Rugrats:
The Freudian concept addressed here is that of neurosis and the effects of trauma. All of parents have experienced a loss of some kind and in the case of Stu and Chaz we can see how their behaviors/personalities have changed in response. Chaz's nervousness and Stu's toy making reminded me of Freud's discussion of the unconscious manifesting itself in the conscious. Stu makes toys for his son despite his death- revealing an unconscious desire. Similarly, Chaz's behavior reveals an unconscious greater more overwhelming anxiety. Angelica's situation is also similar as she creates the other children to fulfill her unconscious desire for attention and meaningful interactions that she lacks with her parents.
Fairly Oddparents:
Here we have a few more concepts than just coping with trauma. We see examples of transference, repression, and (of course) sexual trauma that is the root of the problems. Timmy imagining his fish to be his godparents is an example of transference and repression. Timmy is repressing the grief caused by the death of his godparents and is coping with it by transferring the comfort, safety, and support he experienced onto his fish. This is supported by Timmy's fear that Mr. Crocker will take the fish. If they are taken his delusion is broken and Timmy would have to face the thing he unconciously repressed. The mention of sexual advances being an added source of truama is Freudian in it's nature as well.
As I said earlier, these interpretations are a little bit of a stretch (not to mention highly unlikely in other psychological regards) and take things out of context but aside from providing an interesting way of seeing Freudian concepts it also shows how Freud is used in pop culture. We have a tendency to try and find Freud everywhere and, as in this case, it doesn't always belong. While things like this can be amusing it begs the question with how Freud's work is regarded and used today.
I wonder if Angelica's creations of the babies had anything to do with infantile sexuality ? I know, I'm making the show even more creepy, however if Angelica lacks the proper parental attention (and a father figure in the show; she's predominantly taken care of by her mother) then certain Freudian concepts like the Oedipus complex wouldn't take place.
ReplyDeleteI agree that these characters display the concept of coping with trauma by coming up with an alternate reality for themselves. I also believe not only in these cartoons we can see the freudian concept of coping with trauma but we can see a lot of sublimation which is said to be in a lot of disney films for the past few years.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's that surprising to find Freudian elements in most children's literature, because so much of children's literature has roots in fairy tales and folk tales, which are extremely receptive to Freudian interpretations.
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