Adventure Time and Democracy
The first part of the sixth season finale of Adventure Time saw the overthrow of the quasi-benevolent dictator known as Princess Bubblegum. But her (perhaps temporary?) downfall was not the result of a violent uprising or an Arab Spring-style revolt. No, no.
Princess Bubblegum’s regime fell thanks to a little thing known as democracy. After a mysterious stranger (Orgalorg) found a loophole in the Candy Kingdom laws, the King of Ooo successfully pushed for an election, and was chosen by the candy populace as the next princess. What makes matters more interesting is that democracy wasn’t forced upon Bubblegum’s regime without her consent; by her own admission, the election was completely legal. Once she was defeated, she tucked her tail between her legs, and went into exile.
“Hot Diggity Doom” explores a theme that Adventure Time has touched upon several times that might seem really disturbing to Westerners: the idea that democracy is inherently flawed and at times a terrible system.
Princess Bubblegum is a pragmatist, and she has arguably done some shady stuff in the past (to be fair, she does it all for her citizens, but that doesn’t excuse some of her actions). With that being said, it must be conceded that Bubblegum excels as a leader. She has held the position as Princess for most likely hundreds of years, and she has successfully protected her kingdom and people from a multitude of ridiculously dangerous threats.
And the fact stands that Bubblegum is a true-blue dictator. It is true that she is benevolent and for the most part kind-hearted, but she hold absolute power over her citizens. And while the show has just recently started to hint that this is unhealthy, the show has also seemed to imply that monarchy is the lesser of two evils… and the greater of the two evils is democracy.
One of the first episodes that explored this theme was “The Silent King”. Finn, after usurping Xergiok, wished to be a benevolent leader (one who allowed his citizens to, for the most part, do what they wanted), but the goblins would not allow it. They needed a strong, central authority, and they needed to be told what to do, much to Finn’s chagrin.
In a perfect world, the informed masses could elect the perfect leaders, but in Ooo, the masses are, for the most part, stupid (” If there isn’t a king to not tell me to not start a riot, I could start a riot, then!”), and democracy (or, more accurately, the lack of a strong, central authority) inevitably descends into anarchy (”Start that riot!”).
This semi-contempt at democracy is scattered throughout the series, be it Finn finding the Moldos’ act of electing their leader to be “adorable” in “Paper Pete” (with echoes Plato-as-Socrates’ musing on Democracy in The Republic: “ “Democracy, which is a charming form of government…”), or Ice King regretting giving his penguins the right to vote in “Another Five More Short Graybles”. In Ooo, democracy simply doesn’t work. At its best, its mob rule, and at its worst, capable leaders are overthrow and society descends into chaos.
So what exactly is the show getting at? Is democracy truly evil? I, personally, would say no, but then again, I’ve grown up in a (quasi)democractic society. I’m biased. Maybe democracy truly is bad?
Or maybe this theme is just Adventure Time’s reaction to commonly held beliefs. The series rejoices in turning standard and somewhat trite morals onto their heads, be it that violence is the answer (”His Hero”), or that being stupid is an excellent way to live (”My Two Favorite People”).
Honestly, I think the answer must lie somewhere in the middle. Adventure Time is inherently subversive, and to a lesser degree anti-establishment and counter-culture. The show’s rejection of democracy (a highly regarded philosophy in the modern, Western, world) makes sense. But it is unfair and far too simplistic to reject what the show is saying as merely a baseless “reaction”. Sometimes the (pardon my use of the vernacular) ‘dumbest’ moments in Adventure Time ring with truth.
Let’s be frank. It’s foolish to assume that democracy will always result in the election of the wisest individuals. Plato told us this much. This isn’t to say that it won’t happen… just that it’s not always guaranteed to work. Regardless of your opinions on her, Bubblegum is clearly the better leader when compared with the King of Ooo, but her citizens didn’t think so.
The major downside to democracy is that the future is in the hands of everyone… the wise… the stupid… No one is forbidden from voting. In that sense, it can result in mob rule, as illustrated in “Hot Diggity Doom”.
It seems that Adventure Time puts forth an argument similar to Plato’s: the best form of government is one led by a just philosopher-king. Bubblegum certainly is wise, but she has done some shady things in the past. As such, I think it’s non-controversial to say that the candy citizens were right to demand change (and to be fair… the reason Bubblegum lost the election was not because her citizens were actively demanding change, but because the King of Ooo was a devil-tongued public speaker), but whether or not she deserved to be overthrown… well, the chaos that we saw at the end of “Hot Diggity Doom” speaks for itself. In the end, democracy was not the best choice for the Candy Kingdom, and it’s not the best choice for the Land of Ooo.
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