck for an idea? Go meet Dracula. From Abbot and Costello (1948) to Batman (2005) and an original cast in the Monster Squad (1987), tangling with Dracula has become a quick buck mainstay of many studios. (He who mentions Billy the Kidd gets a boot to the head.)

What some people may not realize is that story retreads aren’t just a Hollywood thing. The comic book industry ‘reimagines’ its characters so often that they’ve resorted to designating parallel Earth numbers to each version. All over the internet, there are servers overflowing with ‘alternate version’ fanfiction tellings of series, movies, plays and books.

The idea of rebooting a story goes back even further than Hollywood. Classic books like Little Women (1868 & 1869), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and the beyond infamous A Christmas Carol (1843) all have been ‘reimagined’ by various playwrights.

It could be argued that story reboots have been going on since humanity began telling stories. The legends of mythology went through many remakes as they advanced through geography and time.

What truly amuses me about the current crop of reboots is that they stem from the 1980s. 80s programming has been denounced as being too merchandise driven. Yet here we are watching My Little Pony, GI Joe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and many other “25 minute toy commercials” being rebooted and remade as some supposedly new thing.

Has the century produced some new things? Yes, we’ve seen the rise of brilliantly told series like Invader Zim (2001), Avatar the Last Airbender (2005) and the Walking Dead (2010). Even the horror genre got a nice little revival in Ring (2002 – originally Japan’s Ringu 1998), Saw (2004) and Paranormal Activity (2007).

Some people may be tempted to blame the Writers’ Strike of 2007-2008 for the influx of reboots. Considering that the entire decade has seen reboots of series like TMNT (2003), Scooby Doo (Take your pick), Care Bears (2004) and others, this argument is void. It’s even less valid when you consider that the Writers’ Strike of 1988 didn’t stop the innovation of the 1990s with shows like Chip’n’Dale’s Rescue Rangers, Animaniacs, the PowerPuff Girls and the Simpsons.

So come on, Hollywood! Get the dead out and find some new concepts again!

Footnotes:

Thanks to the searching powers of
Amazon.com
Internet Movie Database
Wikipedia

Legend of Korra Episode 2 - Brutal Bending Lessons!

With the television debut having been this weekend, I feel it’s safe to do an episode summary/review. If you haven’t seen the episodes or don’t want to hear about them, this post is not for you.

Please remember, you’ve been spoiler warned!

Episode Two, “A Leaf in the Wind”, opens with Korra reading the news about the latest Pro Bender Match. She has been a fan since she was little and dearly wants to see a real match. Tenzin hardly shares her opinion of the Pro Bender Matches. He intends for Korra to stay on the island to train. The army of White Lotus guards is there to make sure that she does just that.

The next morning sees Tenzin and Korra discussing the fact that Korra can’t air bend despite her many attempts. It’s also here that we get another wonderful “human moment”. Korra is not wearing the shawl for the air nomad costume correctly. Tenzin merely helps her adjust the shawl correctly. All the while, the duo is discussing the fact that air bending has been Korra’s elusive element. There’s no verbal acknowledgement of the shawl faux-pas at all.

It’s also here that we begin to see the different personalities of Tenzin and Pema’s children. Jinora appears to have her father’s self-control and lower key attitude. Ikki is still hyper happy. Meelo is… basically a human Lemur.

Finally we get to see what air bending training really looks like. Apparently, it’s a bit evil. To get the feeling of flowing like a leaf on the wind, a beginner must weave through a gauntlet of spinning wooden panels. Despite the children’s encouragements, Korra’s attempts are less than impressive. To be honest, I can’t imagine Tenzin being cruel enough to put his little kids through that. Jinora does give a good demonstration of how it’s done. But that thing would beat the crap out of Meelo!

No one can say that Korra is a quitter though. That night, she tries harder than ever to force air bending to work and ends up Fire bending in frustration. She becomes distracted when she hears some of the White Lotus sentries listening to a Pro Bender Match on the radio. Tenzin discovers her and sends her to bed.

For someone who’s supposed to be an Air bender, Tenzin is uptight. Korra calls him on that fact during meditation. “You’re telling me to embrace freedom. Yet you won’t let me listen to the radio and forget about leaving this island.” As one can guess, Korra grows increasingly frustrated with her inability to grasp Air bending.

Once again, nightfall brings Korra out with an escape. This time, she heads to the arena to see a Pro Bending Match for herself. Discovered by an elderly gym owner, Korra is about to be handed to security when she is rescued by a Pro Bender named Bolin. He introduces Korra to his twin brother, Mako. Korra gets to see her first match as well as her first Pro Bender fighting style lesson.

Back at the island, things still aren’t working out well. Her frustration finally peaks. Korra gives the panel gauntlet a taste of Fire bending power. Tenzin is understandably upset considering that this device has somehow managed to survive for 2,000 years. Without concern, Korra blames him for her frustration and stomps off. Again, we see an endearing “human moment” as both Jinora, Ikki and the audience realize that Tenzin’s feelings have been hurt. Even Meelo’s comical copying of Korra’s words and actions can’t detract from the emotion of the moment.

While Tenzin and his family sit down to a meal, Korra sneaks off to the Pro Bender Match again. This time she arrives to a very sullen Bolin and Mako. Their Water bender has ditched them. A team cannot participate without all three elements being represented. Korra ends up filling in and the match gets underway. In her exuberance, Korra ends up Earth bending which leads to the match referees’ realization that she is the Avatar.

When Aang’s revelation as the Avatar was announced, his friends didn’t want to play with him. They claimed that being the Avatar gave him an advantage and would be unfair to the other players. Things have really changed over the past 200 years. The referees decide to allow Avatar Korra to play with the stipulation that she only Water bend.

Naturally, Korra’s first match gets off to a shaky start. To make matters worse, Tenzin arrives to confront her. After an altercation, Korra returns to the match. Tenzin is about to leave but decides to stay and watch. With the opposing team really giving Korra all the bending they’ve got, something clicks. Perhaps a panel gauntlet just wasn’t the proper motivation that Korra needed to unlock her potential. But a barrage of elemental bending attacks sure did the trick! Korra weaves and dodges long enough for the rivals to tire. Then she, Mako and Bolin take the fight to them.

Later, Korra comes to Tenzin to apologize for lashing out at him. He concedes that he was to blame as well. Although she still can’t Air bend, Korra is ready to get back to training – both with Tenzin and with Mako and Bolin, her new Pro Bending Match partners.

With the first two episodes alone, Korra has proven that it will be another great series for Nickelodeon. Beautiful backgrounds, wonderful life in the character animation and an engaging storyline promise to keep fans deeply immersed in the Avatar world for years to come.

To be honest, I’ve only got two questions of the series so far.

1. Can Korra metal bend?

2. Has Katara passed on the forbidden “blood bending” power to anyone?

Thanks again to Tumblr.com for the pics.

Legend of Korra Episode 1

In 2005, the team of Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko brought us an amazing three season story of “Avatar the Last Airbender”. This April, they return with a new installment for the Avatar series, “Avatar the Legend of Korra”. With the television debut having been this weekend, I feel it’s safe to do an episode summary/review. If you haven’t seen the episodes or don’t want to hear about them, this post is not for you.

Please remember, you’ve been spoiler warned!


Our story begins with a blizzard laden evening in the Southern Water Tribe home at the South Pole. The Order of the White Lotus has taken over for the temple sages in searching for, and guiding, the new Avatar. Three members of the White Lotus arrive at a humble abode to be greeted by a proud couple. Why are they proud? Well, when the lady calls for Korra (pronounced core-ra) to come into the room, the wall is blasted away and we see Toph jr! Well, actually, we meet their young daughter, Korra.

With a snarl of “I’m the Avatar. Deal with it!” she quickly shows that she has indeed discovered Earth bending, Fire bending and Water bending. One fire sprayed scene change later we meet teenage Korra taking her Fire bending test. As a White Lotus member notes Korra has the power but lacks restraint. The discussion after the test reveals that Korra has the power and elemental mastery. But she lacks the spiritual side that an Avatar needs. It’s elderly Master Katara who persuades the White Lotus members that Korra should begin Air bending training with the only Air bender, Katara’s son, Tenzin (pronounced ten-z-in). Perhaps he can help her achieve the spiritual side of the Avatar as well as teaching her to Air bend.

Korra and Aang are about as different as any two people could be. Aang dreaded being the Avatar because he had been all over the world and had seen the pressures that the Avatar title brought. In order to “keep her safe”, the Order of the White Lotus has built a compound at the South Pole. Korra has grown up only knowing that she has to master the four elements and use them to help people. Her sheltered life leaves her with no real understanding of what responsibilities being the Avatar will bring.

Apparently, Korra’s only grudgingly allowed out of the compound to let her polar bear dog, Naga, exercise.

Tenzin and his family soon arrive on a sky bison. (Guess Appa wasn’t the last sky bison after all.) We meet the stoic Tenzin, his exasperated, and pregnant, wife, Pema (pronounced p-emma) and their three lunatics – I mean kids. I’m not kidding. The youngest child and only son, Meelo (pronounced me-low), is literally chewing on Tenzin’s head. The daughters, eldest child, Jinora (pronounced gin-or-a) and, middle child, Ikki (pronounced eek-ee) are beyond excited to see Grandma Katara.

Unfortunately, Tenzin can only stay one night as he is needed in Republic City. The city that Aang and Firelord Zuko founded in order to promote peace and harmony among the elemental nations is not so harmonious. So, Tenzin can’t move to the compound. Likewise, the city is just too dangerous for the new Avatar Korra to move there. (In other words the Order of the White Lotus has gone from a secret club of old farts to a cagey militia of Avatar overly-protectors.)

The stage is pretty much set for Korra to do (what else?) run away and follow Tenzin to Republic City anyway. Before she leaves, Korra stops to say good-bye to her parents. This is an excellent “human moment” to show Korra’s parents as still being an important part of Korra’s life as well as supportive of her choices. If only Toph’s parents could have been that way.

Without spoiling too much more, Korra gets her first taste of Republic City’s ups and downs. In other words the fire hits the victrola once Korra gets off the boat. One of the most interesting aspects of Korra’s personality is that she’s highly confident in her skills rather than being arrogant about her title. She doesn’t walk around the city trying to use the Avatar title to get her way. Nor does she outwardly announce that she’s the Avatar. It’s up to those around her to figure out who she is based on her actions.

Another highlight of the episode is Korra’s encounter with the no nonsense daughter of Toph Bai Fong, Lin. As the Republic City Police Chief, Lin is not impressed nor swayed by any of Korra’s words. When Tenzin arrives to retrieve Korra, Lin is just as nonplussed with him. In another nice “human moment”, Lin thumbs her nose at Korra as the girl leaves with Tenzin. Korra returns the favor to Lin.

Previous series fans will see quite a bit of continuity nods to the original Last Airbender series. The old war blimps have evolved into patrol blimps. Katara is still the understanding soul that she was as a teenager. The elemental nations still dress according to their elemental colors. Even some small things come back like seeing more of a beast mentioned in Book Two of the original Avatar series – a platypus bear!

Let’s not forget all the new items to entice us. We see how much larger the Southern tribe homes have become since Katara’s days. There’s a ton of new technology like cars, victrolas and radios going around. Plus we get to see what a cityscape is like in the Avatar universe.

Just in the first episode, this already looks to be an interesting series. Episode 2 is for the next post.

Thanks to Tumblr.com for the pics.

Avatar the Legend of Korra Obligatory First Impressions

Thanks to the efforts of Korra-Nation, we are honored to receive the first 2 episodes of the new addition to the Avatar the Last Airbender series; “The Legend of Korra”. It is with illustrious gratitude that I….. Aw, heck with it – Nickelodeon allowed an early premiere to be launched on the web and I got to see it! Woohoo!

After seeing these first two episodes, I must admit that I’m highly looking forward to this series. It’s very rare for a production to recapture the best elements of a first series within a sequel. Somehow, the creators have introduced an almost entirely new cast and still managed to give it the same quality, lifelike characters and excellent story that the original Last Airbender series had.

I’m stunned by the continued beauty of the background artists. They obviously spent a great deal of time and care to bring the world of Avatar to life during the first series. The tradition continues with “The Legend of Korra”. From the blizzard ridden South Pole right into the streets of Republic City, viewers’ eyes will gorge on the immense visuals provided. There’s barely one frame of the background images that doesn’t deserve its own place in an art gallery.

I’m enchanted by the life that the animators have brought to the characters. The facial expressions are very clear without going over the top. Just as would happen with people, a character’s eyes show the real emotion while that character’s lips say something different. Little actions heighten the humanity of the characters even more. When Korra first begins air bending training, she is not wearing the shawl for the air nomad costume correctly. Tenzin merely helps her adjust the shawl correctly. All the while, the duo is discussing the fact that air bending has been Korra’s elusive element. There’s no verbal acknowledgement of the shawl faux-pas at all. The show is chock full of little *human* things like this.

I’m impressed by the depth of the characters just in these two episodes. Korra is a go-getter type of character. She relishes her avatar skills and isn’t afraid of them. While she’s highly confident in her skills, Korra isn’t arrogant about her title. She is perfectly content to let her actions do her talking and let those around her figure out who she is. Above all else, Korra is excited about life and her avatar training. Elemental bending, martial arts and especially the “Pro Bender Matches” have her full attention.

Don’t think that they only went all out for Korra. Tenzin does his best to remain stoic at all times. However, he can show emotions as well. Tenzin’s eyebrows serve as subtle insight to his character. Surprise, shock, anger, frustration, contentment and sadness are all very nicely conveyed through his eyebrows. At one point, Korra insults him personally. The music of the moment and the lighting effects enhance the emotional atmosphere. It’s in Tenzin’s face – especially his eyebrows- where you see the hurt showing. Both the audience and Tenzin’s daughters can see how much the comment has wounded him. Speaking of which, Tenzin’s kids are already developing personalities just in 2 episodes. In the first episode, they’re pretty much hyper insanity in a flesh suit. The exasperation on their mother, Pema’s, face is priceless. During episode 2, Jinora steps forward as a responsible, bookish type starting to take after her father. Ikki is happy and hyper yet is beginning to understand that sometimes, it’s ok to be serious. Meelo…. is still pretty much asylum material. (Given his young age, you can’t blame him too much.)

Even Korra’s new friends, Mako and Bolin, are showing character depth. It’s obvious that Bolin will bear much of the comic relief of the series while Make will try to remain a straightforward person. But the episode is quick to show that Bolin is both an adept fighter as well as an encouraging teacher. Mako appears to already be showing signs of warming up to Korra.

For those who were worried about how the story could be continued and remain engaging, you will be relieved and excited to know that the creative team of Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko have easily matched their previous high-quality standards set by their original work, “Avatar the Last Airbender”.

Espisode reviews coming next post!

Thanks to tumblr.com for the image.

That Crazy Thing Called Stalker Love

My YouTube “recommendations” today involved some “This pairing 4ever” shipping video for Sonic the Hedgehog and someone called Amy Rose. Having grown up as a Nintendo girl, I know very little about Sonic.

The few cartoons that I’ve seen don’t involve this pink hedgehog character. Sonic has mostly been running around on his own with Tails or been helping a group of Freedom Fighters. The Freedom Fighters version tends to have him interested in a squirrel(1) lady named Sally Acorn. Their budding relationship is believable. They both have similar goals and become friends while working towards those goals. It’s perfectly plausible that they could become closer and have a romantic relationship as time goes on.

My curiosity forced me to look up this Amy Rose character. According to Sonic News Network, Amy has been in many of the Sonic games, comics and an anime series unrelated to the Freedom Fighters’ universe. She’s decided that she is Sonic’s girlfriend. She follows him everywhere in order to prove it. Sonic doesn’t share her feelings. In other words, Amy is a crazy stalker chick determined to live the lies of a one-sided relationship.

This brings a serious question to mind. Why are characters like Amy Rose so readily embraced by a fandom? Why would anyone think that a stalker and a victim should be a “one true pairing”?

What really gets me is that the stalker character type is a common theme in TV shows. One character pursues another character with the insistent belief that they are meant to be together The pursuer shows no respect or consideration for the victim’s feelings, privacy or freedom. The victim is constantly harassed or forcibly coerced into accepting the stalker’s love.

One of the most famous examples of “stalker love” is the Looney Tunes character “Pepe Le Pew”. He lustfully pursues Penelope Pussycat with no regard to her attempts to derail him. Penelope has done everything from trying to run away from Pepe to causing him physical harm to flat out telling him that she’s not interested. Simply because *he* wants her, Pepe doesn’t care what Penelope says or does. Somehow, this is supposed to be “funny”.

Don’t think that “stalker love” is a men’s only issue either. Reverse the genders and you get a character and cartoon of the same name, “Pucca”. She has no consideration for her “love”, Garu, whatsoever. He may be trying to train, meditate, relax, eat, sleep or work around his home. Pucca willfully interrupts him because *she* wants him to love her. He has clearly shown that he doesn’t like her advances and flees from her. Yet, somehow it’s great comedy to allow Pucca to chase Garu down and force her hugs and kisses all over him.

Another example of this “humor” is the 1989 TV show, Family Matters. From the show’s beginning episode in 1989 to its finale in 1998(2), the nerdy Steve Urkel forces himself upon his neighbor and schoolmate, Laura Winslow’s, home, her life and her heart. Nothing that Laura can say or do will detract Steve’s obsessive belief that she is his one and only true love. Even during the later seasons in which they each find romance separately, Steve still tries to pursue Laura. Apparently this was funny enough to carry nine seasons.

Now Amy Rose joins the stalker character list. I honestly do not understand or find “stalker love” humorous in the least.

Romance should be about two people SHARING feelings for each other. Romance should never be about one character forcing themselves upon another whether that other likes it or not. Why do people continue to consider stalking someone relentlessly as “love”? That is hardly love. It’s harassment and possibly rape. When someone disrespects another character’s feelings, denies them their freedom or to be who they are there’s no “love” there. It’s a case of wanting to be a control freak, a dominator or a self-centered narcissist. Because people who love each other don’t treat each other like glorified personal prizes.

In short, a stalker/victim “one true pairing” just isn’t love. Why is such a relationship embraced by others? I have to wonder what kind of chemical imbalance allows a person to think stalker love is anything but a grotesque farce. I fail to understand why so many people approve of it.


Footnotes:

(1) I have NO clue what Sally is supposed to be. Is she a deer or a chipmunk maybe? Nope, apparently she’s a squirrel according to Sonic News Network http://sonic.wikia.com/wiki/Sally_Acorn

(2) Family Matters entry on the Internet Movie Database http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096579/

Happy Jason Day!

Once upon a camp forsaken
Many teenage lives were taken
Their crimes were being far too loose
While a child suffered great abuse

The mantle began with a heartsick mom
Then it was seized by crazies to don
Finally, with aid of lightning’s spell
The suffered child arose from Hell

With a goalie’s face
And a machete’s fear
Friday the 13th is the sound
That brings Jason Voorhees above the ground