The Truth About Adventure Time

Adventure Time is a brilliantly fantastic "children's" show (I say "children's" only because I'm 21 and I know a plethora of other adults that watch this show). Adventure Time is set in the Land of Ooo, which is a post-apocalyptic future that exists about one thousand years after a horrible nuclear war that the characters call the "Great Mushroom War". The farther you get into the show, the more of a story line you will gain - keep an eye out for Marceline and and the Ice King...they'll give you a lot of backstory. While some may consider this a children's show, I'm here to tell you that I believe that Adventure Time is one of the deepest, most emotional adult shows that deals with a multitude of  problems that people face every day. This, is the truth about Adventure Time.

Dating
Adventure Time, firstly, deals with the difficulty of dating. Finn the human (the main character of the show), deals with intense feelings regarding the women he loves. Since the first episode, it is apparent that Finn has a huge crush on Princess Bubblegum, who is a few years older than him and does not return his affections. He eventually comes to date Flame Princess, a young girl his own age who is made out of fire. During these romantic relationships, a few of the characters have to wrestle with the emotional risks of dating...the same risks we face every day.

 

Insecurity

Every single person suffers with some form of insecurity, and Adventure Time deals with this too. The particular character that wrestles with insecurity the most, is the Ice King. The Ice King feels the need to steal princesses because he is insecure about himself as a person; he's so insecure with who he is that a princess would naturally love him. In the same way, sometimes we feel the need to act a certain way, or dress like someone we're not, because we don't feel like we will be wanted or liked.

 

 


Heartbreak
Finn has carried a torch for Princess Bubblegum ever since he met her, and he continues to love her throughout a good chunk of the show. In one of the episodes, Finn finally confronts Princess Bubblegum about how she's been leading him on, and how hard this has been for him. I think it's safe to say that many of us have been led on and suffered a bad heartbreak because of it.

 

Overthinking
My husband suffers from chronic overthinking. It's one of his best and worst qualities. Adventure Time even deals with the difficulty of overthinking and the fear of the future. Jake the dog has an excellent quote about overthinking, and how focusing on problems that aren't real, are detrimental to one's well-being.

 

   

Finding the Light

In Adventure Time BMO talks about how life can be scary and dark, but that's why we need to concentrate on the light and the positives. I love this quote of BMO's...because I think often times, we get caught up in how scary life can be, and all of the problems we have instead of finding the light.

 

The Ability to be Alone

There's this one scene in Adventure Time where Banana Man comes to the realization that he's alone, but he's good at it. I think we all (in our season of not dating and singleness) have experienced this. We get good at being alone, and even though we may not always like it, we come to terms with it, and then we move on.

Confidence

Every once and a while, Adventure Time does genderbent episodes called Fiona and Cake - Fiona the human girl and Cake the cat. I love these episodes...I mean, girl power! But mostly, I love the confidence and self-assuredness that Fiona has. Just like Finn, Fiona has a huge crush on Prince Bubblegum (the male version of Princess Bubblegum), and she spends a lot of time trying to get his attention. But she comes to this realization that she doesn't need to wait to be noticed by him - she's her own person, and she loves herself. I think everyone could use this amount of confidence. Maybe it's time we listen to Fiona. 

Overall, Adventure Time is an epic show - children's cartoon or not. I hope you take the time to watch this cartoon, and if you already have watched it, I hope this article makes you love the show even more than you already do.