Hey Arnold Movie Analysis

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90’s television shows commonly centered on the urban life of children. Few shows give a relatable example of the world children in this decade saw outside of their televisions sets. Hey Arnold! (1994) was unique in that way. The Nickelodeon cartoon pressed the bounds of children’s shows by displaying every aspect of urban life; the good, the bad and the ugly. The creators shunned the cookie-cutter storyline and painted a diverse cast with vibrant palette of characters from different races and religions, and fought gender stereotypes.
Hey Arnold! (1994), which spanned over a decade, centered on the lives of a class of fourth-graders at PS. 118. Episodes dealt with fairly adult subject matters including race, complex family dynamics, and gender …show more content…

Including the formerly mentioned interracial characters, a wealthy Hispanic P.S. 118 student, and three distinctly identified Asian characters of Vietnamese, Japanese, and Korean backgrounds. In fact, two tenants of Arnold’s home are immigrants whose back stories are shown in detail.
Helga Pataki, a character briefly mentioned earlier is perhaps the most interesting and entertaining character on Hey Arnold! Rather than embrace the schoolgirl stereotypes, the creators of this show shaped Helga into a multi-dimensional character. Helga was full of contradictions. While her personality was hard and “tomboy”-esque she wore a pink, dress, pigtails, and a bow. Protagonist, Arnold brought out the worst in her because she was (not so secretly) in love with him. That being said, she Helga Pataki is probably the most complex female cartoon character to date. While she was an outright bully who came across as a brat, in private Helga is gentle, creative and intelligent. Her layers, when peeled back, made her a fan favorite and viewers cheered for her love for Arnold to be requited. Their interactions overthrew the typical gender roles of crushes. The cliché of boys picking on the girls they like was flipped as Helga displayed the typically “masculine traits”, being aggressive, rude, and insensitive to her classmates. At the same time, Arnold exhibited what could be considered feminine aspects by being compassionate and caring for his friends, even

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