Grupal essay!

Magic Rule #2: Parents Should RIP.

By Luna Cabré and Macarena Fernández.

How would you describe “freedom”? Would you say that “freedom” equals money? Well, if you think about it, money usually opens up new possibilities to obtain those things that, without it, it would be impossible to get. A jet plane, maybe... But, hey!  Guess what! At my sister’s birthday, all the adults were discussing about money and as I saw my niece watching TV and laughing without concerns, I asked him what “freedom” equals from his cute but lethal 10-year-old point of view. With his sweet smile, he took his eyes off the TV, landed them on my sister and answered “If you ask me, I would make her disappear together with my homework...”  

At first, the word “disappear” didn’t had much logic . Finally, I understood the idea of making someone vanish when I saw what he was watching that afternoon on the TV. I didn’t need more than a couple of minutes to witness how, to the wave of a magic wand, The Fairly OddParents TV show vaporized all parental logic and mocked at the figure of the adult. Of course, the party ended with a family discussion about manners, a kid wishing a magic wand more than ever and a curious aunt watching cartoons.

Going back to this “inspirational” TV show, I must admit that I laughed quite a lot at characters. Yes, the funny part of the show relies on how much you can laugh over someone. Even though it is possible to find adults in different living situations (and this social and economic diversity seem worthy of mention), it seems natural for the parents of the story to be childish. This childishness affects every adult in the cartoon and, from time to time, makes you forget that some characters are actually parents.  

Although families have changed its traditional form, the role of parents has always been a key topic of discussion. If we look back, the role of parents has always mutated throughout history. However, something that has never changed is the vision of parents as the responsible ones for their children.

From Chester’s lower-class family to AJ’s wealthy family (both the protagonist’s best friends), not even one parent seem to accomplish a good care of their children. Hence, this does not depend on monetary, educational or cultural issues. AJ’s mother main appearance in the show focuses on telling her son to think about redecorating his bedroom after breaking into it with a “parental battering ram”. AJ’s parents always ignore their son’s reality. He is not only bad in socializing with others but also carries on different dangerous experiments that, of course, they totally ignore. In addition, Chester’s reality does not really differ from that of AJ. His father is a disgraced ex-baseball player who hides himself from society using a paper bag over his head. In conclusion, Chester lives like a rat (and he is also assimilated to every time he sees cheese) while his father seems to be more worried about himself than about his son.

This parental neglect not only affects secondary characters but also the main protagonist himself. Timmy’s parents don’t spend their time with their son because they are always working or having fun on their own... They behave as if they don’t have a son, forgetting that they are the authority figures, and in really few occasions they realize about Timmy’s presence in the house.

Roles aside, adults are the centre of attention most of the time. Whenever an adult appears, it is surely because something funny is going to happen. A serious adult is old fashion and, since Timmy has the opportunity of turning whatever he dislikes into something wonderful for the eye of a child, they are ridiculed in such a way that you know you are going to laugh if an adult appears in the scene. For example, there is an episode of the show in which Timmy’s father wants to participate in a beauty contest and, as he is not allowed to do so, he dresses like a woman turning himself the object of ridicule. Monkeying when appearing, you get the feeling that whenever he is going to appear, it will be a funny moment.

So remember, don’t do what my niece did at home, and if you ever feel tired of your parents’ lack of attention to you, tell your fairly odd parent to make them disappear for you! In case you can’t afford one, contact Mr. Hartman... He will surely find a way to make your parents look awfully bad and have a good a time.