The Nostalgia of Mitski and Marceline

Many young adults cling to the comfort of animated children’s shows as they straddle the line between adulthood and childhood, finding peace in the shows’ uses of popular music.

Written by Kaci Pelias

Healthy ways of dealing with emotions, nuanced discussions of displacement, and positive queer female representation can positively influence children as they grow up. Though network television often misses the mark in these aspects, animated shows like Adventure Time and the new Netflix original series Hilda revolutionize children’s media with same-sex storylines and powerful female characters. And elementary school kids aren’t the only ones tuning in.

Young adults, specifically college students, don’t always leave cartoons in our childhoods. It makes sense: we relate to the themes of self-discovery and change that children’s media revolve around. Toeing the line between adult and teen, wondering when to stop calling yourself a “kid,” and wondering when you stop qualifying as one, many young adults turn to animated shows for a nostalgia fix — and to feel less alone.

Hilda has been my latest source of self care. Following the adventures of a brave blue-haired girl, her friends, and an elf that sits on her shoulder, Hilda explores mother-daughter relationships and empathy. One particular scene showed a weepy Hilda and her mom looking at their house, recently crushed by a giant, and reflecting on their own indirect violence against the tiny invisible houses crushed by theirs.

The scene brought tears by itself, but the waterworks really turned on when they began playing Frankie Cosmos’ “Fool.” The iconic tune of every early-20-something who’s ever had their heart broken, the song really resonated with me and my friends, who I later forced to watch the show. In the context of the scene, “Fool” touched on the feeling of realizing that your perception of the world isn’t necessarily reality; Hilda didn’t realize the damage that she and her mother were causing until the same thing happened to them. An indie hit among older “kids” in a show designed for younger children took me by surprise.

Later, I watched an episode of Adventure Time where Marceline, a vampire that falls in love with a character named Princess Bubblegum, performs in a talent show with a cover of Mitski’s “Francis Forever.”While performing, Marceline loses her pick and cannot go on until Bubblegum finds it and tosses it up to the stage. (Though this interaction isn’t as explicit as the pair’s kiss in the series finale, I would like to point out the queerness of a girl helping another girl find the pick for her bass so that she can play a Mitski cover. Very gay!) “Francis Forever,” in this scene, serves as an expression of longing for an absent love while trying not to care what other people think about you.

Both Frankie Cosmos and Mitski explore themes of growing up and finding yourself in ways that completely justify their placement in these shows, but there’s still something to be said about the older audience of the artists in comparison to the intended audiences of the animated shows. Perhaps the shows recognize that many older folks can connect with their messages and embrace their storylines and representation with more enthusiasm than with network shows targeted towards them. By adding music that young adults gravitate towards, these animated shows only increase their appeal and viewer ratings in comparison to other shows.

I like to think of Frankie Cosmos and Mitski as tributes to the these shows’ older audience, that the showrunners know about the college kids crying about Marceline and Princess Bubblegum and want to give them a little nod, reminding them that they will always feel heard somewhere, even if that’s in animated shows about adventurers and talking dogs.

Afterglow ATXNovember 28, 2018kaci pelias