Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling is a 45-minute web TV special continuing
where the 90’s Nickelodeon animated TV series left off. It follows Rocko, his pals Heffer and
Filburt, and his dog Sparky returning home to O-town two decades (around the
same time the show has been off air) after a rocket launched Rocko’s house into
outer space and left them stranded there (in the episode “Future Schlock”,
which is considered by the creator as the finale).
Awed by all the new stuff the 21st
century has to offer – which they’re only witnessing and experiencing for the
first time ever – the three best friends eagerly and speedily immersed
themselves into them. But while Heffer
and Filburt’s excitement for consuming the latest products and culture doesn’t
wane, Rocko soon becomes overwhelmed by all the changes, and begins missing the
good old days he’s familiar with. His distress
is only further aggravated when he learns that his favorite show, The Fatheads, has long been
cancelled.
Meanwhile, the re-entry of Rocko’s
house causes Ed Bighead to make a clerical error that leads to Conglom-O’s
bankruptcy, and in turn, O-Town’s economic crash. Rocko convinces Ed that a revival of The Fatheads is the answer to making
Conglom-O and O-Town solvent again as it will rake in tons of money. But in order for such a revival to work, they
must find The Fathead’s creator – Ed’s
son, Ralph Bighead – who had set out on a journey of self-discovery years ago
and has been off the grid ever since.
There was a time during my
childhood (particularly, when Nickelodeon was my favorite channel in cable)
wherein Rocko’s Modern Life was one
of my most favorite shows on TV. It was
weird, bonkers, violent, and coarse – like Ren
& Stimpy in a lot of ways, but tamer – and it mightily appealed to my
undeveloped, juvenile brain. It was
probably because its surreal humor and rough slapstick stood out from among all
those 90’s cartoons. When I got older, I
learned that underneath them were some clever satirical commentary and double
meanings. As a kid, they mostly went
over my head, but I probably somewhat recognized and appreciated how they made
the show “different” from others, although I was unable to understand truly and
fully in what way it was so.
Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling is a worthy sequel to the
animated series. That means it turns one’s
brain into mush with its in-your-face cartoon insanity. To the uninitiated, this may come off as obnoxious
– I get it. But to those who watched the
original show in the 90’s, they will know what to expect from it, and be
prepared for it, and recognize what its appeal is. There will surely be some rejection coming
from the sophisticated taste that one has developed as an adult, but one will
also have no trouble tapping into the inner child that used to find this type
of cartoon hysterical and immersive.
Moreover, someone who watched the
show as a kid in the 90’s, is now an adult who’s fond of nostalgia, has experienced
engaging in fandom and commercialism, and is versed on the state of geek culture will pick
up on how creatively meta and poetic Static Cling gets.
As an adult, I was also able to immediately
realize what deeper message it wants to convey this time around, which is this:
people can look back fondly to the things they used to love, but it must not
come at the cost of stubbornly refusing to accept change, which is inevitable,
and thus, though it might bring initial inconvenience, its rejection will yield
worse outcomes – misery for himself and/or the people around him. And I thought it was worthwhile theme... half
of the time. I say half of the time, because
it unfortunately includes transgenderism as part of the argument. Embracing change means embracing reality and growth
for the better. Transgenderism is the
opposite of that (but this is a topic for another day).
In the end, Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling is still pretty good. It has some great gags; it made me laugh and chuckle a couple of times. It’s enjoyable and endearing enough, but primarily because it
hits the nostalgia buttons. However, if an
intention of this special was to be a pilot for a revival series, I don’t think
it has made a compelling case. Thus, even
if Rocko’s Modern Life gets revived
for 21st century TV, my fondness for it – as what it used to be during my childhood – likely won’t.
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