#it made me realize that everyone in this house doesn't know how to properly communicate or work through emotions- thoughts- and conflicts.

[yoonstudios]

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[mdhwrites]

Do Themes Make a Story Good? Featuring TOH and Amphibia

I've tried talking about this subject a few times and never found a good angle for it. Last night, a thought wormed into my brain about the fact that I make a lot of posts defending the thematic strengths of Amphibia, how those themes help justify some of its writing choices and even talk about concepts and the like that people claim are not in the show that are actually represented. Contrasted with my blogs on The Owl House where I usually talk about its themes to highlight poor execution on them or how I disagree with them existing, a fear hit me.

Do I consider Amphibia's themes more valid because I like the show more?

The extremely short and reductive version of this is "to some extent yes." That doesn't get into WHY for this though. After all, one's enjoyment of a piece shouldn't matter for a theme. Not all themes are fun or pleasant and so expecting a comfortable experience with them isn't fair. It limits the sort of storytelling you're capable of.

The problem is that this extends to ALL media. What commonly determines if a piece is genuinely good or not is if it was engaging, not if it was fun or enjoyable. A horror fan and an action fan might both call their movies a blast but the sort of engagement they had is vastly different. One is loving the use of scares, tension, etc. like that while the other may have just enjoyed a popcorn flick with explosions, big set pieces and silly violence but neither opinion is bad because they were both properly engaged by the points of the movie.

Themes are interesting because we often talk about them as engaging but I think this is actually putting the cart before the horse. We pick up on these themes because the work itself is engaging. After all, a textbook on mental health can have a theme of dealing with trauma but we don't frame it that way because, you know... It's a textbook. It's dry. Conversely, an author might tell you that their work was about something but if it was incoherent garbage, then who cares what it had to say because you didn't like it in the first place to dig into every piece of symbolism that supposedly has something to say about the theme the author claims.

So what does this have to do with Amphibia and The Owl House? Well, their ways of dealing with theme are kind of fascinating and indicative of how they are built as shows and play into why I find one's themes great while the other is lacking. I'll try to illustrate with two metaphors: Amphibia's theming is like putting away pennies for a fundraiser to make a park for the community. Everyone pitches in but they pitch in in small ways and no one is able to just dumb a giant wad of cash in. They're small drops that build and build until one day you go to put a penny in and are pleasantly surprised to find that hey, you guys are making some real progress! You might not make the goal you had but this is impressive as is! Next week it's a little higher and higher until the jar is gone, only for the organizer to come out to cheer about how they made it and finally revealing the park, but the sum of it all is so much more than you could have expected from mere pennies, especially in all the small details! However, even if you only glance at it, it still looks complete, fun and satisfying.

The Owl House's theming is much more like a college essay that ends up getting a C. It starts with a really strong thesis to their paper and has a compelling starting argument that implies a lot of knowledge. However, they have fifty pages to fill and the student realizes by page ten, they're running short. So they first start pulling in elements that don't conflict immediately but are still a little strange to include. Then it includes a couple strange tangents and personal anecdotes that don't seem to make a lot of sense and are losing the thread faster and faster. By the end, the tricks to achieve word count are starting to become blatant, especially as they spend so much time repeating the same things as if they were new information or something unique but it's actually well worn. All of it is useless to their argument and even actively harming it, let alone when paired with all the rest. Structurally it works and it finished with enough words but it comes back with the thesis statement circled multiple times and the question "Wasn't this the point?" under it, all in red.

These two approaches have knock on effects though. Amphibia doesn't ask anything of the viewer but to buy in slightly. In return, you are invited to just enjoy the characters and its world. It doesn't have anything to prove and doesn't need to be loud in its messaging and so the story is allowed to function simply on a basic level and be enjoyable on its own. It can tell a simple story with a clear moral because it knows that the moral is playing a part to the larger whole and doesn't care about if everyone knows how grand its scope because the goal of enriching everyone will be reached no matter what. This is how you get an entire season dedicated to Anne's character development that only bothers to actually say that was the goal at the end of the season when the option to be selfish once more and cut off community, to reject change and go back to what is comfortable, comes in the form of Sasha. And heck, that is actually one of the most overt times Amphibia brings attention to its storytelling/theming but only AFTER earning it.

The Owl House meanwhile has something to prove but neither the knowledge or focus to do so but it's stated it so now it has to earn it. As such, anything that crosses its desk that is even tangentially related to its themes gets pushed in so that it can claim to be thoroughly exploring the topic, even if previous examples or the like actively conflict with the new example. As an example, I've seen people really praise The First Day for tackling how the traditional school system doesn't accommodate people or work for all learning types. With TOH's early statement of "Us weirdos gotta stick together!" and all that implies, this is actually a great topic for it to tackle. However, because its being grafted onto this thesis, the supporting evidence hasn't been properly built up and so you have people claiming they should be allowed to do school differently... By literally breaking the law in a way that is met with the DEATH PENALTY. It's technically on topic but it's sloppy and loses all of its bite because you're left more confused than properly satisfied.

This causes a weird issue where you can engage with Amphibia only on the surface level, never take in its themes, and still get a deep enjoyment from it because the basic storytelling makes sense, follows its own internal logic and has satisfying payoffs because of every penny contributed to making the whole thing works. You don't need more than Anne's relationships with others to be able to cheer in joy at the "They're not Amphibia's greatest treasure" moment because those relationships are engaging on their own. Because of this engagement and satisfaction though, you're more incentivized to want to actually take a closer look at what the whole picture was and to enjoy the minor details, even if you didn't have to, like how the whole show always pushed seeing selfish things that could oppress others as worthless when compared to the selfless and communal which is part of the thematic punch of the greatest treasure moment.

Meanwhile, The Owl House paradoxically is hard to enjoy as a basic story due to all the concessions to theme while the choices of the story also actively make the theming worse, making only the absolute most surface level read the one that can be satisfying because only then can it desperately claiming that everything had a point actually be believed. Otherwise, the broken seams that are barely keeping the whole thing together start to show itself until it entirely unravels at the end because it cannot tie them all back together. The epitomy of this is how Luz becomes a chosen one, breaking some early theming, due to a power up she only gets after the THIRD time that she theoretically resolves the same inner conflict in THREE EPISODES, muddling any of the thematic payoffs for any of the three times the themes were meant to climax. The best the show can hope for is that the teacher will accept their excuses for why it's so incoherent, despite the fact that even as early as S1B (When The First Day I referenced earlier was) the flaws in the show's ability to actually meet the assignment were clear.

This is why I personally argue that you can have a good story without themes but you can't have good themes without a good story. If the work doesn't support them then the themes will more often than not get in the way and audiences won't care they were there in the first place. Admittedly, this might be due to my own writing method where I usually stumble my way into a theme that stems from simply trying to make the base concept the best way I can. After all, almost every story will have a theme of some sort but if you go in with the goal of making a statement, well...

You better know what you're talking about and how to present it or you'll become more repetitive and rambly than this blog.

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[mikaelarosettecastro-blog]

David and Goliath: Filipinos and Calamities

As a probinsyana, our barangay can be described as a rural area, with Coconut trees and Narra scattered in the locality; also, with a very tight-knit community. The most frequent disaster that doesn't exclude our community when it strikes, is typhoon. As the barangay hall secretary mentioned, the Philippines is really vulnerable to this kind of disaster as the country is located beside a sea right away, that could eventually, together with the wind, create low pressure. Typhoon as said previously, is very frequent, thus there's no year that Philippines didn't experienced a typhoon. Typhoon could also lead to second hand disasters such as floods, which is very common in our barangay. Another disaster is the lost of crops that leads to economical problems as we are in a agricultural province which made me think, how can we be prepared for this kind of disaster, when typhoon could happen anytime, even if it's before harvesting of crops, how could we prepare for the disaster it could bring to us, to the farmers and the economy. Weeks ago, typhoon Tisoy strike Philippines, and NDRMMC is always there to send updates through SMS which I appreciated, just like NDRMMC, in our barangay, they are also able to update about the disaster coming in through LDRRM, PAGASA, and Rainfall Warning.

As our barangay is surrounded by vast rice fields and ponds, it could be said that these are the places most vulnerable as it is exposed to the disaster that may come in. I believe that everyone in the community is affected when a disaster strikes, but as the barangay hall secretary said, the most affected are the farmers whom may lose their crops, eventually their income temporarily, and the poor, whose houses are made up of pieces that could easily be blown away. Unfortunately, it could put the lifestyle of the people and the economics of the province at risk, because if farmers have nothing to sell because the calamity destroyed it, then there would be few supply for everyone, and price will be much costly due to this. Infrastructures are also at risk in collapsing that may cause disturbance to daily habits of the people. I was informed that evacuation centers are a requirement for each barangay because it's a way for preparation in times of calamities. Sturdy buildings that have roofs can also be occupied such as school wherein I was taught that it's also made to be sturdy for such events, which I think is amazing because then, buildings could be used multi purposely which could save place or land area. On the contrary, low areas that are prone to flooding, areas at the floor of the mountain, and those near the "saba" are the most dangerous places during calamities. I was shocked to know that our place is also prone to flooding just like the other barangays in the Manila according to my friends. With that, there may be problems in our drainage system, so I asked what they do with that, the barangay hall secretary said that they ask permission to the city hall every time they would like to clean the drainage system to avoid the disaster. I realized that drainage plan is significant to avoid such things, I hope they could improve it. These things are what prevents the community to develop.

For preparation, the barangay officials educate the community or administer seminars to inform and teach them what to do before, during, and after the different calamities, which is I know is very helpful because these things being taught in school actually prepares me before a calamity could happen. The officials role is also to inform and usher the community when evacuation is needed. The local government also hands out relief goods and donations to the victims of the calamities or those in need. What the barangay does before is finalize the budget in case of emergencies such as typhoons, they also check out the buildings such as schools, evacuation center, and hospitals, to make sure they're sturdy enough to be a safe place. The barangay also has its own ambulance and tricycle that the community could use anytime in relation to medicinal or emergency purposes. Beside the ambulance, the barangay also has its own generator just in case of electrical cut off. These preparations are then led by prepared local officials, BDRRM, and councils.

One issue I noticed is the flooding. It's caused by small drainage system that couldn't hold up for the waters spent by the community. Also, garbages aren't thrown properly at their designated trash bins which then leads that garbages into the drainage that may clog the system and eventually cause flooding. I believe the solution for this is an innovative drainage system that's effective in our land and country, and also, a disciplined mind. A well-planned drainage system may just stop flooding as long as the community will not cease its system by throwing garbages in its stream. The local government may inform this to the high government officials so that it could be faced and could be made a budget for to improve the canals. Also, the local government must also be strict in implementing that garbages must go to its right destination by having watchers and punishments if not followed.

I believe, I could relate the flooding situation to the disaster situation by simply both could be avoided through innovation or technology and discipline. Both requires a mind that could create a system that the Filipinos could follow, a system that could be easily implemented to us yet efficient. Disasters are unavoidable, yet the risks could be lessen if we could follow a system that aligns with the ones created for everyone. Also, discipline; one must be open-minded that these things are important and is willing to learn, not just for himself but for everyone else. Through this, we could create a harmonize community where everyone participates and knows what he or she should do that is parallel to the system.

My realizations and insights are that, there are inevitable things but how we would react towards it is much important, because it may lead to something great if responded correctly or the other way around. I was able to observe that there are strategies and systems that could be improved so that the community may be more prepared.

We need to address disasters so that we can minimize the problems it may give. This is also to save the people and the environment against possible dangers because life is important. And to prevent unwanted casualties, to protect our loved ones and our livelihood so that we may be able to function for God's glory. Addressing the disasters varies as it needs varied solutions, but one thing is for sure, we could address it by thinking smart and disciplined in things we do.