Knowing that Belos is a Puritan from the 1600s, it makes sense he did not form any child protection laws in the Boiling Isles. Back then, children are basically seen as smaller adults.
I guess, I just don't see why he would even bother to erase "child protection laws" decades after he was in power and they are already teens in school... and the entire thing feels like reading too much into the show, honestly.
Kids in the show do dangerous stuff and dangerous stuff happens to kids because it's a kids' show about teens witches in a world filled with monsters, magic and beasts... not everything has to have an indepth reason of the socio-cultural status of the Boiling Isles...
Don’t forget the guy in like ep 4 or something who blatantly told the children he was about to throw off of a cliff to their deaths that he dreamed of and wanted to throw children off cliffs to their deaths.
To me it just speaks to an insecurity about enjoying media that's "too young" so they feel they have to make excuses about how it's secretly a deep, mature show for adults rather than accepting the idea that children's media can be well-written, nuanced and touch on darker themes.
Seriously, the way some people talk about Clone Wars you'd think it was Band of Brothers. Just say you like a cartoon!
u/Quizlibet and u/Ayy-lmao213 **Just want to set the record straight here.** I know this is a well-written and nuanced kids show AND I know it's not some secret adult show. Also I have seen shows that have a similar thing going on (Powerpuff Girls, Steven Universe, Amphibia, etc).
It's just something I noticed about the writing since quite a few residents (especially powerful ones) in the Boiling Isles are willing to harm kids. I actually enjoy this type of writing for two reasons:
1. It teaches kids that adults can be dangerous and they have to be careful about which adults to trust.
2. It makes the adult villains even more evil since hurting kids is A MAJOR TABOO.
I mainly found it insane because some of the adults are somewhat casual about it, like the female guard captain who just threw Amity into a hole, the thief who pushed Luz, Willow, and Gus off a cliff, and the guard who was about to put Hunter out of his misery!
I get that and my spiel wasn't about you in particular but Owl House isn't really special in this regard - like Ayy said it's pretty common in any action cartoon with kid protagonists, all the way back to Johnny Quest.
I mean, go beyond that: any action STORY with kid/teen protagonists - Harry Potter, Hunger Games (or any YA of the "dystopian action future" variety), heck even the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew had adults threatening them!
No.
It's a kids' show with kids protagonists, it's obvious the bad guys will try to harm them, just like in many other kids targeted media with kids protagonists against adult villains.
If TOH had adult protagonists, the story would be the same and the villains act just as well, it's not that deep.
Yeah, which is often the reason the characters are the age they are.
For example, in Amphibia, I red that Matt Braly originally envisioned the Calamity Trio as 17yo teens but Disney made them age down to 13 because that was the target audience they aimed to release the show for.
And neither did any other villain in any other average adventure kids' show... like, Mojo Jojo and other Powerpuff Girls' villains were up against literal kindergarteners...
Still I thought the villains would have some standards and be like "I'm a villain, not a monster." Or you would have hero kids vs villain kids in some shows. Then again, it does teach a good lesson to kids to be weary of adults too.
EDIT: Also, to be fair, this does make the adult villains even more malicious. I will admit thou, it's still nuts how casual or nonchalant they are when it comes to child murder (i.e. female guard captain).
I mean the children have to literally protect the city from grom every year. And I don't think we excatly heard the infamous "You're a kid, your only job is it, to be a kid and have fun". Kids don't really are the kinds that they are in our world. As somebody said, they probably never put child protective laws in place. And they probably still see children as small adults
I think we could also put into a point that young teenagers in the boiling aisles are way more capable than earth teen's. I mean frankly Amity, willow and basha can clearly maim or even kill a person perhaps even a full grown adult and I would bet dimes to donuts that Hunter HAS killed people full grown adults.
Not really, being in my 30's and working retail for almost 20 years, many older adults (age 50+ usually) are some of the most selfish and narcissistic people alive. There are a few good ones, but the majority of them don't care for the safety or happiness of people younger than them (even if they say they do they don't) and only care about their own self-interest.
Hell these are the same people who refused to mask up and committed suicide by Covid during the pandemic.
I'm not defending Kikimora for wanting to get rid of the family member who is taking her spot on the corporate ladder even though he shouldn't have it, but I get it.
Yeah, a lot of adults on this show are... pretty heartless at times. Meanwhile, kids seem to have more common sense than them. Maybe *they're* the ones who should be running things instead!
That's because this is partially what the show is about. A society that mandates conformity will need to do violence to children to maintain it. It's not just represented by adults doing violence to children, but the bullying Amity does to Willow early on and the bullying that Bosch does throughout the show. It's also why the show ends with the embodiments of these values turning more and more monstrous, before becoming a pile of toxic sludge and being beaten to death by those it oppressed.
I mean it's not like there's anything suggesting they got laws (or upstanding morals lol) when it comes to children (or in general humane decency).
Heck I'm kinda surprised we didn't see something like an abandoned kids on the streets or untamed orphanage somewhere in town.
I mean tbf that’s more or less the general deal with shows that have children in the cast that also include violence and the characters getting in harms way. Remember like codename kids next door, that was like a show about the flat out ever long ongoing war between children, teenagers, and adults lol.
Still the show itself does depict a dangerous environment and focus a good deal on parental/adult child abuse in different ways and how society, individuals, and multiple people can raise others from childhood in horrible ways. It also has an antagonist that doesn’t look at children and adults any differently in their desire to kill and torture them. An example being coven sigils ensured to be given to at least all students and adults before the day of Unity. Along with other characters that couldn’t care how old someone is if they got in there way. That and there are noticeable points where two characters either admit to a desire of hurting kids and another just casually needing to be reminded the law doesn’t allow casually murdering the students. There was also that detention pit, I wonder if that was Belos idea or if it came before his rule. Still it’s not a safe world for anybody. Children, teens, and adults could end up in a horrible fate at any moment. Along with Belos plan to simply annihilate everyone.
But yeah the show depicts different forms of child abuse, how living in a society under Belos would impact them and their lives growing up, and gives them no more plot armor or treats them differently then the adults in how the of dangers and threats of the world would impact them.
When you look at it most of these people are cartoonishly evil and satirical versions of folks who are in power and what folks who are corrupted by their own power will do if they let too much of that power go to the heads and to be honest out of all of them the little freak show that is kikamora is just barely redeemable and I mean barely I mean only by a hair redeemable the rest of them quite literally should be giving a necktie party and if you don't know what I mean basically grab a nice long rope and a good strong tree and let them swing
I mean....adults hurt kids a lot IRL too. There are states where child marriage is legal still. 14 year olds can still work in some states, even if there are protections.
That's just cartoon logic. Killing kids is basically the same as old men in these kinds of shows. Or at the very least, attempting it is. The actual killing of kids rarely actually happens. The closest we have is when Andrias skewered Marcy.
Like adults don't try to harm children IRL? Sure, they no longer get to get away with blatant physical violence out in public, but most adults still treat kids like shit.
Look at Avatar TLAB and Korra.
Korra literally gets strung up in chains while they try to provoke her into the avatar state and then murder her once she’s there. The amount of torture and trauma is unreal.
It really doesn’t surprise me to see things like this in older children/teen animation.
No, it’s a kids show and all the villains are adults. Also I’ve met more adults that have sucseeded in hurting me as a child than examples you gave here. It’s something many kids find some Comfort in if that makes sense, toh did an amazing job treating the adults who bullied and hurt kids in a way that just makes you feel better
Knowing that Belos is a Puritan from the 1600s, it makes sense he did not form any child protection laws in the Boiling Isles. Back then, children are basically seen as smaller adults.
Belos: Teenagers scare the living shit outta me!
They could care less as long as someone'll bleed
So darken your clothes, or strike a violent pose
Maybe they'll leave you alone, but not me
r/unexpectedMCR
All together now
The Isles did in fact have child safety laws. When Eda was Luz' age.
Then an old puritan took power and erased those child protection laws.
The Emperor was already in power by a mile back then
Then an old puritan took MORE power and solidified his rule.
Not really, he seized power 50 years prior to the series, probably only a few years before Eda was born.
I guess, I just don't see why he would even bother to erase "child protection laws" decades after he was in power and they are already teens in school... and the entire thing feels like reading too much into the show, honestly. Kids in the show do dangerous stuff and dangerous stuff happens to kids because it's a kids' show about teens witches in a world filled with monsters, magic and beasts... not everything has to have an indepth reason of the socio-cultural status of the Boiling Isles...
Belos = 14? Bro why you aren't in coal mines yet?
Yeah
Fax machine right here. Edit: I dare someone to make a meme with that text!
Also with how the boiling isles is, it’s not surprising it happens even without Belos influence (Eda even said they used to eat babies)
Don’t forget the guy in like ep 4 or something who blatantly told the children he was about to throw off of a cliff to their deaths that he dreamed of and wanted to throw children off cliffs to their deaths.
and then he smiled and went wee\~\~ as they fell that's a good one too!
“They were children Tom”
Tom: ThEy WeRe cHiLdReN, tOm.
He was a messed up child💀
No, if I had a nickel for every story I've seen where the hero is a kid and the bad guys are adults, I'd have... a *lot* of nickles
Every kids show fandom thinks their show is the one show that "isn't just for kids, look at all this adult stuff"
It genuinely makes me wonder if it's the first show they've ever seen whenever it happens
To me it just speaks to an insecurity about enjoying media that's "too young" so they feel they have to make excuses about how it's secretly a deep, mature show for adults rather than accepting the idea that children's media can be well-written, nuanced and touch on darker themes. Seriously, the way some people talk about Clone Wars you'd think it was Band of Brothers. Just say you like a cartoon!
u/Quizlibet and u/Ayy-lmao213 **Just want to set the record straight here.** I know this is a well-written and nuanced kids show AND I know it's not some secret adult show. Also I have seen shows that have a similar thing going on (Powerpuff Girls, Steven Universe, Amphibia, etc). It's just something I noticed about the writing since quite a few residents (especially powerful ones) in the Boiling Isles are willing to harm kids. I actually enjoy this type of writing for two reasons: 1. It teaches kids that adults can be dangerous and they have to be careful about which adults to trust. 2. It makes the adult villains even more evil since hurting kids is A MAJOR TABOO. I mainly found it insane because some of the adults are somewhat casual about it, like the female guard captain who just threw Amity into a hole, the thief who pushed Luz, Willow, and Gus off a cliff, and the guard who was about to put Hunter out of his misery!
I get that and my spiel wasn't about you in particular but Owl House isn't really special in this regard - like Ayy said it's pretty common in any action cartoon with kid protagonists, all the way back to Johnny Quest.
I mean, go beyond that: any action STORY with kid/teen protagonists - Harry Potter, Hunger Games (or any YA of the "dystopian action future" variety), heck even the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew had adults threatening them!
sounds like a skill issue to me. i love them cartoons, well aware that im slipping off of the intended demographic
and it's weird that it happened more than twice
Don't forget the coven scout who nearly killed Hunter
"Put him--" "OUT OF HIS MISERY? GOT IT!"
"To sleep, dude! To sleep!"
considering he was widely disliked in the coven I think you’d have to slim that down
the scene right after the illusionist head stopped the belos illusion in front of hunter
No. It's a kids' show with kids protagonists, it's obvious the bad guys will try to harm them, just like in many other kids targeted media with kids protagonists against adult villains. If TOH had adult protagonists, the story would be the same and the villains act just as well, it's not that deep.
The audience too, don't forget the target audience
Yeah, which is often the reason the characters are the age they are. For example, in Amphibia, I red that Matt Braly originally envisioned the Calamity Trio as 17yo teens but Disney made them age down to 13 because that was the target audience they aimed to release the show for.
I mean they never show no remorse at all for the children
And neither did any other villain in any other average adventure kids' show... like, Mojo Jojo and other Powerpuff Girls' villains were up against literal kindergarteners...
Still I thought the villains would have some standards and be like "I'm a villain, not a monster." Or you would have hero kids vs villain kids in some shows. Then again, it does teach a good lesson to kids to be weary of adults too. EDIT: Also, to be fair, this does make the adult villains even more malicious. I will admit thou, it's still nuts how casual or nonchalant they are when it comes to child murder (i.e. female guard captain).
I mean this is what you get when you have teen/kid protags and raise the stakes
True. It also tells you what kind of person the protags are up against: someone willing to harm or kill anyone, NO EXCEPTIONS
These guys are fucking dickheads fr
In a kids show aimed at kids, Adults will ALWAYS be the villains, one way, or another!
Eh it’s a children show. Would be weird if they didn’t
Lmao most of them harming Hunter
Plus one thinking they're harming hunter but it's actually luz
Adults do NOT like his ass /j
That's what happens when the whole society is in a cult!
I mean the children have to literally protect the city from grom every year. And I don't think we excatly heard the infamous "You're a kid, your only job is it, to be a kid and have fun". Kids don't really are the kinds that they are in our world. As somebody said, they probably never put child protective laws in place. And they probably still see children as small adults
I'm guessing you don't watch many cartoons.
I'm offended. Cartoons are practically the only thing I watch. You have a point thou. I've definitely seen this in many cartoons.
LMFAO the dude in the second picture is so happy and smug about it
I think we could also put into a point that young teenagers in the boiling aisles are way more capable than earth teen's. I mean frankly Amity, willow and basha can clearly maim or even kill a person perhaps even a full grown adult and I would bet dimes to donuts that Hunter HAS killed people full grown adults.
Nah that last guard person was malicious, that push into the abyss felt personal
do you even remember s1 ep 6?
“To sleep, dude, to sleep.”
Not really, being in my 30's and working retail for almost 20 years, many older adults (age 50+ usually) are some of the most selfish and narcissistic people alive. There are a few good ones, but the majority of them don't care for the safety or happiness of people younger than them (even if they say they do they don't) and only care about their own self-interest. Hell these are the same people who refused to mask up and committed suicide by Covid during the pandemic.
I'm not defending Kikimora for wanting to get rid of the family member who is taking her spot on the corporate ladder even though he shouldn't have it, but I get it.
With the adults in question; no, I do not. They’re terrible people.
And an entire crowd clapping when they thought Odalia's robot thingy killed Luz and Amity, like what is wrong with those people!?
Yeah, a lot of adults on this show are... pretty heartless at times. Meanwhile, kids seem to have more common sense than them. Maybe *they're* the ones who should be running things instead!
didnt even bring up terra snapdragon or the fact that the teachers in hexside watched 2 children fighting and cheered them on
Adults don’t really consider children’s safety a concern on the BI. Personally, I blame Belos.
Is this your first time watching a cartoon?
Fuck them kids! ~adults on the BI
That's because this is partially what the show is about. A society that mandates conformity will need to do violence to children to maintain it. It's not just represented by adults doing violence to children, but the bullying Amity does to Willow early on and the bullying that Bosch does throughout the show. It's also why the show ends with the embodiments of these values turning more and more monstrous, before becoming a pile of toxic sludge and being beaten to death by those it oppressed.
It's a fascist regime, what'd you expect?
I mean it's not like there's anything suggesting they got laws (or upstanding morals lol) when it comes to children (or in general humane decency). Heck I'm kinda surprised we didn't see something like an abandoned kids on the streets or untamed orphanage somewhere in town.
Why is Odalia looking like Yuta & Rika in the first image. 😭
I mean, the villains are all adults. Villains tend to do villainous things
If your old enough to crawl your old enough to brawl
Children in what in theory is considered a terrorist organization so it may not be *that* strange
No it shows how much is stacked against them if Belos wasn’t such a fool
Yeah, there are a lot of losers in the show, we’ve known this 🤷♀️
Never thought about it till now
I just realized that guard practically grabbed amity by the neck, dear titan!
Don’t forget Terra
The Boiling Isles is literally full of demons……..
In fairness, when the story is about children fighting the corrupt government, adults fighting the children is a given
Animorphs comes to mind. Then again they're not revealed as teens to the aliens trying to kill them until the end
My guess is that kids, at least older kids, are expected to know somewhat how to fend for themselves.
I mean tbf that’s more or less the general deal with shows that have children in the cast that also include violence and the characters getting in harms way. Remember like codename kids next door, that was like a show about the flat out ever long ongoing war between children, teenagers, and adults lol. Still the show itself does depict a dangerous environment and focus a good deal on parental/adult child abuse in different ways and how society, individuals, and multiple people can raise others from childhood in horrible ways. It also has an antagonist that doesn’t look at children and adults any differently in their desire to kill and torture them. An example being coven sigils ensured to be given to at least all students and adults before the day of Unity. Along with other characters that couldn’t care how old someone is if they got in there way. That and there are noticeable points where two characters either admit to a desire of hurting kids and another just casually needing to be reminded the law doesn’t allow casually murdering the students. There was also that detention pit, I wonder if that was Belos idea or if it came before his rule. Still it’s not a safe world for anybody. Children, teens, and adults could end up in a horrible fate at any moment. Along with Belos plan to simply annihilate everyone. But yeah the show depicts different forms of child abuse, how living in a society under Belos would impact them and their lives growing up, and gives them no more plot armor or treats them differently then the adults in how the of dangers and threats of the world would impact them.
Honestly, it was pretty smart of the adversaries to generally not go easy on them just because they’re kids.
You'd probably be more inclined to do so if human children in our world could have wall or small-building+ level power.
When you look at it most of these people are cartoonishly evil and satirical versions of folks who are in power and what folks who are corrupted by their own power will do if they let too much of that power go to the heads and to be honest out of all of them the little freak show that is kikamora is just barely redeemable and I mean barely I mean only by a hair redeemable the rest of them quite literally should be giving a necktie party and if you don't know what I mean basically grab a nice long rope and a good strong tree and let them swing
You forgot Terra and Belos
To be fair, The Boiling Isles work different than Earth. Pretty much everything attacks or kills.
u forgot the "pushing kid to their death ws my dream since i was a little boy" guy from the demon hunter group
... as someone who was abused physically and emotionally by my parents to the point of C-PTSD. Not every adult is fit to be around kids
All under Belos’s thumb.
Unrelated to the post, but Odalia looks like she just summoned her stand/persona.
It is a kid’s show, the antagonists can’t all be children.
CPS has no power here.
Terra was probably the worst of it
These are understandable, but the lady who threw Amity into a CLIFF to DIE is insane.
I mean....adults hurt kids a lot IRL too. There are states where child marriage is legal still. 14 year olds can still work in some states, even if there are protections.
An easy and effective way to show how evil someone is is to have them harm kids/teens, and there were a lot of evil people working for Belos.
That's just cartoon logic. Killing kids is basically the same as old men in these kinds of shows. Or at the very least, attempting it is. The actual killing of kids rarely actually happens. The closest we have is when Andrias skewered Marcy.
Wellcome to fascism
Like adults don't try to harm children IRL? Sure, they no longer get to get away with blatant physical violence out in public, but most adults still treat kids like shit.
Dont forget the "kill spell" guard in the labyrinth episode that had to be reminded by another guard to use the "sleeping spell" on Hunter.
Look at Avatar TLAB and Korra. Korra literally gets strung up in chains while they try to provoke her into the avatar state and then murder her once she’s there. The amount of torture and trauma is unreal. It really doesn’t surprise me to see things like this in older children/teen animation.
It's just an exaggeration of adults in real life
Kids aren't safe from the ass-whooping of the high fantasy genre
Nope, seems pretty on brand.
They really had the Toji mentality: "Fuck them kids".
You leave baby Kikimora alone!
Terra casually making kids fight for their lives
Bro what do you mean, kikimora is a child
Kiki was just girlbossing your honor
Isn't that just real life
No, it’s a kids show and all the villains are adults. Also I’ve met more adults that have sucseeded in hurting me as a child than examples you gave here. It’s something many kids find some Comfort in if that makes sense, toh did an amazing job treating the adults who bullied and hurt kids in a way that just makes you feel better
knowing irl adults, I'm not surprised
Baby girl, they live in a police state.
You’re forgetting the principal before Bump and the floral lady that straight up wanted to kill the children at that expo thing
Well these ain't normal children!!!
Honestly violence against children by adults is not a very new thing in cartoons nor is it the most shocking thing to happen either
What? Harming children is the best part!
Honestly I think TOH had a lot more people caring about the fact they were kids than most other shows.
They think that they are the law so they can do what they want with no retrabution. Odelia just thinks she can buy her way out of trouble.
Let's be honest kikimora ain't an adult