Fifteen years ago today, on May 31st 2004, the world was introduced to a family of animated
pigs, who would become polarising figures in children’s entertainment. There’s Mummy
Pig, the hard-working mother who devotes her life to her family. George, the dinosaur-obsessed
child who uses emotional manipulation to get his own way. Daddy Pig, the family man with
good intentions who just can’t seem to do anything right, and there’s the star of
the show, the titular character herself.
Peppa: "I'm Peppa Pig!" *SNORT*
‘Peppa Pig’ is presented as a colourful, juvenile show with innocent storylines and
wholesome characters. The episodes are just five minutes a piece, and they don’t exactly
have a reputation for being controversial. The plot of each episode is usually so remarkably
mundane, that you may think there is no possible way that they contain any nuance or dark undertones.
But that’s where you’re wrong. Peppa is our protagonist, and she comes across as an
innocuous character on the surface. She has entertained millions of toddlers across Ireland
and the UK, and she is described by Nickelodeon as a “loveable cheeky piggy”. In my opinion,
“cheeky” is a more suitable term for this character, but it is a profound understatement.
Peppa Pig’s characterisation is far more complex than we may realise - the target audience
will take everything they see on the television screen at face value, but Peppa’s character
extends beyond jumping up and down in muddy puddles and singing the ‘Bing-Bong Song’.
Peppa Pig has a lot of noticeable personality flaws - she is apathetic, she has a grandiose
sense of self, she is rude to her family and friends, she envies other people and she is
quick to turn against them out of spite. What’s particularly striking about this is that these
are some of the primary personality traits of narcissists, and Peppa exhibits these traits
in various episodes. So in this video, we are going to explore this behaviour,
and we are going to get inside the mind of Peppa Pig.
Peppa is far from an ideal role model for children, and a lot of parents rightfully
perceive her as a bad influence. Peppa Pig has a lot of friends who she usually gets
along with - Suzy Sheep, Candy Cat, Danny Dog, Emily Elephant, Zoe Zebra and…
heh?
But all it takes is one minute incident for Peppa to instantaneously turn against them
and temporarily end their friendship. Peppa is one of the original pioneers of “cancel
culture”. If she gets jealous of a friend, she will just cancel them then and there,
and Suzy Sheep was a victim of this in one of Peppa Pig’s most infamous scenes.
In Season 3 Episode 28, Peppa has an existential crisis due to her inability to whistle. Peppa’s
character flaws are evident in this episode, because she believes that if she can’t be
successful at something, then nobody else deserves to enjoy that success. When Peppa
discovers that Suzy Sheep can whistle, she is not happy for her friend. She is envious
that she can’t do what Suzy Sheep just did, so how does she react?
Suzy: "Like this?" *whistles*
Suzy Sheep was officially CANCELLED.
Peppa Pig has proven on multiple occasions that she indulges in her own success, at the
expense of others. She is an egotist who believes that she is above everybody else, which she
basically admitted at her birthday party. Peppa’s family once hosted a fancy dress
party for her birthday, and she had to decide who wore the best costume. Her friends dressed
up as a nurse, a pirate, a witch, Peter Casey, a dinosaur and a carrot. There was no prize
for the best costume here, but there are also no prizes for guessing who Peppa chose as the winner.
Peppa: "And the winner is..."
"...ME!"
*shock*
Peppa is not only a self-centred character, but she can become hostile at any time, especially
towards her brother George. Despite the fact that George is a baby with uncontrollable
emotions, Peppa fails to show empathy. She vilifies him if he does anything wrong, and
she never takes his feelings into consideration - I think this clip speaks for itself.
*BIG snort*
Surprisingly, George is not the primary victim of Peppa’s shenanigans, because Peppa usually directs
her volatile behaviour towards another member of the Pig family. This is a character who
is mercilessly bullied by his family and friends in almost every episode, and his name is Daddy
Pig. If you have ever seen an episode of the show, you probably know that bullying Daddy
Pig is a common trope. As a matter of fact, it has been a running gag from seasons 1-6,
and it created one of the most infamous catchphrases in the history of Peppa Pig:
"Daddy's big tummy”.
It’s difficult not to feel any sympathy for Daddy Pig. His weight is treated as a
joke by the other characters, but this isn’t a joke - this is downright bullying. Daddy
Pig is a victim of verbal abuse from his family, despite working a full-time job so he can
provide an enjoyable life for them. He is subjected to relentless fat-shaming from everybody
around him, and to add insult to injury, he is forced to acknowledge his obesity that
he is clearly insecure about. Fat-shaming and verbal harassment is trivialised by Peppa,
who takes no shame in humiliating her father at every possible opportunity. Despite being
the lead character in a cartoon for babies, Peppa acts like a bully towards her father,
but she is not the only character who does this. Ironically, a lot of other... “daddies”
make fun of Daddy Pig’s tummy, even though it is clearly copied and pasted
onto their character models.
Daddy Pig is easily the most likeable character in the show, so it’s tragic that his entire
purpose is to be ridiculed by everybody he communicates with. As I mentioned before,
Daddy Pig has good intentions, and even though he typically gets everything wrong, he always
tries to do what’s right. Peppa Pig is not the role model that kids should look up to.
I have concluded that she has displayed multiple signs of narcissism - verbal abuse, apathy,
volatile behaviour, envy, and self importance. Honestly, if there’s a positive role model
in ‘Peppa Pig’ that children should aspire to be, it’s Daddy Pig. He puts other people
first, he looks after his family, he spends time with his children and tries to make them
laugh and smile, and despite being harassed by his family, he never ever returns that abuse to anybody.
Daddy Pig is the embodiment of the personality that other people should strive to have. His
lifestyle obviously should not be replicated by anybody else because he clearly needs to
control his diet, but Peppa needs to control her behaviour. She may be the main character
of the show, but Daddy Pig is the moral compass. For fifteen years, he has been completely
underappreciated, while displaying compassion and empathy in every episode, and never complaining
about being the punching bag of the family. So, if your children watch Peppa Pig, you
should urge them not to act like Peppa - instead, try encouraging them to act more like Daddy
Pig, because even though he has a big tummy, he has an even bigger heart,
and that is the most important thing of all.