when the cartoons run deeper than the ink used to sketch them more times than not those episodes
live on as standouts for those respective series sometimes it feels too easy to write
off cartoons as just cartoons and not a medium to tell different unique and meaningful stories
lessons or ideals in some shows it may just catch you off guard shifting in tonality while in other
shows it just hits deeper than it usually does that's the case for as told by ginger another
klasky super production on nickelodeon this time focusing on ginger as she navigates school and
life with her friends and family as told by ginger already stood out in comparison from
other shows on nickelodeon especially with all the other shows specifically from klasky suppo
that were still airing at the same time with the closest in similarities being rugrats all
grown up but even then that still had the wonder and adventure from the rugrats as told by ginger
was slower paced and had tackled a more down to earth look at a girl dealing with preteen life
the show was not afraid to hit on more personal topics pertaining to growing up and learning about
the world to me it truly stands out as one of the not so in-your-face nicktoons of the time even
feeling like an animated semi-teen drama show but for today i wanted to look into what may be the
most serious and impactful episode from as told by ginger and how it handled such a serious topic
as told by ginger season 2 episode 17 and she was gone the episode starts off with the shot of a
raven flying through the town a quick glimpse of a girl walking within what seems like a desolate
town is shown before we enter the school classroom where in which jinger's teacher is reading some
poetry once she is finished it seems like ginger is half paying attention keeping her mind to the
window but her eyes to the teacher the main thing that she retained from anything in that class was
entering the poetry writing competition where the winner's work would be published as she leaves
the school it turns into a bright light as she vanishes within it and we'll bring that back up
later on now at home ginger starts writing her poem and the words seem to pour right out as we
see the visualization of the typewriter turning into strings that hold up a marionette girl we
hear part of the poem through ginger's narration before interrupted by the t she was making at the
school once the teacher reads her poem we as the audience still have not heard the full thing so it
comes as a surprise when the teacher while saying ginger's writing is great is concerned about the
story ginger was telling it was dark and ginger was excited that she can write something that
can evoke these emotions but the teacher wants her to see the school psychiatrist ginger is
conflicted with her emotions now more than ever after being so proud and into the work she wrote
only to feel sad and let down when the response to her work is that her herself may have some issues
this is ginger fally she likes ian richton but so does miranda who doesn't like ginger's friend macy
now at lunch with her friends she opens up to them about what happened with her poem in the teacher's
response so once she reads the rest of it out we know the full story of the poem and how it ends we
see what made it concerning to the teacher in the first place the poem itself describes a girl who
longs to disappear and be free repeating several times and ending with the words she was gone
once finished we cut back to the cafeteria where both courtney and miranda listen in to the poem
where courtney relays pity and so does miranda but more so in a gaslighting non-understanding sense
ginger argues with them that the poem isn't about herself and she doesn't want to disappear and she
is not depressed her two best friends dottie and macy both relay their love and support to
her that if she ever had these feelings in any way that they want her to tell them and i think
this scene here showcases best about growing up and understanding these thoughts as well
as the realities behind them growing up learning about what these feelings are is one of the most
understated issues within discussing mental health that i first hand experienced growing up it's hard
to communicate that in which is new to you and the fears that come with opening up and fear of
being looked at differently by family teachers and peers showing the dualities in this episode
between responses by ginger's peers paints a very realistic picture of how others perceive and
understand situations like this differently again pointing back at those emotions being felt or not
for the first time the next day jinger speaks with her school psychiatrist who she has a hard time
going into her feelings with afterwards courtney now dressed in all black including her hair and
how being black claims to be sad and now dealing with struggles telling ginger that she's not the
only sad one in the school now while sure courtney may have her own things that she is going through
this is her baiting at attention from others like she usually does this also gets called out later
by the psychiatrist but with the pity she felt for ginger plus the validation of being seen
the literal opposite of the poem this is still in a way courtney reaching out in some form now
i'm not gonna sit here and diagnose a fictional character but it still does allude to her own
situation going on in itself still falls into the category of what she's really reaching out for so
whether or not it was in the intention of the writing to have courtney react and contribute
the way she did it shows how deep and different the interpretation of these feelings can be
i mean this episode was nominated for a prime time emmy award for outstanding animated program
sadly it lost to the simpsons ginger's mom read the poem and was the only person to not judge
one way or another on what ginger was feeling she loves how ginger expresses herself within the poem
and tells her some mind easing words of wisdom you don't have to be afraid of your feelings ever
no matter what they are no one knows you better than you know yourself so don't let people try
to convince you that you're someone you're not a deeper more concise way to clear the worries
of others perceiving you and how to understand yourself we finish up with ginger realizing that
a bit of herself is in the story she writes and thanks to the group sessions she has at
school with a psychiatrist is appreciative of the fact that she can share all these feelings
she understands why people had the reactions they did to her poem as everyone can at some
point pick out and relate to those feelings and see themselves within the work through writing the
poem jinger got to admit to getting more out of it than just trying to write for the contest and in
doing so enjoying the process of getting to know herself better and see herself a bit more clearly
the ending shows that same girl with no strings walking to town stopping at a printing press where
after ginger's narration stops we see the poem being printed as a book written by her played to
a song that is singing the lyrics from the poem at the same time ginger's brother carl and his friend
hoodsie have their own parallel story regarding pulling a prank to test out vanishing powder they
end up using it on noelle sussman a student who fit into the background and really wasn't given
the time of day because they were different after starting the prank carl starts to have regrets
trying it on her and hopes that it doesn't work as he finally sees her and admires everything
about her then the next day she was gone absent from school and the guilt he feels causes him
to hyper focus on the situation over everything else going on in his life he eventually finds out
what really happened to noel she had just moved across town and now attends a different school
where we do see a nice moment between the two where she embraces who she is no matter what
and carl sees her for her having the b plot follow a girl who blended into the background
only noticed as she was gone paints a similar story to the main plot of the episode just telling
it through the eyes of someone noticing it happen rather than from the perspective of the girl
we gotta go ginger lost a diary and she can't remember what happens next
like redhead's named ginger then you'll love what you're about to see ginger is back the use of
visuals in this episode represents a large array of emotions stepping into the light leaving the
school as if jinger was losing herself within the story becoming her own puppet master controlling
these emotions through her words this was her vessel to express ideas and thoughts that she
wasn't necessarily feeling but was trying to understand ultimately seeing something more in
herself by the end of the episode we further go on to see many examples of people in her life
handling what they perceive her as with concerns from friends and teachers whether warranted or
not or in the pursuit of understanding opening a dialogue and caring for her at the end of the day
with others like courtney and miranda both grossly misunderstanding what the severity could have been
miranda making demeaning comments and courtney placing pity on ginger and using sadness as an
image to seek attention all while ginger just existed as others tried to tell her story she
may as well have been that lonely girl walking a town with no one around but in that story at least
ginger would be in control of the narrative and control of her feelings i'm sure there are many
ways to fully dissect it and discuss it but i think this episode really handles the topic
of depression in adolescence quite well and in a real way with how others around understand it and
how maybe you as an individual feel or not feel about it now mental health is something i'm a
big advocate for usually every year i get involved with nami the national alliance on mental illness
this year is no different as well as this is not a sponsor in any way shape or form
in fact this year i have teamed up with a fellow friend and youtuber leonhart you probably know him
from his pokemon card videos he reached out to me in a total of 72 other creators across different
social platforms to raise awareness and come together to try and raise a total of 1 million
or more for nami ongoing right now until the end of the year if you do donate through the link in
the pinned comment you'll be entered to win some incredible vintage pokemon card products and more
so i will not only be opening this pokemon base set 2 booster pack for you all right now i will
also be donating the current value of this pack to the campaign thanks so much for those who choose
to help out in this year's hashtag give a heart campaign with leonhardt and all the other creators
involved mental health isn't a topic to take lightly while i won't get into my own personal
detailed experiences this all truly means a lot to me and i'm grateful for your time what are
some other episodes in cartoons not specifically just as told by ginger that may resonate with you
hold deeper in more serious themes as well as stand out from the norm of the show let me
know your thoughts on this episode of as told by ginger and how you thought it handled this topic
usually my videos are a bit more joke filled and lighthearted because i'm just a dude who likes to
chat about shows from his childhood online so i thank you for hanging out with me here today
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she didn't have companions no need for earthly things
she only wanted freedom from what she felt were puppets dreams