Yesterday
was Tuesday, but I didn’t post a list because the topic was cheerful reads and
after going through my read list I concluded that I am not cheerful. At least
not when I read. So instead I decided to depress other people as well, by
explaining how you should not revisit childhood favourites.
Pippi Longstocking, being freaking awesome
Over Christmas, in Norway, they broadcast
Pippi Longstocking, preferably the Christmas one. I watched it last year, with
my parents, and had a moment of just rethinking all of Pippi, and my childhood.
And also I thought that parents are good at just keeping their feelings inside.
Because we watched it and in a moment of clarity I just went:
“This is the most depressing thing ever.”
And my parents just nodded, they knew all the time y’all. Now growing up is
quite possibly the worst thing on the planet, because you look back on things
you liked when you were a kid and suddenly realize how horrifying it is. The
writer Stieg Larsson has said that Lisbeth Salander, his sad, depressing,
psychotic hacker was based on the concept: “Pippi as a grown-up.” Now, that is
sad.
Grown up Pippi
I really loved Pippi when I was a kid. She
was spunky and fun, she can lift a horse, I liked horses. Also her dad was a
seafarer, basically a pirate, and I love pirates. I genuinely loved Pippi. I
still do. She was my hero. Essentially what I finally noticed when I saw Pippi
last Christmas was that Pippi is an extremely sad and lonely orphan. I know
technically she has a dad, but he isn’t there, so she sort of is an orphan. Her
mother died when she was a baby and there is a scene in the Christmas episode
where she prays to her mother and it is heart-wrenchingly sad. She is nine
years old. 9! She lives alone, with a horse and a monkey. Her friends invite
her over for Christmas but it’s not the same. And you can tell she is lonely.
She wants her parents, and I doubt friends, or the parents of friends can
replace that. Her dad left her with a bunch of gold so there are constantly
these thieves trying to steal it.
I realize the series is about how Pippi is
strong and independent and she can outwit any grown-up, but why doesn’t she
have anyone to look out for her? Surely child services should have stepped in.
That’s not as compelling a story, child services comes in and takes Pippi to
her new foster home, but for this one moment when I saw it I just really wanted
to help her.
I might have taken this whole thing a bit
too seriously, but I couldn’t help myself. She seemed so sad and alone. And it
makes it impossible to see Pippi in the same way.
Dobby the houseelf
It sucks a bit to grow up. Like when I
realized how deeply disturbing the house elves story in Harry Potter is. They
are slaves that have been so severely brainwashed that they don’t think of
themselves as slaves. The only person who seems to see this is a girl who
wasn’t raised in the same world so she has the outside view. When she tries to
make it better she is laughed at, not only by other characters, but the way
Rowling wrote it makes the reader find her ridiculous as well. I love Harry
Potter, I love Dobby and Kreacher, and I love that Hermione wants to help them,
despite themselves.
I’m an idiot, and I hate being an adult.
