Mikey isn’t the Devil (And why he deserves better)
Honestly, though I'm supposed to despise Mikey as a character in all of this, and I kind of do from his stupidity, I can't help but envy him for all the garbage he's being charged because of the school system.
I mean, think about it, in the videos the character has appeared in, his father is downright scary and he flinches every time he sees him, his mother is narcissistic and even racist, plus she clearly favors Jayden over her other son, as she never seems to blame Jayden for anything that happens, and they say Jayden is 'the nice kid' but if he actually was responsible and a good brother, he'd put in the effort to help Mikey through his school dilemmas.
Like, geez, no wonder Mikey acts like this and tries to get away from school as escapism. He is living in a very unsupportive and demanding family!
Which, yeah, I can't excuse laziness in any case scenario, but the truth is, the school system is broken, it forces kids into pointless pain and torture. That could actually make a very interesting video from Dhar Mann, even if it was cringe, it'd still be neat, where he acknowledges Mikey is from a bad homelife and he finds his own sense of freedom from school that benefits his life, and doesn't give into his parents constantly punishing him and forcing him to learn on his own.
But no, instead we're supposed to NOT sympathize with this kid at all, we're supposed to despise him and see every action he makes as life threatening. It's very sick, and very harmful that Dhar Mann portrays kids like this, and completely ignore the problems and stress they go through with school, let alone the realism of that.
Like, "Good kids are sweet and adorable, they get straight As ALL THE TIME with NO issues, they envy school and support it unconditionally!" "Bad kids are lazy spoiled brats who don't have any good reason for being bad, they like to avoid school, and we should punish them with even more school for all it's worth and make them miserable!"
There is NO IN BETWEEN WHATSOEVER.
And as someone who defies school on a daily basis, I hate these videos because they claim that school is the greatest thing in the world, and the most important thing in your life! When in actuality, it's anything but.
Like, he uses the internet to get through an exam, the teacher scams the kid, then THE KID gets punished for an entire summer. He fakes being sick to get away from school, the mom allowed him to skip school despite knowing the truth, then proceeds to scam her kid AND THE KID IS SEEN AS 100% in the wrong. The kid wants to get out of a history test that won't benefit him in the real world, and instead wants to pursue a basketball dream? NOPE, WE GOTTA STRIP THAT KID FROM HIS ENTIRE FUTURE... BECAUSE HE DIDN'T WANT TO DO A TEST!
Seriously, there are people in this world who see these kinds of videos, and genuinely think they're great for kids and give them good morals and a good sense of the real world. "Yes, school is the most important thing ever, if you complain once, you don't get a future!" I'm genuinely wondering if those kids who see these are doing okay with their lives? I hope they are regardless.
To put it simply, Mikey is NOT a good kid, but he is NOT EVIL. He’s not even close to being evil even if Dhar Mann REALLY wants to make you think that way. Hate Mikey all you want, his situations are not his fault. Get him some mental help, get him a better family that’s willing to TALK to him instead of yell at him and punish him. Get him some world experience to help him learn consequences that aren’t caused ONLY and ACTIVELY by his parents. THAT’S what’s gonna prevent him from trying to blow up the school one day! THAT’S what kids NEED to be healthy!
