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themurphyzone · 7 years ago

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Meta: The Evolution of Heinz and Norm’s Relationship

Any relationship with Heinz is bound to be an interesting one. This post will focus on Norm specifically. AU episodes will not be taken into account.

Norm first debuted in Greece Lightning. While he wasn’t much more than another invention in this episode, later episodes developed him from minion to son.

“What did [Perry] do to you? Did the bad little platypus switch you off?”

Funnily enough, Heinz does express concern for Norm at the end of this episode when Perry switches him off. It’s notable that Norm isn’t destroyed here, and Heinz doesn’t usually express this level of horror towards his other inventions failing.

Heinz likely did see him as more than another invention early on, but constantly denied it to anyone who implied it.

Hail Doofania is the first episode where Norm takes on the role as Heinz’s assistant in evil schemes. He’s developed enough sentience to start talking in sentences that aren’t stock sitcom phrases.

Like most assistants to villains, Norm is unappreciated and berated constantly.

Sure, Heinz wanted to play hide and seek so he didn’t have to see Norm, but it sure means a lot to this big guy even if he can’t play well.

“Well, next time you can do all the cooking and I’ll stand around coming up with evil plans that ultimately fail.”

Norm’s infamous roast. Had to include it.

“Would it kill you to say please once in a while?”

The above two lines show that while Norm does love his dad, he isn’t afraid to draw attention to his flaws either. Heinz doesn’t express gratitude for Norm cooking all that potato salad, nor does he say please when being transported to LOVEMUFFIN’s event.

Since Norm acts and thinks like a human, it would only be right to give him the same level of respect as a human rather than operating under a master/robo-assistant dynamic.

Undercover Carl shows that Heinz does occasionally humor Norm from time to time with him building the popsicle stick bride.

Sometimes a parent takes us to a zoo, or they teach us how to cook. We hang onto those memories as proof that they love us, though sometimes they make us feel terrible too without realizing it.

Heinz has his ups and downs as well. Sometimes he’s appreciative, other times he’ll complain without letting up or not display any tactfulness. When the latter happens, people and platypi get hurt emotionally.

“I know I didn’t make you that smart, but you can’t even walk straight?”

Personally I think Heinz has the right to be angry that scalding coffee was dumped on him, but he definitely could’ve scolded Norm more gently.

Heinz decides to replace Norm without asking how he felt about it. Here Norm is just another appliance that can be replaced when broken.

Heinz’s main flaw as a parent stems from thoughtlessness. To Vanessa, it manifests as not considering what she’d want and is basing his actions off what he wanted to have as a child. To Norm, he gives many harsh putdowns and treats him as another expendable invention without taking into account that Norm has a very advanced AI and is human in all but physical components only.

That being said, Heinz is appreciative when Norm saves him. However, it takes a near-death experience to make Heinz say it, and he probably wouldn’t do this in everyday life. I’m sure Heinz will be back to denying he’s Norm’s dad tomorrow.

And here’s where we get to the main entree. Buckle up folks, I’ve got a lot to say about the episode “A Real Boy.”

This episode really highlights the favoritism Heinz is unconsciously repeating with Vanessa and Norm. When Heinz thinks he made Vanessa feel terrible, he instantly tries thinking of ways to cheer her up. However, Norm doesn’t know the doting and overprotective father that Vanessa knows.

“Sir, you can have a game of catch with me. I’ve always thought of you as my fa-”

“Norm, you’re in my light!”

“-ther.”

Heinz expresses that he wouldn’t mind having a son, but shows a complete lack of self-awareness towards how Norm is as much a member of the family as Perry the Platypus and Vanessa are.

With the exception of Phineas and Ferb Busters, in past episodes Norm can usually shrug off Heinz’s hurtful comments with a passive-aggressive remark of his own.

But now we see that Norm is very much affected by Heinz’s refusal to accept him as a son.

“And I’m the father! And I have to treat her with the respect she deserves in a caring, fatherly fashion.”

...

“I’ll blast her with one of my inators!”

Of course, blasting your daughter with an inator isn’t exactly respectful, but compare this line to the above with Norm and there’s a huge contrast between how he proudly admits that he’s one child’s father while the other gets the shaft.

Heinz does not have any positive parental influences to draw from. Since the dynamic in his childhood was golden child/scapegoat, that’s what Heinz learned.

This is going to be hard to admit and I know you guys don’t want to think of Heinz in this way, but Heinz is repeating the emotional abuse he received in childhood on Norm. As stated above, Heinz goes through cycles in which he puts Norm down one moment and plays hide-and-seek and makes popsicle stick brides the next.

It’s ironic that Heinz is unaware that his treatment of Norm is the most evil he will ever be.

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I’m putting the entire song of A Real Boy here because I want you to pay close attention to the lyrics.

Norm puts himself down at the beginning of the song, likely with phases that Heinz has used on him.

Now he asks himself, “If I were a living, breathing human boy, would my father accept me and take me out to do activities that a normal father/son would do?”

At the end, he tells the backup singers not to worry about him. He’ll be fine. Who cares about what I want, amirite?

Heinz was in the same boat in his childhood. Constantly putting himself down, asking what he could change about himself to make a parent show their love, and telling himself that the way he’s living is fine and he’d better not sound ungrateful or else.

I’m hesitating on calling this a lie when Norm claims that he’s Heinz’s son while the latter is affected by his Forget-About-It inator. This is one of those moments where you can understand why someone acts the way they do even if it’s not right.

Honestly, it feels like I’m going in circles with this whole “here’s a moment where Heinz appreciates Norm and doesn’t put him down and here’s another one where he mistreats Norm!”

Give credit to Vanessa. She looks out for her siblings regardless of species.

“It occurs to me that though I’ve never had a son, there is someone who I can always count on to be there. Someone I've begun to think of as family. And that someone is Perry the Platypus. See you around, junkpile.”

Don’t worry Norm, he’ll treat you better next season. He’s still in denial unfortunately.

“Try not to be a complete disappointment.”

Oh really? How about you try not to be a complete disappointment cause your brother is way more accomplished than you could ever hope to be, Heinz.

History is repeating itself.

It’s interesting how Norm shows similarities to Heinz here. They’re both out to prove themselves to someone, they monologue, and they’d love nothing more than to be accepted by their parent.

However, Norm shows that he’s willing to break from the mold by developing a weapon to force submission rather than use the normal routine. He’s not afraid to assert his individuality because he wants to win his father’s love through the most effective means possible.

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“If I’m gonna be a conqueror and win my father’s love, I’ll take it to the people with the eagle, not the dove!”

Norm’s entire motivation for taking over the Tri-State Area is simply to make Heinz proud. How many plans has Heinz scribbled up over the years to make his parents proud only to have them backfire spectacularly?

Norm fails to realize that Heinz is against complete annihilation because there wouldn’t be anyone left to subjugate.

As expected, Heinz isn’t happy with Norm’s attempt to take over the Tri-State Area.

Maybe next time, big guy.

“Space is cold and unforgiving, like my father!”

Perry, Vanessa, and Norm know when to show sympathy and when not to take Heinz’s crap. That’s what I love about them.

Norm often delivers scathing remarks that Heinz deserves, whereas Heinz doesn’t badmouth his parents even though it’s completely justified.

Love at First Byte gives us a huge development in their relationship. Heinz doesn’t automatically disregard Norm’s feelings about not having a date for the block party, and spends the entire episode giving him advice.

Forgive me for inserting my personal headcanon here, but I believe that in order for Heinz to take this huge step forward, he would need to do some soul-searching about the way he treated Norm in the past. It probably took a few smacks from Perry to drive the point home as well.

Heinz wingmaning for Norm is great. This episode has a lot of great father/son bonding in general.

Off topic, but I still want to know what Heinz has against Sagittariuses since that’s my star sign.

He’s so proud of Norm.

Fact of life, Heinz. Your children are always going to somehow find themselves in a Romeo and Juliet situation. Without all the dying.

Another similarity: dates tend to end poorly.

You’re not father and son until you’re trying to get rid of pests together and fail miserably.

They’ve both come a long way since Norm was invented in the early summer.

He’s so proud of his son.

Conclusion: Heinz and Norm’s relationship is very complex. Even though they had a rocky start and both still have much to learn in the future, Heinz has finally come to accept Norm as a son.

Themurphyzone is out! Peace!

#analysis #phineas and ferb #meta #heinz doofenshmirtz #norm the robot #long post #perry the platypus #vanessa doofenshmirtz

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