Blogpost 3: Hey Arnold: Escapism

Almost every '90s kid know this show call ''Hey Arnold'' It's about a small boy with an odd shaped head, particularly shaped like a football. Personally, when i was young, I never really liked this show. It appeared sketchy to me, as if it was some kind of depressing show and kind of creepy, specially the characters' appearance. I guess that's the very first thing you will notice about the show, that the characters possess weirdly shaped heads. Basically, the show is about the everyday life of Arnold in a nameless city that resembles Brooklyn, the ghetto. Pretty light, eh? But did you know that there is deeper story behind the creation of this show that I'm sure most of you don't know yet. This particular setting, a boy in the ghetto, with his depressing background and way of life, how does it really feel to be Arnold? What are some psychological damages occurred in Arnold's life that made him who he is?

The first article I read was about the backstory of the show, on where it all began. Hey Arnold Theory written in the website CreepyPasta. As the story tells us, Arnold's just a poor orphan living in with his grandparents Gertie and Phil. Well, he believes he's an orphan but he's actually the child of the people he believes to be his grandparents. The grandparents are mentally unstable and told Arnold that his real parents, of normal age, died in a plane crash. Apparently, that's not true at all. This is quite a disturbing setting Because Gertie and Phil were old when they 'made' Arnold, he was born with a few conditions. One of them is hydrocephalus. That the reason his head has such an odd shape. There's one type of hydrocephalus, the one Arnold suffers from, that's called the Arnold Chiari syndrome. That's the reason why the creators decided to call the boy Arnold. Given that they're mentally unstable, it got to a point where Phil sexually abused Arnold and said that it was just a normal thing for a 'grandparent' to do that to their grandchildren. 

Arnold, because of his physical deformation, is greatly bullied in his school. From this events, he developed a condition wherein he sees things that aren't there. Basically, he's Schizophrenic. And i think it's also because his biological folks are too old to bear him, that he will most likely end up abnormal, which he eventually was. Because he's bullied a lot, he escapes to an imaginary world, with imaginary friends. That's the reason the other characters have weird shaped heads too. It makes him feel like he's normal, and no one can pick on him because of his head. This also is the reason why Arnold believes that his parents are his grandparents, and that his real parents died in a plane crash. His condition makes him believe that it is reality.

Nonetheless, there's a greater shocker to this story. That everything about the show 'Hey, Arnold' is actually based on facts. That the creator actually met someone who is in the likes of ''Arnold'', who's also mentally unstable that he wanted to ask for medical care quickly. He felt like he needed to do something. So he asked the boy if he could tell his story, and then he'd make sure that the boy's life would become better. But he never did. Instead, he made a TV show about it. Talk about taking advantage? But when it all came out to one of the important people from the nickelodeon found out, the show immediately got canceled. 

Arnold's life is very similar to the reality between teenagers nowadays, who experienced bullying in many forms. There are and will always be psychological damage to the person being bullied or is in a middle of a life crisis. This type of mentality can be classified as Escapism; an activity or form of entertainment that allows people to forget about the real problems of life. An article by Tricia Ellis-Christensen entitled What is Escapism?, as it quotes, ''... when escapism runs rampant, it prevents us from living in the world as truly engaged. It can lead to addiction, breakdown of relationships and inability to actually survive in the real world. Moderate escapism, on the other hand, may actually make us more effective participants in the world, since we allow ourselves to take mental breaks that reduce our stress''. On this article that term Escapism actually deviates oneself away from reality and everything remotely real is over with him. That's where you imagine things that aren't really there, very similar to schizophrenia. Activities perceived normal, like eating, sleeping or sexual activity may also be deemed as escapist when they are practiced in excess.

As to Arnold's case, with all the weight of his life on his back, all his depressions in life, his physical deformities, bullying, all of this were carried up and carried on. Arnold, being an escapist helps him cope up with himself and the world. Healthy escapism is probably one of the first practices of the developing human species.This show not only delivers a good foundation for it's stories, it also shows the notion of Escapism, that Arnold totally left the real world and created whole new world for himself, with friends just to feel some self-gratification. Escaping all his problems rather than facing it.

Escapism is just one thing that creates an exit point for depressed people. It's the notion of no matter how hard it seems, you just don't wanna face it yourself that's why you find some alternatives. Make sure no one takes advantage of someone else's misery ever again. We may never know Arnold that much before, but now we know the importance and sacredness of one's mental challenges. Our everyday life gives us problems, and sometimes, we can't help it that it piles up and suddenly it's overflowing with work. Remember, it's not about giving up, it's always about how far you went just to fight for something, it's what you call dedication. And we can always be dedicated on being better, no matter what flaws and imperfections we possess, we are still ourselves and there's only one thing that people can't take away from you.. That's are who you are.