Blogpost # 8: Adventure Time: Depression Again

Adventure Time is an American animated TV series created by Pendleton Ward a.k.a Pen and it was produced by the Frederator Studios in the Nickolodeon channel. The series is all about a boy who is named Finn and his twenty eight-year old magical dog named Jake who encounters a lot of strange and some serious adventures in the Land of Ooo.

The theory of Adventure Time that I have read on about was entitled "The Truth" by Deliah Tomlinson on quotev.com. Adventure Time is about a boy named Finn. He was a thirteen-year old boy who was extremely lonely: having no friends and being ignored by his mother, who was having a difficult time trying to support him juggling two jobs. Finn's only friend was his loyal dog, Jake. A few years later, Jake died of old age. 

After Jake died, Finn got severely depressed and attempted to commit suicide by having an overdose. Rather than dying, he fell into a coma and was stuck in the hospital. Doctors feared he would never wake up from the coma. Unfortunately, they were correct, as Finn would never wake up from his coma, stuck in a dream, a fantasy world Finn had always dreamed of, and told Jake about.

Finn and Jake went on ultimate adventures to save the princesses that were madly in love with Finn. Lady Rainicorn,Jake's girlfriend who was a rainbow colored unicorn who only spoke Korean which leads them to misunderstanding. Finn, however, was in love with Princess Bubblegum, but she never could decide whether Jake was her friend or her lover, which is a great frustration for Finn. His greatest rival was the Ice King, an evil king who ruled the Ice Kingdom, who was upset and depressed because he was forever alone, so he kidnapped princesses so that he can have "pleasure." The Ice King had was so jealous for Finn because the princesses loved him so much.

The more characters that came, the more inanimate objects that came to life, the deeper Finn fell into his coma, growing more insane. It was not another normal child's imagination. Finn still remains in a coma until his dying days, adventuring with his dead dog Jake, never aging, never changing. 

Now I know why my aunt doesn't want my cousin to watch Adventure Time anymore because it's teaching may be sending out wrong messages, possibly depression. And depression has its side effects when it is not treated. According to the article that I read entitled, "Untreated Depression" by  Joseph Goldberg, MD on webmd.com, he says that "Untreated clinical depression is a serious problem." Untreated depression increases the chance of risky behaviors such as drug or alcohol addiction. It also can ruin relationships, cause problems at work, and make it difficult to overcome serious illnesses.

Clinical depression, also known as major depression, is an illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts. Clinical depression affects the way you eat and sleep. It affects the way you feel about yourself and those around you. It even affects your thoughts. Untreated depression also often leads to decreased productivity, both at work and with everyday tasks, missed workdays, physical and emotional disability, and more frequent use of healthcare.

To sum it all up, first, it is not right to prohibit a child from watching PG rated shows. I mean it's not okay that you stop children from watching TV just because you found out this theory, again, it is just a theory. We may not know if it is really factual or not. But of course you should also consider in watching out for your children in terms of depression. You can spend more quality time with your kids and try to have fun as much as possible.

Blogpost # 7: Mickey Mouse: Suicidal

Like a bolt out of the blue, fate steps in and sees you through. When you wish upon a star your dreams come true. Seems familiar? This is the opening theme song of Walt Disney entitled "When You Wish Upon A Star." What do you think of when you hear/read the word: Walt Disney? For me I think of Mickey Mouse.

Did it ever cross your mind that the cartoon show Mickey Mouse can make you kill yourself? Well I never thought of that, but I became curious what hidden facts does Walt Disney have because they have this "Hidden Mickey" gig in parts of their shows.

So the article that caught my eyes was entitled "The Mickey Mouse Cartoon That Might Make You Kill Yourself" by Remy on remycarreiro.com. He states that "For as long as video tapes have existed, so have existed the rumors of certain videos being embedded with hidden messages that can twist the viewers perception and mental state." there is more to Mickey Mouse than we ever imagined. The story behind the mouse suiciding is a deceptively simple one. According to the article, Walt Disney was said to have gone into the studio right before his death and spent days working on his single animation by himself. Feeling tired, he came into Walt Disney studios and chose one animator to show the film to when he finished it. The animator was alone, in a room, he was watching the nine-minute movie. When the movie was over, he exits the room and he walked towards the security guard. He is said to have murmured the words ”Real suffering is not known”, over and over again, and then pulled the gun from the guard’s holster and shot himself in the head.

It's teaching the kids out there who are watching the show how to suicide. What is suicide? Suicide came from the Latin word suicidium, meaning "to kill oneself." It is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. This is caused by depression and despair. Sometimes it is also a mental problem.

Children commit suicide and it's the worst thing a parent can ever think of. Kids being able to watch these kinds of shows will most probably think of having suicide maybe because of depression in the relationship or in the family, because of abuse or bully or/and stressful event that is happening in your life.

In another article I read entitled, "The Stigma of Suicide Within Us" by David L. Conroy, PhD.,he said that "No scientific study has ever confirmed that a significant proportion of suicidal people have these qualities. But children believe what they are taught. Having it said, children are in danger because they are exposed to things like: Suicide. We can save a life by helping them or teaching them the right thing to do and by exposing them in an educational shows and activities.

Blogpost # 6: The Fairly Oddparents: Depressionism

Really odd, pea pod, buff bod, hot rod, 

Obtuse, rubber goose, green moose, guave juice, 

Giant snake, birthday cake, large fries, chocolate shake, 

Odd Parents, Fairly Odd Parents, 

It flips your lid when you are the kid, 

With Fairly Odd Parents

Seems familiar? Yup you're right. It's The Fairly Oddparents. Well this show is all about Timmy Turner. Timmy has two neglectful parents who are too busy for him. So they decided to get him a babysitter named, Vicky. Vicky is cruel and is constantly making Timmy's life a hell, so much so that Timmy becomes the most miserable kid on earth. At this point, he is given two godparents to grant his wishes and make his life better namely, Cosmo and Wanda. As a ten-year old kid Timmy has plenty of wishes and the series shows you all of these wishes throughout the series, also managing to teach Timmy life lessons. 

If you have seen the episodes you would probably ask or wonder why the wishes never have any actual effects? Why all these wishes were just passing by fastly and all sorts of questions like why does Timmy's parents entrust him with a babysitter who is rude and cruel? Why does his parents don't care that much? Well, I also have those questions in my mind. Having to read the first article entitled, "The Fairly Oddparents: Depression" by Fran Jasper Pancheco on blogger.com, he said that the theory he read in one of the article in creepyasta.com that "Timmy Turner happens to be hallucinating about these so called "Godparents". Within the television show, the number one rule about Fairy God Parents is that their secret should not be revealed about them "existing," which is referring that, if Timmy says he has these Fairy God Parents, his parents may try to seek therapeutic help to cure him of his imaginary friends and hallucinations." 

Sometimes, Timmy can enter in a hallucination that he can visit this place so-called "Fairy World" where Cosmo and Wanda and all the fairies live and he imagines other fairies interacting with each other. 

Cosmo and Wanda. Timmy's godparents who would listen to him and gave him attention that no one else would. However, one day, his godparents got into a bad car crash and died. This tragic moment had let Timmy to imagined that his fish were his godparents so that he wasn't completely alone and that someone will care for him.

Vicky is Timmy's babysitter. If you've seen the series that she becomes so abusive and absurd, that's how she was to Timmy. Abusive, but as in the series,  his parents were too careless and foolish to notice about Timmy's attitude towards his babysitter and he wasn't brave enough to tell on her. 

Mom and Dad. They apparently have no given name in the show, I never noticed that it was it mentioned but as you can see or as you can notice that they are neglectful and uncaring towards their son. They were enjoying in their lives together too much that they completely forgot that they ever had a son. 

And last but not the least, Mr Croker. He is the teacher who continually makes sexual advance towards Timmy(He is actually a pedophile). in the series, he definitely wants to steal Timmy's fairies which represents Timmy's innocence, good wishes for the future, hope and happiness.

To be honest, Timmy's life is hard having no parents that you can come to when you need their love, having no siblings, and having a cruel and unkind babysitter. In another article I read entitled "Depression" by D'Arcy Lyness, PhD, "Depression affects more than a person's mood. It drains the energy, motivation, and concentration a person needs for normal activities. It interferes with the ability to notice or enjoy the good things in life."  So it's wise for parents and caregivers to learn about depression and how to help if your child, or a child you know, seems depressed. We know that a child can adapt the things they see in their surroundings easily because they think it's just normal and even watching a certain cartoon or TV show will or can affect the children. 

Blogpost # 5: The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Necrophilia

One of my childhood favorite Disney movie was: The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I was enlightened that the girl named Esmeralda would like a guy like Quasimodo, him being a fat, big hunchback. She didn't mind the outward appearance of the person, what's important to her is that a guy has a good heart. But later on, I just was curious what if Esmeralda really didn't like Quasimodo, I mean what if she was just forced to love him? What if it wasn't the real story after all? Questions like that keep on boggling me.

In the original story which I read in an article entitled, "HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME" by an anonymous writer on sparknotes.com it says that Esmeralda has three potential suitors, while Quasimodo is just some deaf and ugly hunchback watching her from his tower. One of the suitors is Phoebus, he shows up and has his way with her. He then gets stabbed in the back by Frollo, who pins the attack on Esmeralda.

It also tells us that Esmeralda is the one who attempted the murder, she is sentenced to be hanged. While the hero in the story, Quasimodo rescues her and hides her in Notre Dame, wherein Frollo tries to rape Esmeralda. Quasimodo saves Esmeralda again and this time Frollo gives Esmeralda up and there is a brief and bloody battle during which Frollo tells her he will rescue her if she will ‘give her love’ to him. She refuses and he hands her over to the troops. Frollo watches as Esmeralda is executed, and laughs hysterically as she writhes at the end of the rope. From then on, Quasimodo throws Frollo from the heights of Notre Dame. And Quasimodo crawls into the crypt where the corpses of executed criminals are left to rot and he wraps himself around Esmeralda’s decaying body. Eventually their two skeletons are found, wrapped in an eternal embrace. He lays there like that until he eventually dies of starvation.

According to an article I read entitled, "Necrophiles" by Katherine Ramsland on crimelibrary.com, she said that "Necrophilia is an erotic attraction to corpses, with the most common motive cited by psychologists as the attempt to gain possession of an unresisting or nonrejecting partner." in other words it's making love or having inter-course with a dead corpse. I think that Necrophilia is one of the most weird and bizarre practices of abnormal and perverse sensuality because a normal person can't possibly receive pleasure from a dead body anymore.

Gravediggers and mortuary attendants are most often found practicing necrophilia. They are engage in this activity because of their loneliness and coupled with easy access to corpses. It is known that necrophiles often choose a profession which allows them free and unhindered access to dead bodies.

According to Dr. Jonathan Rosman and Dr. Phillip Resnick in their article entitled "Sexual Attraction to Corpses: A Psychiatric Review of Necrophilia," there are three basic types of "true" necrophilia. First is the Necrophilic homicide which is murder to obtain a corpse. Next is the Regular necrophilia, the use of corpses already dead for sexual pleasure and lastly, the Necrophilic fantasy, envisioning the acts but not acting on them.

Necrophilia is a very rare and poorly understood phenomenon. There are apparently no effective treatment for this yet based on researchers. The Hunchback of Notre Dame may come out as a Necrophilia but it involves and teaches us a moral lesson too. No one is in fact ugly. We were all created as we are, no ifs no buts. When it comes to love, it doesn't matter whether you're cool, glamorous and fashionable. It only takes a good heart to steal someone's heart.