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[kidcharlemagnex6]

I think you're idea of Lisa and Stan & Kyle having more fart scenes is cool. I can write something like that for Wendy if you like.

I already responded to your comment about the idea, and I didn't really like it. But thanks anyway.

[kidcharlemagnex6]

Why Are TV Shows So Against the Idea of Good Relationships Between Siblings?

For the last point I wanted to make today, I just wanted to point out something that's been grating on my nerves for a while now: when it comes to TV shows, good relationships between siblings seem to be the exception rather than the rule.

Hasn't anyone else noticed that? So many TV shows seem dead set on portraying all siblings as mortal enemies that shouldn't even be around each other, when the reality seems to be the complete opposite. The worst examples in my opinion are: Stan and Shelly Marsh (why does she keep abusing him and why do their parents let her?), Bart and Lisa Simpson (complete stereotype), and Arthur and DW Read (does she really think it's her job to annoy him?).

Now, of course, there are plenty of exceptions, such as Kyle and Ike Broflovski or Dipper and Mabel Pines, but like I said, those seem to be the exceptions. There are also plenty of examples where the sibling relations make perfect sense, such as Malcolm and his brothers in Malcolm in the Middle or Charlie and Alan in Two and a Half Men. But for the most part, it seems like TV writers are either unwilling or unable to write any happy relationships between siblings, but that could just be me. Would anyone else like to chime in?

'Nuff said.

[kidcharlemagnex6]

I Think it Would Make Perfect Sense if Lisa Simpson Thought Poop and Farts Were Funny!

I realize that this next point might come off as creepy to some, but I felt the need to put it out there. Every once in a while, I think about the relationship between Bart and Lisa Simpson. They mostly have a very contentious relationship that I wish to discuss in a different blog post. But I also like to sometimes think about the different methods they could use to improve their relationship. One possible answer, in my opinion, is strange but clear: toilet humor!

"Hold up," some of you might be asking, "what's toilet humor going to do?" Well, considering that Lisa has been a vegetarian for most of her existence, I had a random thought, "do vegetarians fart and poop more than non-vegetarians." I then to do some research into the matter and most experts agree that, yes, vegetarians have both seven times more flatulence on average, as well as bigger and softer stools. Therefore, I see no reason to pretend that Lisa is no exception, or that Lisa wouldn't have developed a sense of humor about it; if she didn't, then she's in for a terrible time.

As for her relationship with Bart, I think Lisa's digestive activities would be a great boon to it. In fact, I think it would be a great way for her to try and get Bart to go vegetarian, as well. She could tell him that vegetarians fart and poop more, and then they could spend some time making poop and fart jokes. Then their scenes going forward could involve some one-off poop and fart jokes as well. Please tell me what you guys think; I personally believe that it could do wonders for their sibling relationship, but that's for another post.

'Nuff said.

[kidcharlemagnex6]

Underrated Relationship Advice: Beggars Can't Be Choosers.

Not too long ago, I decided that the time had come for me to dip my toes into online dating. Like so many other people, I had zero luck at first; every match that I got either ghosted me immediately or turned out to be a bot/catfish. But that all changed when I finally found someone who not only wanted to keep talking to me, but who I actually wanted to keep talking to. It only took us a few days to make it official and now neither of us can stop thinking about the other. But then I started to think about why my prior attempts were in vain and I believe I've found the reason: I was being too specific and demanding. Every dating app that I tried to use encouraged me to "be picky" and set preferences and dealbreakers. The parameters I kept setting were so specific, however, that I was locking myself in a "bubble" and it wasn't until I loosened my parameters that I found the person who's on my mind all the time. This experience taught me a lesson that everyone should apply to both their dating lives and regular friendships: beggars can't be choosers. To explain further, I will apply this lesson to the perpetually failing love lives of two fictional characters and one real person.

The first character I wanted to discuss is Meg Griffin of Family Guy. Meg is supposed to represent the "uncool, dateless teen girl" stereotype who just wants to "fit in." The problem is that Meg, like many of these characters, keeps overreaching herself and tries to fit in with the "cool, popular kids" when they're no guarantee that they'd actually like her back. This also includes wanting to go on a date with the captain of the football team who clearly has no interest in her. Meanwhile, she has her own little circle of friends who are more than happy to accept Meg for who she is, and plenty of boys like Neil Goldman who will give her the romantic attention she deserves. But instead, she writes Neil off a "nerd" (stones and glass houses, Meg) and, from the looks of it, would gladly abandon her real friends to become popular.

The second character I wanted to apply this to is Shelly Marsh from South Park. She's Stan's older sister who, in the earlier seasons, seem to exist solely to physically abuse Stan for...existing, I guess. In later appearances, however, what few focus episodes she does get are primarily concerned with her dating life. In almost every episode, she's either going on a date with someone who never appears again after that episode or whining about she can't seem to get a date. Physical appearance aside, Shelly's biggest problem is that she has zero impulse control or any good morals to speak of. In the one episode where she babysits Cartman, she brags to her friend over the phone about her treatment of him and they only start to bond when they pull off some sort of revenge scheme against someone who did Shelly wrong. With those, along with her treatment of Stan, it seems safe to conclude that her reputation at school is not up to snuff, as I imagine that any sensible teenager would be put off by someone who has ridiculously high standards and doesn't see anything wrong with using violence for everything. Which also means that when someone does try to be her friend or express romantic interest in Shelley, she will be a chooser and drive them away for not meeting some absurd standards.

The last one I want to talk about is a very real person: Christine Weston Chandler. As explained by this article (Sweetheart - CWCki (sonichu.com)), Chandler went on a long crusade to find someone to form a romance with. The article goes on to explain, however, that Chandler's real motivation was to find someone who will bring home the bacon while they continue to sit around doing manchild things. It then goes on to list Chandler's "requirements" for their "ideal partner," which include items such as "white," "pretty," and "average to high income." The article goes on to explain, however, that Chandler is in no way relationship material: Chandler refuses to grow up, doesn't know how to behave around women, doesn't have a job, has poor hygiene and manners, and refuses to respect authority. Chandler, therefore, has zero reason to be picky (aside from stroking their ego).

So in conclusion, the next time you feel frustrated by your attempts to find a partner or expand your friend circle, here's my advice: take a good look at yourself, first. Find out if there's anything about yourself that you should improve before you put yourself out there and DON'T be too picky. Instead of focusing so much on finding your "type," think of a list of more general requirements that you want in a friend or partner and go in with the mindset that "what's meant to be is meant to be." Don't overreach yourself, don't be violent, and don't expect your friendship/relationship to fix all of your problems. Someone out there will like you for you, so please don't reject them just because they don't meet certain requirements; if you don't, you could end up like Meg Griffin, Shelley Marsh, or Christine Weston Chandler.

'Nuff said.

[kidcharlemagnex6]

South Park Seems to Care More About Comedy and Messages Than Its Characters.

Here's something else I needed to get off of my chest. Even though I keep hearing almost nothing but praise for South Park, I haven't been able to fully commit to being a fan. I was trying to ruminate on why not too long ago and I believed I've realized why. When I thought about what it is I want from my TV shows, I realized that it's primarily characters who I actually enjoy watching and think are interesting and can actually progress into great people in their own rights. In my opinion, South Park fails in that regard because it seems primarily concerned with telling jokes and sending messages. There's nothing wrong with those in of itself, my problem is that the show keeps emphasizing the messages at the expense of taking its characters in new and interesting directions.

The perfect example, in my opinion, would have to be Stan's false diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome. In my honest opinion, I think it would made perfect sense of Stan was on the higher-functioning side of that spectrum. He's introverted, has a strong moral center, doesn't speak too much, seems to prefer his alone time whenever he gets the chance, seems to do better with animals than with people, and will gladly stand up for the few people he is very close to, as demonstrated by his (usually) unflinching friendship with Kyle and the fact that Stan doesn't even seem to look at other girls during those times when he and Wendy aren't dating. If it turned out that Stan was on the autism spectrum, I think that would have been a great boon for his character. It would provide plenty of opportunities to explore how Stan now views his life and the world, how it affects his self-image and self-esteem, how he now needs make changes to his everyday life, and how it will affect his relationships going forward. Not to mention, it would have made his points about false diagnoses much more poignant. Closing all of that off just because the proposed endings weren't "funny" enough not only felt incredibly disrespectful to the character, but also felt like it closed off so many avenues for stories.

That's all I wanted to say about this one. Again, there's nothing inherently wrong with emphasizing comedy and/or messages. The point I was trying to make was that neither of those should come at the expense of developing the characters further. After a while, it will feel like the characters aren't progressing as quickly as they should and will make the whole show feel stagnant and boring. But again, that's just my opinion.

'Nuff said.

[kidcharlemagnex6]

Why Kyle Broflovski Shouldn't Be in a Relationship Just Yet.

During one my occasional musings about South Park, one question I asked myself was: why hasn't Kyle gotten a long-term relationship arc like Stan has? But then I thought about it and realized that one potential reason is that, when you really think about it, Kyle has some toxic personality traits that show he isn't actually relationship material. My explanation will be framed in the form of my opinions on three Kyle-based shippings that frequently crop up in the South Park fandom that wouldn't really work when you think about it. Those three shippings are Style, Kyndy, and Kybe.

First, I want to talk about the shipping between Kyle and Stan. My opinion on it is pretty much the same as others I've seen on here. First off, just because two people are best friends doesn't mean that they're relationship material with each other. Second, even if the two did have romantic feelings for each other, they probably wouldn't be very compatible with each other. Stan is well-meaning but reserved, preferring to listen and only provide his input when he's explicitly allowed. Kyle, on the other hand, is more extroverted but doesn't always express it in a healthy way. When you pay attention to some of Kyle's scenes, such as when he's talking about an "important" issue, he expresses his opinions so forcefully and, to be honest, condescending, that it feels like he's more interested in simply forcing his opinions onto anyone who tries to listen than actually having meaningful discussions. Not to mention, when Stan was going through his first major depressive spell, he was pretty quick to abandon his efforts to make him feel better because he "couldn't handle the negativity," which makes me feel that some toxic positivity might be included.

There also seems to be a small contingent of fans who want Wendy to leave Stan for Kyle. While it's true that they have some similarities, such as their intelligence and morality, those differences are surface level when you really examine them. As mentioned earlier, Stan is more of a listener than a conversationalist and that seems to be all Wendy is looking for. She really wants to be heard and taken seriously, and Stan is more than happy to indulge her if that's all she wants. Kyle, on the other hand, might start acting overbearing toward Wendy and refuse to take her seriously, especially if she disagrees with him on something, not to mention that if things get really heated between them, Kyle might even stoop to hitting Wendy while Stan would never do such a thing. Kyle might also get possessive of Wendy, especially when he thinks she might leave him for a different boy. Take for example the whole business with Brydon: Stan calmly told Wendy that he wouldn't stand in her way if she wanted to pursue a relationship with him, instead. Possessive? To an extent, but the way he went about it is a clear indicator that he genuinely cares about Wendy and just wants her to be happy. Kyle, on the other hand, might have become selfishly jealous and outright demanded that Wendy not talk to Brydon, which would just drive her away, anyway.

The last potential suitor of Kyle's that I want to talk about is Bebe. Ever since the episode, "Clubhouses," Bebe hasn't even expressed a passing interest in Kyle and went straight for Clyde. The way Bebe expressed her interest in Kyle, however, strongly implied to me that Bebe really only cared about the image of being in a relationship rather than the person she's dating. But if you pay attention to some of Bebe's later episodes, you'll notice some signs that Bebe wouldn't have been a good girlfriend to Kyle, anyway. The whole incident with the shoe store, in my opinion at least, is a pretty clear indicator of what Bebe's real priorities are regardless of her claims that she wants to be either a lawyer or marine biologist. Material possessions seem to be one of her primary concerns and the fact that she was willing to manipulate her "boyfriend" Clyde to get what she wanted shows that hurting other people's feelings isn't too big of a concern for her. Therefore, there's the very real possibility that if Kyle became Bebe's boyfriend, she would immediately start molding him into her little fashion accessory who only exists to give her gifts. Not to mention, the fears I expressed about Kyle's potential treatment of Wendy would also apply.

So now you might be asking, "Then who do you think Kyle would be a good match for?" To be honest, I don't think he should jump right into that. As you might have gathered from this post, Kyle, for all of his good qualities, still has too many toxic traits that will get in the way of forming a loving, committed relationship with someone. He might be smart and morally upstanding, but what he needs to work on is being respectful of other people's opinions and choices, not giving up so easily, and understanding that just because he can do something doesn't necessarily mean that he should. Once he does get those figured out, he should absolutely get his own long-term romance arc just like Stan and Wendy have.

'Nuff said.

[kidcharlemagnex6]

Do Boxer Shorts Not Exist in South Park?

Here's another random thought I just had about South Park: white briefs seem to be the default men's underwear choice. Of course, there are plenty of other cartoons you could say that about, but this post is going to focus on South Park, specifically. Not only do all of the boys and men wear white briefs, but it's almost never commented on by anyone, and other options such as boxer shorts don't seem to exist at all.

Yes, this is very nitpicky, so I apologize; I just felt it was something that needed to be said. I'm sure this show defaults to white briefs for the same reason many other cartoons do: they look inherently funnier and/or it's just easier on the animation/art style. There's nothing wrong with either of those reasons, I just think it's unusual that no one in the show ever even mentions this.

At the risk of sounding like a major creep, I also wanted to discuss this little quirk in regard to two specific characters: Stan and Kyle. Seeing as how the two are supposed to represent "normal" "schlubby" boys, I don't think there's any harm in showing them only wearing their white briefs. I also think it would make more sense if they preferred to wear their briefs to bed instead of pajamas, especially when they're sleeping over. They, to me, definitely seem like the kinds of friends who would gladly sit around in their underwear when they're hanging out together and maybe giving each other wedgies for laughs, in addition to those fart jokes I mentioned in my previous post. I also imagine that they'd be the only boys in their grade who will continue wearing briefs after the other boys have moved on to boxers and such. That would be another subtle way of showing off how individualistic they both are. Call me a creep all you want, but I just wanted to get this off of my chest.

'Nuff said.

[kidcharlemagnex6]

Stan and Kyle Need More Fart Scenes!

This is going to be a very unusual thing to point out, but I just wanted to point out something regarding Stan Marsh and Kyle Broflovski: for how much they supposedly love flatulence humor, there has been a dearth of scenes showing either of them passing gas at all, let alone entertaining themselves with it. In the show's early days, a simple fart from one of them was more than enough to send them both into hysterics. Now, it seems to have been years since either one of them last had a fart scene.

Right off the bat, some of you might be thinking, "but they still watch Terrence & Phillip." To be honest, I don't think that really means anything. "Terrence & Phillip" has been established as the one TV show that every man in the world seems to love (which, when you think about it, kind of undermines the show's "pro-individualism" pretense), so that, to me, is about the same as saying "people sit in chairs." Stan and Kyle, on the other hand, seem like the kind of boys who not only shamelessly fart around each other, but also treat fart jokes as a cornerstone of their friendship; I even sometimes like to imagine that they use their phones to record their farts and send them to each other.

Another counterargument might be, "but they're more mature than they used to be." First off, they were eight years old at the start of the series and are ten years old now; 2 years is not a wide enough gap of time for their personalities to change so radically. Secondly, I don't think that would factor too much into it. I've read several posts on Reddit written by Redditors who still laugh at farts well into their adulthoods. Each of those posts have one major thesis that they share: the mere act of laughing at farts isn't inherently immature or offensive. As several of those posts have pointed out, farting is a natural bodily function that happens to all of us. What really matters is time and place; the posts rightfully pointed out that there are plenty of events or situations where farting to get a laugh isn't appropriate at all, then go on to explain that the immature part is not understanding or caring about the "time and place" part. As long as the fart jokes are kept between friends or family in a non-formal setting, then you can laugh at farts all you want, as long as you understand that it's not appropriate for every situation.

That's the point I wanted to raise with Stan and Kyle specifically. They're both good kids who are much smarter and more mature for their ages then they might seem at first. However, I think fart jokes should be reincorporated into their schticks as a subtle way of displaying this. They know and accept that farting in public isn't appropriate, and they know and accept that not everyone they meet is going to share their viewpoint (when was the last time Stan tried to make a fart joke around Wendy?), unlike Cartman, who definitely lacks that level of maturity (or any level for that matter). But when Stan and Kyle get some time alone, they should be allowed to fart and laugh as much as they want. I want to see them have fart contests, pull each other's fingers, make fake fart sounds, sit on whoopee cushions, watch fart videos, smell each other's farts, light each other's farts, eat foods that will make them fart, make all sorts of fart puns, and fart on each other to their hearts' content, laughing like madmen all the while. This might all sound creepy to some of you, but I think this would be a nice and subtle way to show that Stan and Kyle aren't immature, just not conformists.

'Nuff said.

[kidcharlemagnex6]

Wendy Testaburger is NOT Selfish!

As I've been exploring Tumblr, I've noticed several posts regarding the relationship between Stan Marsh and Wendy Testaburger in South Park. Most of these posts are primarily concerned with defending the relationship between the two by pointing out all of the ways that they DO care about each other. However, I've noticed that most of them try to look at from Stan's point of view. I would like to take a different approach and examine the situation from Wendy's perspective by comparing her to a somewhat similar character: Lisa Simpson.

On the surface, Wendy and Lisa are a lot alike: both are intelligent pre-teen girls who take their schoolwork seriously and believe in fiercely advocating for issues that they're passionate about. But when you really look into their characters, you'll notice that Wendy is actually less selfish than Lisa; this, in my view, is down to three major flaws on Lisa's part that Wendy doesn't have: Lisa just uses her schoolwork to stroke her ego, only speaks about social issues to get attention, and refuses to respect other people's choices.

First, let's look at how the two girls approach their schoolwork. As stated earlier, Lisa's concern about her schoolwork, when you really look at it, only extends to how good she can make herself look with it. I think this is best shown in the episode where Lisa gets the chance to skip ahead to the third grade; Lisa was very enthusiastic at first, but once it became clear that there were plenty of third graders who were just as good as her, if not better (Bart getting pushed back to third grade, notwithstanding), she jumped at the chance to go back to second grade and be the "big fish" again. If Wendy was ever given the chance to skip a grade level, I'm sure she would take the opportunity with gusto and do her best to persevere, if not reject the offer because she doesn't want to leave her friends, especially not Stan. That, in my view, would prove to me that Wendy doesn't care that much about being the best, so long as she can do her best.

The next point I want to bring up is both girls' activism. Neither one of them is afraid to speak up for causes that they believe need more attention. But if you pay careful attention, you'll notice that the difference is in the motivations. For one example, when Lisa attempted to join the football team but discovered that the team already had girls and were using environmentally friendly materials, Lisa simply left in tears; if Wendy were in that situation, she would either happily join the team or leave without a word. Another example is how they react when others get rewards or positions that they think were undeserved. When Wendy was trying to prove that Cartman plagiarized that one essay, she was doing so TO prove that the essay was plagiarized. On the other hand, Lisa tried to get Bart demoted from that little newscast they were both working on simply because she was jealous of the idea of him being her equal; same as when Bart learned to play the drums. So, when you take those factors into account, you can conclude that Wendy's ego is not as swollen as Lisa's since she actually tries to expose injustices and would be proud of other people's accomplishments and talents, whereas Lisa would find a way to snuff those out.

The last point I want to look at is both girls' love lives. The biggest difference is obvious: Wendy has been dating Stan for almost as long as the whole show has lasted, while none of Lisa's relationships have lasted longer than a single episode. In my opinion, this is due to one major reason: Wendy is more respectful of other people's choices than Lisa is. You can best see this in the episode where Lisa tried to start a relationship with Nelson Muntz. First off, she never expressed any interest in Nelson before that episode and was explicitly trying to "change" Nelson in both appearance and behavior to mold him into her idea of a "gentleman." Also, she clearly tried to automatically appoint herself Nelson's "girlfriend" and gave up on him once it became clear that she can't mold him into anything. Wendy, on the other hand, asked Stan on a date the way you're really supposed to and has never expressed discontent with issues as minor as Stan's fashion sense or love of fart jokes; therefore, it seems safe to conclude that Lisa would have looked for any excuse to leave Stan over some petty bullcrap while Wendy is genuinely in love with him. And it's not just romance that this can apply to. When Wendy advocated to have vegetarian options added to the school's cafeteria menu, she only did so to give vegetarians the options they want; Lisa, on the other hand, would have outright demanded that the entire menu be made vegetarian without giving any consideration for any students who might need to keep meat and such in their diets; she even abandoned one of the very few real friends she did have just because she wasn't a vegetarian (and really likes horse meat), which Ms. Hoover (her teacher) admitted would happen. So all in all, Wendy wants to love and be loved while Lisa just wants a Ken doll she can dress up and show off.

So with all of that said, I think it would be safe to conclude that Wendy Testaburger is a far better character than Lisa Simpson. Wendy actually cares about doing the right thing, legitimately respects other people's autonomy, and is more than happy to love people for who they are. Lisa Simpson, on the other hand, is a selfish conformist who just wants to be fawned over by yes men. You can also see this in how they view their respective families. While we haven't seen too much attention given to Wendy's view on her family, she seems to have a fairly high opinion on them and most likely wouldn't trade them in for anything. Lisa, on the other hand, would gladly abandon her family, despite all they have done for her, for one that's more "highbrow." So, in my opinion, Wendy seems destined to have a much better and more joyful life than Lisa because she cares more about being happy than being right.

'Nuff said.