Men will literally tell their grandnephew to fight a bat in the kitchen instead of going to therapy.
(Video creator uses They/Them pronouns)
0:00 – Intro
1:51 – Soos
4:46 – Fiddleford and Tate
16:02 – Preston Northwest
21:12 – Filbrick Pines
36:45 – Outro
Voices provided by Ella Cesari (https://twitter.com/drawnwithoutref, ellacesari.weebly.com) and ThatGFFan (https://twitter.com/ThatGFFAN, @ThatGFFan on YouTube). THANK YOU BOTH SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!)
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Alex didnt say that he didnt consider it abusive he just said that he didnt intend for it to come across as abusive that doesnt mean that he doesnt consider conditioning someone with a bell abusive
You did a great job! Do you think you’ll talk about Gravity Falls fan fiction again, like you did in a previous video?
Wonderful video(as always)! The joke I like to make with my friends wrt the way Alex doesn’t seem to see the way he’s written Preston/Filbrick(among other aspects of the show) is that Alex Hirsch is a master of writing the world’s loudest, most overt subtext without ever realizing he's done it.
thank YOU! how Dipper's relationship to Stan gets framed really bothers me as well. Probably my biggest problem with Gravity Falls over all.
I rewatched this show a year ago and the way Dipper's masculinity gets mocked is honestly really unpleasant and doesn't really say anything compelling. Well, it does but kind of unintentionally: You get punished if you don't succeed by patriarchal standards of masculinity. Are you really a man at all then or just "a screw-up" like Stan said. And that's soooo interesting but I don't think the show understands that like you said. The show seems to think it's just… funny? I guess? that this twelve-year -old boy isn't manly enough? It kind of makes my heart hurt a little to think that young boys are made to feel so useless.
You know watching all your videos it's really hard to tell if you like this show. I'll need a couple more multi-hour video essays to convince me
I don't usually read fanfiction but can someone please direct me to those fics where Stan punches Soos' dad in the face? I really really want to see that
“It’s like he’s trying to re-teach Dipper the toxic masculinity he unlearned in Dipper vs Manliness” YES, EXACTLY. This is also a problem I have with Fight Fighters, with the whole “fight like a man” thing being seen as the right thing to do. It just feels like a step back from what Dipper had learned. And it’s made clear that the intent is for this to be seen as a positive, because Dipper’s hero moment at the climax of Gideon Rises is framed as him “manning up” to save the day by beating the shit out of Gideon, instead of using his wits or intellect (which he apparently doesn’t have without the Journal from how the episode tells it). Like, I think the intent might be to highlight the positive ideal of what masculinity is (mainly, protecting the ones you love), but it is SO muddied by what Dreamscaperers does to justify abuse in the name of “tough love”. It just all really rubs me the wrong way.
Anyways, great video as always!
But what you haven't considered is that the abusive father's in this show is actually a reference to my childhood issues
Need an I Will Remember You episode now but with McGucket and Tate
I don't actually think think the scene with Ford and Dipper is about repressing emotions, it's more so about overcoming anxiety even for a brief moment, which has always been something Dipper struggled with
Honestly, I wasn't conditioned with a bell, but Pacifica's situation is very relatable for me. I was emotionally abused by my mother and step father, and it was always hard to try and stand up for myself when I considered something to be unfair.
I didn't dare to start arguments, because I knew that if I did, they would prevent me from playing video games (which was only 1 hour per day since they considered it a bad influence and what I used for escapism).
The worst thing is that the 1 hour per day thing wasn't even for everyone. It eventually learned that it was for me only. Because I was "disobedient". My sister could play longer if she wanted to. She who always did what they wanted they way they wanted.
But it's not all. They would also give me a stern talking-to when I rebelled which I was specifically afraid of and trying to avoid. And on rare occasions when I really felt like speaking up, my step father would hit me. Yeah he has anger issues.
So I really relate to Pacifica having to make an effort to do something that goes against her parents' will, and when she eventually does, it really felt awesome to see that she managed to overcome her parents' abuse.
I wish I would have watched this show earlier, but since my parents consider video games and animated shows to be for kids and that I had to stop liking them when I grew up, I never had Disney+ and I didn't know what streaming sites are.
Now I live with my (biological) father instead. It's better, but it's still not perfect. Mostly because of transphobia. My father isn't nearly as transphobic as my mother and step father are, but he still refuses to use my prefered name and pronouns.
And it hurts since he was the person I could always count on when I needed to talk about the situation with my mother and step father. He used to be there when I needed it, but that's not the case anymore.
Also he almost never tries stuff I like (or at least not before I insist for weeks) when I always try stuff he likes, even if it's not the kind of stuff I usually play or watch. Since I keep an open mind, we can discuss, theorize, joke about what he likes.
Well except when he "jokes" about how what I like isn't as good as make it out to be. You know, as if it's not that great. And that includes shows like Gravity Falls, Amphibia and The Owl House, or games like Undertale or Celeste.
And both his transphobia and his disinterest in what I like originate from the same problem. If he can't relate to a theme or a problem, then it's not that important to him, and it's not that interesting nor well written if it's in a piece of fiction.
It's always about HIM I'm trans, but he doesn't even want to try gendering me correctly because HE sees me as a boy. He doesn't find Celeste that well written because HE can't relate to having emotional issues, apparently.
It's better than living with my mother, but being an unemployed burden to society with no big diploma outside of the baccalauréat and no university that matches my interests near me, I'm gonna be in this not so great situation for a while.
I try to make my own personal projects work, but it's a very slow process. It's a complicated situation, but how could I even go outside and find a job if I don't feel happy in my body ? I don't even require surgery or anything, I just want feminine clothes.
I would have thought that Mr. Pines and Mr Northwest (the two most hated dads in the show) were TIED for first place with solos’ dad being second place…
I don’t take issue Ford telling Dipper not to show emotion in that specific episode. He was just telling him how the security droids worked, not giving him actual life advice
I've gotta say, I really see some healthy growth in society or fandom-culture here.
Like, this is not obvious abuse, for most people I've grown up with, abuse is only obvious when it gets physicsl, but that the physicsl is so empathetic to these fictional characters and picks up on nuances like emotional abuse, it's kinda nice to know that there is a place where people can openly adress emotionsl abuse without being shamed for acting like emotional abuse is not as impactful as physicsl abuse.
I myself was abused as a kid, physicslly but also emotionally. I've always said, even as a child, the worse pain was from emotional abuse, not physical. Bruises and scratches fade, you know one day your limbs will look normal again, at worst there will be a scar that takes time to fade, but you'l always remember that your parents thought you deserve this, you always remember the way the people who were supposed to love you and the people you yourself love, consciously decided to harm you.
I Love your Videos ♥️😍🫶🏻🥰
Hopefully Shermie and Dad Pines are better dads. Tho, if they did have kids at 15, I'm sure that comes with its own set of issues. (That's not to say teen parents are always bad, I'm sure there are good teen parents but it's obviously harder to have kids at 15 than at 25 or 30)
I Love your Deep dive Analysen as much as i Love the Show ♥️😍🥰🫶🏻
Hmm 618 is 6 times 103 … So it's the day of Pixar and computer animation
Gaara's uncle never hated him. It was an act. When gaara fought his undead dad in the fourth great ninja war the father revealed it was his idea for his uncle to tell gaara that.
I don’t know if I forgot or if kid me just never got it, but McGucket’s backstory being an allegory for substance abuse flew over my head.
I’ve always felt so honored to have been born on the gravity falls number
I think the thing for me about Stan is that I never felt like I needed his parenting skills examined through the lens of the cycle of abuse because like… he's not one? I would've just assumed that the reason he's being horrible is just he has way too little experience to be responsible for the twins and kinda ends up treating kids the same way he treats his adult (and probably shady) peers, and doesn't really know enough about parenting or have enough experience with kids to understand the potential damage he could be doing.
I didn't really wish for a "he may be an abusive father but his abuse is actually his way of showing love" arc and it's kind of a can of worms, right? Because without it I'd just be like "he clearly doesn't know how to responsibly take care of kids, but that's probably part of the reason doesn't have actual kids", which fits the whole vibe way better? Like he's just treating them the same way he'd treat inexperienced adults joining his criminal enterprise, and not really understanding how to act when they're little kids and family instead of henchmen. And at that point the blame lies with their actual parents who let them stay with Stan without supervision, but I'm sure they wouldn't if they knew what was up haha
"You know what happens when cis men write tv shows" IM CRYING THAT WAS SO GOOD
Now the “You see it’s funny because marriage is terrible.” line has got a whole new meaning if you’re thinking that Stan’s views on love have been skewed by what his father says to him.
Balos
ALL OF THIS. OMG. THANK YOU.
And I’d just like to say that it’s really refreshing to see someone who likes GF actually be willing to criticize it and point out that a lot of it hasn’t aged well. The majority of people I’ve seen talk about the show treat it like it’s some sort of mostly-flawless masterpiece and I’ve gotten really sick of it, and I say that as someone who also likes the show. So yeah, thank you for your service~ Love your content!
The Society of the Blind Eye isn't a cult, it's a secret society. That's an important distinction.
YET ANOTHER BANGER!!!!! literally every single video u make about this show makes me interested in it again and i’m looking forward to watching the rest (and anything upcoming about other pieces of media too!!!!) keep rockin it!! :))
Clarifying a couple things:
1.) I use They/Them pronouns
2.) Yes I am, indeed, overanalyzing details in a children's cartoon. (To be fair, I DID warn you at 0:40)
3.) Regarding the Ford part at 34:39, I do not think that Ford is necessarily indicating that fear itself is BAD or trying to give life advice (they are, after all, facing a killer robot that senses fear) but the expectation for a child to just Not Be Afraid and (from the perspective of the robot) not even physically show signs of fear, at least FEELS more substantial than just "this is how to take down the security robot" because the EPISODE acts like it is substantial. The way the music swells when he finally does face down the security bot, compounded with the series' past episodes indicating that Dipper isn't tough enough, implies to me that the narrative wants us to think that Dipper not being afraid here (like, not even having an elevated heart rate) is a growth moment, and that it's imparted on him by Ford, who in part was raised with the ideal to be as tough as you can. But I think I definitely could have clarified this in the video.
4.) As I mentioned, not everyone I mention in this video is necessarily abusive. I hope people don't think I hate this show. This is my favorite show.
(I'm only tough on it so when the world fights, it fights back. It's tough love. /j)
5.) This is NOT the last episode in the PROJECT 6-18 series, I just didn't finishing the last video in time 😅. Outside of YouTube, I work full time, which made it tough to complete the last vid (would you believe it if I told you the last video involves musical numbers?). Releasing 5 videos in one (or two) weeks is an undertaking, but if you would like to help support my efforts, I have a Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/hanahyperfixates
See y'all next week (probably)
It's Father's Day? I thought it was 12th november, or is it a different day depending on where you live?
I love this video, thank you! I dragged out this account just to comment on it. It unfortunately resonates a lot in regards to my relationship with my own dad, which is not great to put it lightly. Gravity Falls swept me in from the moment it came out, but it became even more important to me when I learned that Alex Hirsch, and Dipper and Mabel are Jewish in the same way I am. We’re patrilineal Jews from interfaith families. There’s a mezuzah by the elder Pines twins’ childhood home’s door proving the Stans are ethnically Jewish (along with comments Alex has made further confirming that), and I’m assuming along with Filbrick being Jewish, their mother is as well. If Filbrick did indeed come to America during that time, that makes them even more similar to my family.
Regarding the treatment of Stan’s and Dipper’s masculinity, something I haven’t seen mentioned here yet or anywhere else that I think adds important context, is that there’s an antisemitic stereotype/caricature that Jewish men are feminine. Not excusing Filbrick’s abuse at all; there’s no excuse or justification for abuse, but I can see where the start of that generational trauma came from. We have a massively long history of intergenerational trauma to begin with, and a lot of Jews in America in that time were terrified, and for survival felt it was better to assimilate than to be seen as Jewish. My dad was born during the Shoah (my parents had me super late) and my grandmother was scared to speak Yiddish even in their home and didn’t want my dad learning it, and now I know none of our language. I can absolutely see a Jewish father with lots of trauma, being aware of that specific element of antisemitism that was very present then, combined with the dated views of masculinity at the time, and being very afraid for his kids and expressing that in really harmful ways, and instilling in Stan particularly some deeply harmful views on that, which Stan then carries onto Dipper.
I have no idea how Alex doesn’t see Pacifica’s situation has a abuse though, and can only hope he’s since realized. It seems he might?? have with Inside Job? One of the episodes I know he wrote involved the main character realizing how her father emotionally neglected/abused her.
I love that you call Stan “Mr. Pines”.
Parenting does have some difficult choices to make.
I don't think Filbrick is a bad guy.
We see in Dreamscaperers, Filbrick does care for Stanley.
Filbrick does seem he has a cold exterior, but a loving heart.
Love that is lovey-dovey is not real love, its a much idealized version of it.
Tough love is what really prepares people for life, and a good parent would try to direct you on the right path.
Parents have to shut you down, so you'll learn to build yourself up.
i find it very odd that alex hirsch said, I didn't intend for them to be abusive i intended … and then literally goes on to discribe something that should be classed as abusive.
Honestly I get the being frustrated when your dad's pulling bullsh*t.
When your literally trying to work…
(also no I will never think Pacifica is just fine there literally treating her like a dog)
Oh, Also I just thought that's just how some people treat boys. So I didn't think to hard about it.
Soos character seems just ableist " let's make fun of autistic people 🤪"
i think as a kid i never realized Filbrick was abusive was bc to me it was more subtle??? like thats shit my mom did to me as a kid so it was well. . . normalized to me. in fact it was actually more tame than the shit my mom would do(minus the kickin out) as she'd get mad at the smallest things and threaten my life or beat me(w a belt, hanger, her hand. sometime even w a cord, be it a charger or HDMI cord). its. . . odd thinkin back on it, especially since i picked up on the Pacofica abuse much quicker, ig bc of the bell thing lmao. and ig in a way this is y i related to Dipper more than Mabel, bc my mom used how she was treated on me, althpugh from wut she's told me it was less than wut she had to go through. and ik she loves me to some extent its jus. . . hard when she acts like she doesnt, or when she out right told me she hated me bc i told her that sometimes she stressed me out alot. but im plannin on movin out soon so hopefull im outve this house by the end of this yr
I think something that Alex definitely missed in that quote you showed from the interview regarding Pacifica’s dad is that viewing your child as a prize not a person, living vicariously through them, forcing your ideals and completely controlling their life IS abuse, everything that he described the relationship to be is abuse, and it seems like he just doesn’t understand the intricacies of what emotional abuse from a caregiver can be. It’s one of the hardest forms of emotional abuse to recognize, particularly when a parent continuously states that they’re doing things because they love their child or because they “want what’s best for them”. It’s hard to find peace between two seemingly contradicting facts; that a victim did experience emotional abuse and their parents also love them. Abuse can come from people who mean well and sometimes just don’t understand that their actions are deeply harmful for a child’s development. Abusers actions are evil but it doesn’t mean that the person automatically is, or that it’s impossible for someone to be rehabilitated after being an abuser. Also yeah, having Pacifica flinch at the sound of a bell and be trained to respond to it like a dog is not exactly giving the impression that this child is not traumatized.