Right! Well, these aren’t the types of articles you wake up and expect to be writing, but then again the world is kind of a funny place like that.
One minute you’re living your life, and then next you’re writing about how Hey Arnold! was about depression and the economy.
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1. Helga’s Mom Is An Alcoholic.
Helga and Olga’s mom, Miriam Pataki is a total drunk. When she isn’t shuffling over to the kitchen to make some “smoothies” (margaritas, perhaps?) then she’s walking around the house, slurring her words.
She is always talking to her daughter about depression.
Which is a pretty good sign either she has it or thinks her daughter does (possibly because she is drunk). Also, there’s one episode where she doesn’t have her license.
Probably because of a DUI.
2. Lila, The Poor Kid
Alright, so the kids are introduced to this new girl who is really cool.
Helga and the other gals get jealous, so they play a really mean prank on Lila, which depresses her enough to skip school.
When they go over to apologize they find out that Lila and her family are poor.
Their house is a total mess and they live in one of the worst parts of the neighborhood.
3. Mr. Hyunh Has To Go Through The Vietnam War And Give Up His Daughter
It’s the reason he has a distaste towards Christmas. Because one year on the holiest of holidays, he was forced to give up his infant daughter to the American military as war raged all around him.
4. Arnold Isn’t Over The Disappearance Of His Parents
Ever since they left him as a baby, Arnold has been internally obsessed with them.
There’s only one bit of proof I need here: he’s been wearing the cap they gave him since birth.
5. The Public School System Is Failing
Someone actually did the math on this one: two (Torvald and Harold) of Arnold’s classmates are 13 years old… in the fourth grade.
Going by that measure, that means around 12.5% is being held back grades.
6. The Patakis
Even if you ignore the fact that the mom may be a drunk, the way they treat Helga is just brutal.
Remember the below scene where she gets totally ignored by them? How heartbreaking is that?
7. Olga’s Going To Lose It
But all that neglect might be good for Helga because when Olga came home from college that one time and found out she got a B+ she just shut down.
Imagine when something even more traumatic comes around?
8. Rhonda Is A Typical Rich Person
At first, when she goes broke, she makes up sensationalized stories about the strange things poor people get up too.
Then, when she does eventually have to live the life of a poor person, she complains the whole time!
9. Harold Is Constantly Getting Fat Shamed
Yes, he is a bully. Yes, he picks on people who are smaller than him.
But there are times in the show when you feel for Harold, like when full-grown adults make fun of his weight.
10. Arnold’s City Is Crime Ridden
There’s this episode where when he’s walking home, Arnold gets mugged by some teenager. He’s pretty badly beaten too. The city he lives in is going to hell, and it’s taking Arnold with it.
Get out of there, Arnold!
11. Chocolate Boy
Chocolate Boy, in general, is mostly sad because he’s an allegory for drug addicts.
You see dear reader, this may be a controversial thing to say but chocolate boy… loves chocolate.
He loves it a little too much, though.
In the same way that a crack addict likes crack a little too much.
Chocolate Boy degrades himself for chocolate, goes through withdrawal symptoms when he doesn’t have any, and has addictive tendencies.
