Tuesday, February 19, 2013

The Fairly Oddparents - a Hawthornian cartoon?

We had mentioned in class today the way that Chilingworth's impending insanity stemming from his obsession with exposing Hester's paramour mirrored Mr. Crocker's obsession with exposing fairy god parents. In addition, the name of the town where the show takes place is called Dimmesdale. Timmy, the main character in the show is an outcast in many senses, he is rejected by society and his fairy god parents are his salvation of sorts; he receives them because he is so miserable; in this sense they are both his punishment and his salvation as Pearl is for Hesther. Can you think of any other connections between this or other shows? Do you see any other Hawthornian influence?




-Becca

2 comments:

  1. Timmy wears a red/pink hat in the series similar to Hester's letter. It's his "signature" and identifier in many episodes in the same way it is for Hester. Also the nature of his fairy god parents as being magical and "elven" is similar to the way Pearl's nature is described.

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  2. Mr. Crocker is also a teacher (not specified which kind) but if he is a science teacher, that could be a reference to Chillingworth's logical mind/plant obsession. Vicky, Timmy's evil babysitter, could also represent one side of Hawthornian society, because she constantly tortures and torments him. Timmy's parents could represent society's ignorance to its brutality in regards to Hester's situation. Cosmo and Wanda, along with the whole fairy world, could most obviously represent the witchcraft that was a big issue in New England when the Scarlet Letter takes place. That's all I can come up with for now :)

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