Anita saying "uhh yeah sure why not" in response to Marie asking if she has a brother made me laugh cause I've said the same thing about pre-transition me to past teachers who didn't witness my transition
reminds me of a time some random dude unprompted (our only interaction beforehand was me giving him a light) asked, "so, are you a male?" & i was so exhausted (+ caught off guard by the choice of the word Male) that i just shrugged & said "yeah, i guess" then he just silently walked away in profound confusion😭
personally i think the show could use a reboot with some more contemporary and open minded writing because the class divide commentary with dark humor is probably more relavent than it ever was then.
It took no prisoners, and I deeply respected it for that. It also had genuine empathy and sympathy for its "freak" characters, and didn't just use them as pure punch-down joke fodder the way other shows at that time would've/did (and some still do). Granted, the bar in that regard has historically been low, but credit where credit is due, at least.
As a trans masc, I adored the oblongs. It made me feel seen, growing up like an outcast both in and out of school, in a shitty low class suburb. Anita walked so people like me could run
@@SteamGrace does it really matter? I don't have to justify my identity. But since you asked, I'd say put simply and without any misconception, I wish I was born with a dick. I cannot connect with things important to the "female experience" like the concept of feminism and never even felt like I was personally affected by stigma for my gender, despite knowing its happened to me. I don't feel like a girl, and if I was born a boy, I'd probably feel less miserable in how people perceive me, along with how I perceive myself. I don't fully identify with boys either, but I feel more comfortable and happy when people treat me or refer to me as a man when they interact with me
It's insane to me that Lily is able to find the most obscure cartoons that somehow have better trans representation than some of the most popular sitcoms out there. It's also disappointing that this is how low the bar is smh
The creator is an interesting individual. At one point you could buy an oblongs DVD and for an extra fee the creator would deliver it personally and watch it with you.
He also said on his website you can waive the delivery fee but coming directly to him to pick up your merch, but there was a side note to bring vodka 🤣
Nonbinary transman who loves animation here, the Oblongs is a an amazing show about so many angles of difference: disability, class, environmental injustice and (thanks to your taking the time to address her character) transness too!! I hope you get lots of engagement from this great vid!
Genuinely asking and looking to learn. Could you please explain your identity more as being both Non-binary and trans? You don’t have to if you don’t want to but I would appreciate it. Thank you.
@@PeruvianProteinPowderBeing trans means you identify with a gender that is not aligned with your biological sex. A lot of non-binary people see their gender as completely separate from their assigned gender and so identify as trans. But the non-binary umbrella encompasses a lot of different experiences so there are also some who are non-binary but not trans :]
Yes, all of these things you mentioned are all artificially created by an environment contaminated by waste products and shear ignorance of basic science. This show is spot on, a world where toxic chemicals dissolve and twist humanity's minds and bodies leaving a husk of flesh not suitable for humanity's future.
growing up poor and a weird-ass kid with a weird-ass family, this show resonated with me a lot when i was younger. being neurodivergent in many flavors, i saw a lot of myself in milo and loved that he was the hero and was portrayed as a good kid even with his issues this show was honestly ahead of its time, i feel like if it had come out just a little bit later it would've done better, and it's definitely a bummer that isn't how it ended up. it definitely wasn't perfect but there's a lot of heart to it and in a weird way, made me feel more "normal"
I remember being 11-12 years old watching reruns of this on adult swim and it heavily influencing my outlook on the wealth divide in America. Its so weird to think about how rare anti-capitalism was around me until I i started using the Internet more.
I totally remember this show! Funny enough even though I'm trans now I never once clocked Anita as being trans, I thought the thing that landed her in the neighborhood was her slobbishness but otherwise she was really cool and funny. Hindsight is crazy! Also I was interested to see if the inconsistent treatment of Anita was due to multiple writers and I found out Joey Soloway is They/Them. So perhaps they might've been the voice of reason in the writer's room!
A lot of the criticisms you had towards Anita is exactly why I actually really enjoy the character Crystal Peppers from an adult swim cartoon called China, IL. There are jokes made here and there in regards to her transness, but her transness itself is never the butt of the joke. she’s first revealed to be trans in a season one episode where the joke is not that she has a penis, but that the fact that she does means she’s technically not exempt from a bet where the other characters would have to chop their balls off. in the second instance her transness plays into a joke, it’s at the character MAKING the joke’s expense. and those are the only two jokes about her transness. throughout the series she’s shown as complex and desirable, which blew my mind for a trans character from the early 2010s. my only criticism about how she’s portrayed is that maybe those jokes are a bit gratuitous, and she’s played by a cis woman (but hell that’s way better than a cis man, and it’s Chelsea Peretti). the only real visual indicator that she’s trans is that she’s pretty tall and has small breasts, but like, plenty of cis women have those features too, and like i said she’s never portrayed as any less desirable than any other female character. It’d be really neat if you checked her out because China, IL is an underrated favorite of mine, and I love Crystal lol
@@derpdadouch3654 no cos same here!! i used to watch it as a kid sometimes and never knew, it wasn’t until i went back and rediscovered the series maybe a year ago and was very surprised that one of the professors was just casually trans. i was so used to every other adult cartoon i liked inevitably making some uncomfortable trans joke or episode or what have you, but Crystal was there the whole time!
also i wanted to add i was wrong about the first joke-i went back and rewatched the bet episode and Crystal is actually the one who initiates the “nut bet” as they call it lol
I really liked The Oblongs, especially how it dealt in depth with class struggles and economic oppression, something that wasn't dealt with all that much back then, and certainly not to the extent that The Oblongs covered the subject.
That Show was [SomeWhat] Ahead of its Time! Especially Addressing Environmental InJustice, Climate injustice, Social InJustices[, Etc,] Created and Perpetuated by Capitalism meant to Perpetuate Oppressions of All Kind and Perpetuate Class Hegemony/Struggle Which its own Contradictions Will Lead to its Inevitable DownFall SomeWhere in the Near Future [If Possible].
I used to watch this show back in the day as a disabled poc lol. Aged worse than I thought in some places! Never thought I’d see the day someone talked about it, I thought everyone else completely forgot about it
I wanna see how you feel about superjail. Despite Alice's deaign being based on stereotypes, her identity as a woman isnt a joke and its never questioned. Shes also shown as desirable to a large amount of characters.
I would also be really interested to see a video on Superjail! I used to love that show, and i always liked how the Warden's head over heels love for Alice was never played for laughs in a "ha ha he loves a trans person" way, but only ever a "she doesn't love him back" way.
i remember her and it's been many years but i recall catching a glimpse of an episode where she was like... chased out of a group of warrior women or something like that, for being trans? i don't feel like looking it up and possibly making myself dysphoric, but i kinda wrote that show off ever since. i should look into it sometime though cause now i'm curious if i'm misremembering and/or missing important context.
Hey, so Anita played pretty heavily in the episode where Pickles became the den mother for a girls scout troup and while Anita wasn't the butt of many jokes, Bob was super transphobic in the episode. Pickle and Anita dress Milo up as a girl and have him act like one of the girls and everytime Bob sees Milo like this he acts like he's going to kill himself, saying stuff like "maybe you can crochet me a noose", and at the end of the episode when he finds out it's all a scam he says to milo "I'm tickled pink your'e not a transvestite"
I think the story is that the valley folk didn’t focus on Anita being trans because she was one of the valley folk….the fact that she is trans fits with the “valley” dynamic, it was something that the viewer focused on.….also awesome points that Pickles real name is Marie…I don’t think I’ve ever caught on that it was anything other than Pickles…
Thank you for mentioning the name thing, I haven't watched Oblongs in the longest time and so watching this thought I was nuts for remembering her name as Pickles.
i didnt realize there were only 13 episodes of this show, i liked it a lot when it first came out and it felt like there was so much more content than that
The author himself is kind of a weird guy in a good way so the better jokes in The Oblongs are it's dark humor. As for Anita herself I always saw it that since everyone is an outcast in the valley so nobody has any room to really say anything and has been respected in the community for being the bar owner and providing a common place for everyone to hang out. To suddenly out or hurt the person that runs such an important place would be a detriment to everyone. I knew about this show before and I'm interested to see your take on things. Personally Anita is one of the better characters purely by the bare minimum of making her somewhat of a character and not a constant joke. I find it really nice her and Claire are spill the tea kind of friends and Anita is a person the family can trust if someone was in danger. It sucks she has to be a stereotype of strong trans woman dealing with society but it could be worse. It could be way worse.
The Oblongs has a very strange story behind the show. Angus Oblong was a (literal) sad clown that they pulled off the street and made a show from his comics. The strange part was how he had no connections nor was related to anyone prior to getting a whole-ass show greenlit. You can still hire Angus to perform sad clown services such as silently watching you sleep.
I was curious about the sad clown thing, so I decided to search him up and yeah, that's a sad clown if I've ever seen one. Didn't need to click on anything else, it's the first thing you see when you search "Angus Oblong."
I’ve personally haven’t heard anyone talk about oblongs in a LONG time. Most people just forgot it or don’t know what it is, it’s just one of those shows from the 90s/2000s that kinda got forgotten. I forget just how many shows from that time that became so damn obscure to the point to where it feels like no one remembers them lol.
I remember watching the entirety of the oblongs as a teenager circa 2012ish and being absolutely obsessed with it and horribly disappointed there was no continuation or conclusion. It felt so relatable, like honest representation of real problems me and people I knew had without even trying to hide it with humor or themes, these people are just fucked up and doing their best.
My girlfriend got me into this show recently because it was a show that she was obsessed with growing up and convinced me to watch it. It’s a good show.
I wonder if the fact that she lives in the Valley is why nobody asks about Anita's trans-ness. Meaning, maybe the chemicals from the Hills had an effect on her gender or sexuality or maybe even biology so maybe its just not that unusual to anyone. That seems to be a consistent theme with the Valley denizens, which is a good point you brought up early in. Great video!
seems more likely that the valley people just accepts body "deformities", so it wouldn't matter if she doesn't seem stereotypical. Like presumably she's not in the minority with wearing a wig since just moving to the valley caused Pickles to lose all her hair. or how common odd breast configuration seem, it's not out of place she wears prosthetic ones.
I think they stereotyping was more for the viewing audience, like most the audience was probably cisgender so while not making outright mockery of trans people they still had a level humor and misunderstanding with it. the important thing imo is pretty much what you said...its how the characters reacted. The other characters accepted her, didn't make absurd questions, didn't mock or abuse her or anything; she was one of them a neighbor and a friend.
I recently binged Yu Yu Hakusho on Hulu and (this went right over my head when I was a kid) there's a trans character in episode 24. It's an anime about fighting and she's a bad guy, but I was surprised that the hero's companions continued to treat her as female even after discovering that she's got a little more than most girls down stairs. Especially given how old the show is. It may not be worth making a video about, but I enjoy your analysis' and would like to hear your thoughts on it.
Theres also alluka from hunter x hunter, written by the same author! Say what you want about the actual representation but it makes me happy that he tries to include trans and queer people in so much of his work.
Well, except for the part where Yusuke sexually assaults her to "find out," and the closest he comes to being supportive is scolding her for not getting surgery yet. Like, bruh, I have no idea what trans healthcare looks like in the demon world, but even if it is better than it is in our own, it's not the sort of thing you can get a walk-in appointment for. You don't know her situation, Yusuke.
Ohmygod!!! I clicked the video so fast, i love The Oblongs!! Its a strange, hilarious, dark little series and no one remembers it! I have it on DVD and its weirdly hilarious, if a bit dated. But even then, it never feels like anyone is the butt of the joke. It all feels like they are laughing at themselves. I dont know what channel it was on here in Canada, but probably Teletoon At Night. I shouldnt have been watching it as a kid but i remember it and its... Just so weird and good!! Im thrilled to hear your thoughts!!
Have you done a Moral Orel episode yet? Miss Second Opinionson is just such a good character, especially in the episode "Dumb", but of course, you've got to watch the whole series to get that show
I remember rewatching The Oblongs about 3 months ago and while I was watching I thought, "I hope Lily makes a video on Anita. I wonder what she thinks of her." Low and behold, it's finally here! I personally found her to be a delight of a character and loved that she had confidence in herself. I was also glad the characters didn't make negative comments about her or anything but I do agree that the trans jokes about her body were very tiresome to endure. Her and Pickles' relationship was very cute to watch! They're such gal pals heart ❤
I remember discovering this show via UA-cam back in the early 2010's and binging it over the course of a couple of nights, randomly remembering it every so often. Cool to see it being covered.
I rewatched The Oblongs a couple years ago and was surprised by how radical it was in some ways. It's anticapitalism, environmental critique, and very flawed but overall positive view of disability/neurodivergence all put it ahead of its time. It was a rare case that managed to do better than I remembered in some ways but like you I was really annoyed by some things like especially about race/culture and gender. Still, for the era it was in one of the upper brackets IMO and it's a shame it's forgotten. I disagree with your view that it was just a totally bland or bad comedy... the very nature of so many of its jokes poking at wealth inequality, climate denial/environmental disregard, and ableism made it funny in a way a lot of shows weren't (or weren't enough). It may be more of a premise lending power to mediocre skills, sure, but all comedy is an interaction between wit and premise so making one a lot better can affect the other. I could make a whole video about this but just one example of humor you don't see in much else: Bob's total cheerful can do attitude in the face of almost comically evil bosses and politicians etc. Do many other shows make cogent jokes about workers who genuinely believe in "the american dream" or think they can bootstrap themselves out of their situation, make excuses for bosses wile they suffer from them? I don't see it much. This show isn't Dinosaurs levels of "omg was this written by Marxists?" but elements of it at least reach Simpsons (mild) levels of that lol. My memory from that rewatch in terms of transness was ambivalent to negative but hearing you talk about it actually reminded me of some positive elements I probably hadn't fully thought through. Now it's more ambivalent/neutral haha. Thanks for all your thoughtful and nuanced videos. Also "Put me out on the field coach and I'm going to suck dick"... I had to stop and laugh for full minute omg.
You should do a character analysis of Alice from Superjail. Mostly, I just want to torture you by forcing you to watch Superjail, but I do think there's enough to analyze in her character. If you don't want to analyze the entire show, I think the most relevant episodes would be "SuperBar" and "Jailbot 2.0". Love you Lily!
Thank you so much for doing a vid on The Oblongs. This show occupies a weird place in my heart as, like you point out, it often didn't rise above the standard level of comedy for the time...but also as a disabled lgbt+ person who grew up in poverty, I really connected with a lot of the ideas and potential this show had. I was in college when this first came out, and at that time it was the first thing I'd seen showing disabled people as just...people. and the same with Anita - there are some unfortunate jokes, but she was a character beyond her transness. Which were both huge. But as you point out, there are a lot of places where it goes for the easy laugh. This COULD have broken a lot of boundaries, and I honestly think that in the right hands today, this could be a really fantastic gem of a series.
YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW EXCITED I AM THAT YOU DID AN EPISODE ON THIS!!! I didn’t think you’d talk about it when I had mentioned it before, but it’s so exciting to see that quite a few other people were also looking forward to this episode, loved the video 💖💖💖
I had no idea how universally disliked this show was! I loved it as an edgelord teen, and I assume if I watched it again, my favorite part now would be the same as it was then - the rich/poor dichotomy. But I imagine it would be a little harder to just ignore all the other bad stuff.
holy shit this played on adult swim in my country. I remember being like 10 or 12 and staying up late to watch this, I can't believe you're making a video on it. Awesomeeee
Had never seen it, but was surprised to be reminded that the show existed. Sounds interesting, if a very mixed bag. BUT - as a transfem person, I randomly happen to be wearing a blue dress and blue opera gloves today! So that's a wild coincidence. Alas, I don't have shoes that match that close. The body hair thing is such a a lazy trope! It cracks me up when someone clocks me and insults me as being "hairy", because I am so obsessive about daily hair removal that I can't possibly take the dig seriously. I am bald, have no facial nor body hair. Only eyebrows and lashes.
I haven't thought about this show in a million years. Always knew I had stayed up way too late when this and Super Milk Chan came on. Great episode as always, Lily!
I remember the Oblongs, I saw the episode on Adult Swim where the pretty, rich upper class stick figure white girl pretty much got kicked out of her click because she no longer looked like them. I am a bit familiar with this series.
this show autoplayed on tv once and my dad looked at me surprised I’d never seen the show and also insisted it was a kids show (which I did not believe) so finding out it’s a niche adult show is definitely something
I guess I didn't realize this at the time, but this show does make sense as only being the one season now because of how I remember it always being like the same few episodes. I do remember it being on the WB network and then moving over to the Adult Swim line up later, it was just never a very funny show or doing very much memorable, but I do have a vivid memory of it. I feel like there was a lot of adult animation that had a weird schedule or bounced networks or something back then. I remember Squidbillies, Home Movies, Mission Hill and all of these other shows that seem kind of obscure in my head and at the same time I know other people watched them because I remember seeing them with others or even referencing and talking about them with others.
always watch your videos as soon as they come out!! i remember watching this show many moons ago but i've forgotten a lot of it so im glad to look back on it here. trans rights
I can imagine a creative team thinking "we're so good, we hired a real voice actor for our trans character" and then completely checking out and not interrogating their messed up assumptions involved with the everything I just said. Makes these kind of retrospectives really important.
I'd love to see your take on the Rocko's Modern Life reboot episode they did a couple years ago - static cling i think. It was a situation where the voice actor for the trans character is a cis man (the show creator), but the character was a recurring character from the original run who ended up coming out some time between the last season and the special who was originally voiced by the same person. I also think it's one of the few kids cartoons (maybe the ONLY one) to ever do something like that. The original show did have a lot of adult humor, but it was part of the Nicktoon's line up, and the special is still more or less family friendly. (Also honestly it was a really happy moment for me because this was my favorite show as a kid). I also think it handles allies educating people instead of leaving the burden on trans people pretty well for what it is.
I remember liking the Oblongs as a kid. Dunno why, I wasn't really old enough to be watching it, but something about the humour appealed to me lol. It wasn't perfect by any means but I liked how the main characters were all disabled and poor but were still a loving family. I also liked how the dad wasn't an asshole like most other sitcom dads. What's funny is as a kid I thought the dog yelping after looking up the character's dress was a joke about her going commando, not about her being trans lol. Like I knew she was trans in an abstract sort of way, but that wasn't what I thought of when I saw that joke for some reason.
It’s so awesome to not only see coverage of the oblongs, but also focusing on anita. Awesome work! I’d love to see you cover Alice from superjail sometime.
I loved the oblongs when little and remember being so excited when Anita was on screen because I was still in elementary and never seen a trans person before. She isn't the perfect representation but she isn't the worst representation ever and was the first trans anything I had ever seen so Anita is in my heart!
I still find it crazy how obscure it is, it was one of my favorites as a kid. It was like one of the least terrible adult cartoons out there Mabye says a lot about who i am now
I wonder if Will would be down to revisit the role if they did a reboot. He pops into tv shows here or there, and Oblongs as a premise could be a great cartoon today. Especially since that's all we got, reboots, haha.
The bit that sticks with me most about the Oblongs is during that same episode where the father's bits get stomped, Milo can't fall asleep without the sound of them having sex in the next room and he slowly falls into sleep-deprived madness.
I always considered Anita to be an examination of queerness in general within the Hills/Valley divide: a person who, like Pickles, chose self-expression over conformity and was unable to do so in The Hills. The gender jokes she's given aren't amazing, but her response to the dog's transphobia, the wax joke, the "it's private" moment with Pickles all give me the impression of someone who won't let other people tell her how to feel and expresses their feminity with a toungue-in-cheek approach to their ongoing physical transition in a community that doesn't ask many questions.
I own a signed copy of Creepy Susie! I'm so glad to see someone talking about it, as an impoverished and different queer child it made me feel seen. I'm hoping that it aged well and you enjoyed it, but we'll see 😅
I can agree with your take that it's a mid comedy that land in the pitfalls of it's time. If I recall correctly there were issues with production and Angus Oblong over how the concepts and characters were presented in the series
You made such a big deal of "there is no way there is going to be a revival of this show" that I was expecting a Gilligan cut to a poster announcing "Summer 2024: The Oblongs Movie".
I’m one of the few fans of this show and I’m so happy you covered this show! Even if it hurt for you to call it shit lol. I love Anita Bidet and while her representation is subpar I was always happy she got to have her own happy life dating and running a business and being buddies with Pickles.
I think the show could sidestep the issues of using so many stereotypes if they had another trans woman who was more feminine passing, then we could have both trans characters providing some nice variety and showing that trans women can be masculine or feminine and still be women. I think for me it doesn't come across quite as mean Spirited as it might otherwise be because the show picks fun of some stereotypes related to these bothered groups, but then turns around and says "they may be weird or gross or dumb or poor but they're still better people than those vapid robotic rich people who are causing everyone's problems. If Anita passed perfectly then she would almost feel out of place (though to be fair they could make something else about her be weird, but I like that underlying aspect you mentioned about how trans people like her would prefer living in the hills because of how trans people would be treated elsewhere, and having another weird trait explaining her living there would kind of take away from that), so while it's obviously still questionable to make jokes about her being hairy or masculine, I mean, the show is also unabashedly making jokes about Bob not having any arms or legs when talking about how he doesn't initiate hugs or has a jump in his step. But he's a main character, treated as sympathetic. It feels a little more like an in-group form of the joke than an out-group form, even if technically it's an out-group writing the jokes afaik. But that could just be me rationalizing it because I have a soft spot for the show due to nostalgia. I do think the show would probably do a better job if it was made today compared to 2001. It's inherently a show that intentionally humanizes and sympathizes with oppressed people who don't conform to societal expectations, and criticizes capitalism and blind, vapid conformity, so I think it ultimately has its heart in the right place. I do like how Anita's womanhood isn't ever questioned despite her more masculine traits, and if you took out the scenes that are intended to make it more obvious to the audience that she's trans, like were we see her pre-transition or the mention of the surgery, and if her voice was more feminine, then you could go through the whole show not knowing she's trans and those jokes would still work just as well as jokes about her being a more masculine woman, but her being trans does definitely make them a bit more iffy. They could definitely benefit from a trans voice contributing. Even just a few more of the type of jokes like the wig one, where a presumably cis woman deals with some of the same struggles, could help make some of those jokes work a bit better by making it a thing that is not exclusive to men or amab people, and thus not specifically a jab at her being trans. Like the wax one, it would have been funny if Marie had said "you're gonna need a lot more wax" first, and then Anita also said it too after taking her place, because then it's less of a trans woman thing and more of a joke about how similar the two are as friends and residents of the Valley, and the reaction from the Hills woman would have been extra funny if this was the second time she heard that line. Or with the whisker burn thing, Bob could have commented on getting similar burns when his wife forgets to shave her legs or something. Idk, sometimes it's just fun to think of ways that problematic jokes could be changed to make them less problematic but still funny lol. Obviously they could just tell different jokes, but I actually like the idea of joking about things that are considered masculine being experienced by both trans and cis women because it's not actually something that only men deal with. Like the wig comment.
I could never think of the name of that show, I remember watching it while staying up for the late-night anime aired on Adult Swim. So I actually remember a good few episodes that were often rerun. I really enjoyed your video on it- if the show was handled right, it could have had a better following. Hope all is going well on your end! Thanks for the video. ^_^
This show was so ahead of it's time. All the trans girls I know (myself included) _love_ The Oblongs. Not as like a "fans since the 2000s", fans in the last few years. I don't really remotely agree it's "average" in any way, shape, or form. It's much more bitingly "fuck the rich" than almost anything. And like, I like my bodytype being portrayed in a non-judgemental way. Nobody gives her crap for it or anything except the dog (and like, that dog is def not dog-intelligence), she just exists and the entire framing of the jokes doesn't remotely match the usual framing. She's the one making the jokes, as a "that's life" type comedy. Like, my body hair ain't about to pass for a cis woman. Lil sick of non-passing representation being considered bad. Like, sorry I exist.
I was surprised by the analysis too. I loved Anita as a child and like you said, she wasnt the joke she made the jokes. We all make unflattering jokes. Im a hairy cis woman so i feel what Anita said. Also Oblongs os a great show. Im starting to feel like this is a niche show that only poor and middle class Americans loved. I still think the show holds up fairly well. Anita was my first trans experience and my first experience with boundaries. I am glad someone else feels this way.
@@nitashajohnson4767 I agree entirely. I think there's a lot of "poor/"middle class" (poor still) American culture" everyone else misses, because we don't get rep or osmosis.
@PosthumanHeresy thank you for responding! I love this. I hate this whole weird passing thing because even as a cis woman we don't all "pass" some of are hairy, big, bold and loud, ect. Being a woman is not a monolithic experience. Black women are afraid to speak out because of our live experience and other races. I haven't shave my body since I was 16 and I'm 34 so I'm a hairy woman. I like that Anita had hair. I'm very muscular for a woman too. I love sport. I am trying to get into body building. Like Anita represents a lot of trans & cis women alive than & now. I couldn't tell as a child she was trans, it wasn't until I got old as a long time fan that I realized but I always loved her character! She's a stand out side character for sure. The crazy thing about oblongs is I thought they were middle class, not rich like the valley people because I thought i was middle class and I heavily related to them. The show perfectly shows middle/poor lives. People say & do shitty things and a lot of times it's out of ignorance & not malice. Anita, I feel wasn't a character to be portrayed bad, she literally taught me how to say no, she was made out of ignorance with good intentions. Compare that to the Drew Carey show, another show I liked during that time period. Their trans rep is horrible and makes me very uncomfortable even though I thought I loved that show.
@@nitashajohnson4767 Absolutely!! And yeah, I'm not muscular but I got my Sicilian family's hair. The whole body is a razor destroyer. Like, a fresh razor is garbage after doing the whole body if it's been a while, and chronic pain means I'm not shaving daily. And the race point is so fucking true. Passing is a very white-normative concept, and with the whole "paranoidly calling any cis women trans" thing it's honestly gotten worse. If someone made a high quality, realistic drawing of Marsha P. Johnson, some 20something who doesn't read queer history would assume the drawing is a bigoted caricature because of the whole passing culture thing.
@PosthumanHeresy peridot. Being a black woman that doesn't subscribe to social norms makes her very relatable. Like being hairy doesn't make me less of a woman and being having a period doesn't make me more of a woman(because some people like to use that shit,). I related to Anita & Pickels on a social economic level I didn't see that either one of them were not women when I was a child. I saw them as cool ladies in a show that I liked.
the oblongs felt like such a contradictory show... here is this show criticizing some of the worst aspects of our society, while also participating in some of the worst aspects of our society.... the bigoted jokes, the poor taste humor, the body shaming... sure the show had the occasional "we're all freaks and we need to stand together against the REAL problems" kind of message but.... it kind of falls flat when at any given moment the show was willing to stand WITH the real problems and completely ignore it's own message....
I always thought Anita was supposed to be a intersex, due to all the mutations and such of the Valley. Though I only saw episode here and there back when it was on Adult Swim.
obsure? i guess i am odd, i saw this show and anita was my favorite character because of how awesome she was. a lot of the jokes they told at her expense felt more to do with the poverty of the valley. like that wax joke just felt like she couldn't afford to do the upkeep with waxing she use to do before she went to the valley as looking at her pretransition self, she was a lot less hairy.
Oh man, I watched this show. I remember feeling stuck somewhere between thinking it was Fine and finding it kind of tasteless, but honestly if you asked me to recall anything about it before this video, I wouldn't have been able to remember a single thing. What an interesting little trip down memory lane, thanks for taking a closer look at this character!
I always thought it was a shame that oblongs was as short lived as it was as it seemed like it would've gotten better once the writers had a chance to really nail down the shows identity
i didnt know what trans people were back when that came out so i always just assumed the pollutants that messed everyone else up also made her grow a lot of hair and mucked up her voice or something lol
Anita saying "uhh yeah sure why not" in response to Marie asking if she has a brother made me laugh cause I've said the same thing about pre-transition me to past teachers who didn't witness my transition
same
reminds me of a time some random dude unprompted (our only interaction beforehand was me giving him a light) asked, "so, are you a male?" & i was so exhausted (+ caught off guard by the choice of the word Male) that i just shrugged & said "yeah, i guess" then he just silently walked away in profound confusion😭
personally i think the show could use a reboot with some more contemporary and open minded writing because the class divide commentary with dark humor is probably more relavent than it ever was then.
I think the show was just a bit too early for when it came out
Agreed. It had real potential, some funny bits and insightful parts, a well navigated reboot could be great
Creepy Suzie seems to have a pretty big cult following online as well, at least on my corner of the internet.
@@BB-te8tc she certainly has an made made an impact.
@@BB-te8tcwhere is your corner? I would like to join the Creepy Susie fanclub
its really not hard to see why it got cancelled. it was hyper critical of capitalism. cant have people reflecting on their own situation.
Right? Hahaha, it would honestly do great though if they did reboot, they always be rebooting.
It took no prisoners, and I deeply respected it for that. It also had genuine empathy and sympathy for its "freak" characters, and didn't just use them as pure punch-down joke fodder the way other shows at that time would've/did (and some still do). Granted, the bar in that regard has historically been low, but credit where credit is due, at least.
@RaptorFromWeegee Soooooo, you hate the show, hate the youtuber, what are you doing here??? 😅
It was ahead of its time
The show sucked, the characters were disgusting too look at. The storytelling was childish at best. I guess you can relate to it very closely.
As a trans masc, I adored the oblongs. It made me feel seen, growing up like an outcast both in and out of school, in a shitty low class suburb. Anita walked so people like me could run
Trans masc? Isn't that just being a tomboy?
@@SteamGracedude no. transmasc is full female to male. tomboy is just a masculine female.
@@SteamGrace I consider myself enby but I identify much more with the male gender. Labels are hard
@@Jackiedrewharbringer what about the male gender do you identify with?
@@SteamGrace does it really matter? I don't have to justify my identity. But since you asked, I'd say put simply and without any misconception, I wish I was born with a dick. I cannot connect with things important to the "female experience" like the concept of feminism and never even felt like I was personally affected by stigma for my gender, despite knowing its happened to me. I don't feel like a girl, and if I was born a boy, I'd probably feel less miserable in how people perceive me, along with how I perceive myself. I don't fully identify with boys either, but I feel more comfortable and happy when people treat me or refer to me as a man when they interact with me
It's insane to me that Lily is able to find the most obscure cartoons that somehow have better trans representation than some of the most popular sitcoms out there. It's also disappointing that this is how low the bar is smh
Yeahhh... that's the biggest bummer of it all, is that any rep that isn't undoubtedly hateful is good rep because we don't have much to choose from. 😅
It's so low and most shows aren't even trying
The bar is at: exists, as a person, while trans.
This show was on adult swim back like in the 2000s. It was pretty good, so sad it didn't get more sessions.
zoidberg profile pic, nice
The creator is an interesting individual. At one point you could buy an oblongs DVD and for an extra fee the creator would deliver it personally and watch it with you.
Reminds me of the Tromaville crew honestly
deadass?? you're not pulling my leg??
@@skeleletonboi4533 no legs pulled fam
He also said on his website you can waive the delivery fee but coming directly to him to pick up your merch, but there was a side note to bring vodka 🤣
@ville__what is the end goal of your comment
"Sorry boundaries" LOVELY. I clapped my hands enthusiastically
Nonbinary transman who loves animation here, the Oblongs is a an amazing show about so many angles of difference: disability, class, environmental injustice and (thanks to your taking the time to address her character) transness too!! I hope you get lots of engagement from this great vid!
Genuinely asking and looking to learn. Could you please explain your identity more as being both Non-binary and trans? You don’t have to if you don’t want to but I would appreciate it. Thank you.
Nodding
@@PeruvianProteinPowderBeing trans means you identify with a gender that is not aligned with your biological sex. A lot of non-binary people see their gender as completely separate from their assigned gender and so identify as trans. But the non-binary umbrella encompasses a lot of different experiences so there are also some who are non-binary but not trans :]
Nonbinary trans man, like give me a break lmao.
Yes, all of these things you mentioned are all artificially created by an environment contaminated by waste products and shear ignorance of basic science.
This show is spot on, a world where toxic chemicals dissolve and twist humanity's minds and bodies leaving a husk of flesh not suitable for humanity's future.
growing up poor and a weird-ass kid with a weird-ass family, this show resonated with me a lot when i was younger. being neurodivergent in many flavors, i saw a lot of myself in milo and loved that he was the hero and was portrayed as a good kid even with his issues
this show was honestly ahead of its time, i feel like if it had come out just a little bit later it would've done better, and it's definitely a bummer that isn't how it ended up. it definitely wasn't perfect but there's a lot of heart to it and in a weird way, made me feel more "normal"
I remember being 11-12 years old watching reruns of this on adult swim and it heavily influencing my outlook on the wealth divide in America. Its so weird to think about how rare anti-capitalism was around me until I i started using the Internet more.
I totally remember this show! Funny enough even though I'm trans now I never once clocked Anita as being trans, I thought the thing that landed her in the neighborhood was her slobbishness but otherwise she was really cool and funny. Hindsight is crazy!
Also I was interested to see if the inconsistent treatment of Anita was due to multiple writers and I found out Joey Soloway is They/Them. So perhaps they might've been the voice of reason in the writer's room!
I don't think I've ever watched an entire episode of the ooblongs but I never miss a lily video
It's not too late.
@@gligarguy4010 you're not wrong
@@realMFgames I think the entire show can be found for free on UA-cam
@@gligarguy4010 I'll give it a shot, thanks!
it’s so good! i think it’s still on tubi, but i might be wrong :)
A lot of the criticisms you had towards Anita is exactly why I actually really enjoy the character Crystal Peppers from an adult swim cartoon called China, IL. There are jokes made here and there in regards to her transness, but her transness itself is never the butt of the joke. she’s first revealed to be trans in a season one episode where the joke is not that she has a penis, but that the fact that she does means she’s technically not exempt from a bet where the other characters would have to chop their balls off. in the second instance her transness plays into a joke, it’s at the character MAKING the joke’s expense. and those are the only two jokes about her transness. throughout the series she’s shown as complex and desirable, which blew my mind for a trans character from the early 2010s. my only criticism about how she’s portrayed is that maybe those jokes are a bit gratuitous, and she’s played by a cis woman (but hell that’s way better than a cis man, and it’s Chelsea Peretti). the only real visual indicator that she’s trans is that she’s pretty tall and has small breasts, but like, plenty of cis women have those features too, and like i said she’s never portrayed as any less desirable than any other female character.
It’d be really neat if you checked her out because China, IL is an underrated favorite of mine, and I love Crystal lol
Never even knew China had a trans character. Guess I didn't pay too much attention, darn my young mind that should've been sleeping.
As a hairy and tough cis woman, I'm inspired by Anita's confidence.
@@derpdadouch3654 no cos same here!! i used to watch it as a kid sometimes and never knew, it wasn’t until i went back and rediscovered the series maybe a year ago and was very surprised that one of the professors was just casually trans. i was so used to every other adult cartoon i liked inevitably making some uncomfortable trans joke or episode or what have you, but Crystal was there the whole time!
Wtf she was trans?? Lily, we've got your next topic right here
also i wanted to add i was wrong about the first joke-i went back and rewatched the bet episode and Crystal is actually the one who initiates the “nut bet” as they call it lol
I really liked The Oblongs, especially how it dealt in depth with class struggles and economic oppression, something that wasn't dealt with all that much back then, and certainly not to the extent that The Oblongs covered the subject.
That Show was [SomeWhat] Ahead of its Time!
Especially Addressing Environmental InJustice, Climate injustice, Social InJustices[, Etc,] Created and Perpetuated by Capitalism meant to Perpetuate Oppressions of All Kind and Perpetuate Class Hegemony/Struggle Which its own Contradictions Will Lead to its Inevitable DownFall SomeWhere in the Near Future [If Possible].
Hi anarcho-syndicalist Bluey
@@moxxy8626 Anarcho-Communist Bluey. And Hello! 👋
I used to watch this show back in the day as a disabled poc lol. Aged worse than I thought in some places! Never thought I’d see the day someone talked about it, I thought everyone else completely forgot about it
I wanna see how you feel about superjail. Despite Alice's deaign being based on stereotypes, her identity as a woman isnt a joke and its never questioned. Shes also shown as desirable to a large amount of characters.
I would also be really interested to see a video on Superjail! I used to love that show, and i always liked how the Warden's head over heels love for Alice was never played for laughs in a "ha ha he loves a trans person" way, but only ever a "she doesn't love him back" way.
I wanna see this too
i remember her and it's been many years but i recall catching a glimpse of an episode where she was like... chased out of a group of warrior women or something like that, for being trans? i don't feel like looking it up and possibly making myself dysphoric, but i kinda wrote that show off ever since. i should look into it sometime though cause now i'm curious if i'm misremembering and/or missing important context.
Hey, so Anita played pretty heavily in the episode where Pickles became the den mother for a girls scout troup and while Anita wasn't the butt of many jokes, Bob was super transphobic in the episode. Pickle and Anita dress Milo up as a girl and have him act like one of the girls and everytime Bob sees Milo like this he acts like he's going to kill himself, saying stuff like "maybe you can crochet me a noose", and at the end of the episode when he finds out it's all a scam he says to milo "I'm tickled pink your'e not a transvestite"
Woooooow
As Milo flutters his eyelashes at him. XD
Milo honestly slayed as a woman, and you could tell he was enjoying it
@@moxxy8626 Future Drag Queen perhaps?
@@kaylatarapaskoski2390 oh defo
I think the story is that the valley folk didn’t focus on Anita being trans because she was one of the valley folk….the fact that she is trans fits with the “valley” dynamic, it was something that the viewer focused on.….also awesome points that Pickles real name is Marie…I don’t think I’ve ever caught on that it was anything other than Pickles…
Thank you for mentioning the name thing, I haven't watched Oblongs in the longest time and so watching this thought I was nuts for remembering her name as Pickles.
wasn’t her name martha?
@@grey_cybernetix.1299 Marie 'Pickles' Oblong, according to the Wiki and IMDB.
My favorite one liner of the show provided by Pamela Aldon's Milo Oblong, "You may control my mind, but you would never control my ass!"
No joke, The Oblongs was one of my favorite shows as a teen on the Adult Swim block. Thanks for giving it a spot on the show, lmao.
i didnt realize there were only 13 episodes of this show, i liked it a lot when it first came out and it felt like there was so much more content than that
The author himself is kind of a weird guy in a good way so the better jokes in The Oblongs are it's dark humor. As for Anita herself I always saw it that since everyone is an outcast in the valley so nobody has any room to really say anything and has been respected in the community for being the bar owner and providing a common place for everyone to hang out. To suddenly out or hurt the person that runs such an important place would be a detriment to everyone.
I knew about this show before and I'm interested to see your take on things. Personally Anita is one of the better characters purely by the bare minimum of making her somewhat of a character and not a constant joke. I find it really nice her and Claire are spill the tea kind of friends and Anita is a person the family can trust if someone was in danger. It sucks she has to be a stereotype of strong trans woman dealing with society but it could be worse. It could be way worse.
The Oblongs has a very strange story behind the show. Angus Oblong was a (literal) sad clown that they pulled off the street and made a show from his comics. The strange part was how he had no connections nor was related to anyone prior to getting a whole-ass show greenlit. You can still hire Angus to perform sad clown services such as silently watching you sleep.
I was curious about the sad clown thing, so I decided to search him up and yeah, that's a sad clown if I've ever seen one. Didn't need to click on anything else, it's the first thing you see when you search "Angus Oblong."
I am one of the 5 fans of this show. I haven't watched it since I was a teen though, I have no idea how I'd feel about it today.
I’ve personally haven’t heard anyone talk about oblongs in a LONG time.
Most people just forgot it or don’t know what it is, it’s just one of those shows from the 90s/2000s that kinda got forgotten. I forget just how many shows from that time that became so damn obscure to the point to where it feels like no one remembers them lol.
Yeah...
It’s funny you say that, because, like, 10 months ago I was flooded up the wazoo on YT with clips from the show.
I remember watching the entirety of the oblongs as a teenager circa 2012ish and being absolutely obsessed with it and horribly disappointed there was no continuation or conclusion. It felt so relatable, like honest representation of real problems me and people I knew had without even trying to hide it with humor or themes, these people are just fucked up and doing their best.
My girlfriend got me into this show recently because it was a show that she was obsessed with growing up and convinced me to watch it. It’s a good show.
Holy heck, someone remembers the Oblongs?? This is gonna be fun
I wonder if the fact that she lives in the Valley is why nobody asks about Anita's trans-ness. Meaning, maybe the chemicals from the Hills had an effect on her gender or sexuality or maybe even biology so maybe its just not that unusual to anyone.
That seems to be a consistent theme with the Valley denizens, which is a good point you brought up early in.
Great video!
seems more likely that the valley people just accepts body "deformities", so it wouldn't matter if she doesn't seem stereotypical.
Like presumably she's not in the minority with wearing a wig since just moving to the valley caused Pickles to lose all her hair. or how common odd breast configuration seem, it's not out of place she wears prosthetic ones.
I think they stereotyping was more for the viewing audience, like most the audience was probably cisgender so while not making outright mockery of trans people they still had a level humor and misunderstanding with it. the important thing imo is pretty much what you said...its how the characters reacted. The other characters accepted her, didn't make absurd questions, didn't mock or abuse her or anything; she was one of them a neighbor and a friend.
I recently binged Yu Yu Hakusho on Hulu and (this went right over my head when I was a kid) there's a trans character in episode 24.
It's an anime about fighting and she's a bad guy, but I was surprised that the hero's companions continued to treat her as female even after discovering that she's got a little more than most girls down stairs. Especially given how old the show is.
It may not be worth making a video about, but I enjoy your analysis' and would like to hear your thoughts on it.
Yeah but stepping into the world of ANIME is going to be a huge rabbit hole talking about trans-ness. It's definitely a lot
Theres also alluka from hunter x hunter, written by the same author! Say what you want about the actual representation but it makes me happy that he tries to include trans and queer people in so much of his work.
Well, except for the part where Yusuke sexually assaults her to "find out," and the closest he comes to being supportive is scolding her for not getting surgery yet. Like, bruh, I have no idea what trans healthcare looks like in the demon world, but even if it is better than it is in our own, it's not the sort of thing you can get a walk-in appointment for. You don't know her situation, Yusuke.
Yeah but also Yusuke is awful in that scene
Never happened buddy, keep your fetishes to yourself. You do not want this fight especially with a beloved anime.
Ohmygod!!! I clicked the video so fast, i love The Oblongs!! Its a strange, hilarious, dark little series and no one remembers it! I have it on DVD and its weirdly hilarious, if a bit dated. But even then, it never feels like anyone is the butt of the joke. It all feels like they are laughing at themselves. I dont know what channel it was on here in Canada, but probably Teletoon At Night. I shouldnt have been watching it as a kid but i remember it and its... Just so weird and good!! Im thrilled to hear your thoughts!!
Have you done a Moral Orel episode yet? Miss Second Opinionson is just such a good character, especially in the episode "Dumb", but of course, you've got to watch the whole series to get that show
I remember rewatching The Oblongs about 3 months ago and while I was watching I thought, "I hope Lily makes a video on Anita. I wonder what she thinks of her." Low and behold, it's finally here! I personally found her to be a delight of a character and loved that she had confidence in herself. I was also glad the characters didn't make negative comments about her or anything but I do agree that the trans jokes about her body were very tiresome to endure. Her and Pickles' relationship was very cute to watch! They're such gal pals heart ❤
I loved this show. I'm actually rewatching on Tubi! Pickles was always my favorite along with Helga
I remember discovering this show via UA-cam back in the early 2010's and binging it over the course of a couple of nights, randomly remembering it every so often. Cool to see it being covered.
This is that show that I’d catch late at night on the weekend and there was nothing else to watch. Good times.
Enjoyed the video btw
as a trans autistic person with a special interest in adult animation, thank you for finding shows that people thought were a fever dream
I rewatched The Oblongs a couple years ago and was surprised by how radical it was in some ways. It's anticapitalism, environmental critique, and very flawed but overall positive view of disability/neurodivergence all put it ahead of its time. It was a rare case that managed to do better than I remembered in some ways but like you I was really annoyed by some things like especially about race/culture and gender. Still, for the era it was in one of the upper brackets IMO and it's a shame it's forgotten.
I disagree with your view that it was just a totally bland or bad comedy... the very nature of so many of its jokes poking at wealth inequality, climate denial/environmental disregard, and ableism made it funny in a way a lot of shows weren't (or weren't enough). It may be more of a premise lending power to mediocre skills, sure, but all comedy is an interaction between wit and premise so making one a lot better can affect the other. I could make a whole video about this but just one example of humor you don't see in much else: Bob's total cheerful can do attitude in the face of almost comically evil bosses and politicians etc. Do many other shows make cogent jokes about workers who genuinely believe in "the american dream" or think they can bootstrap themselves out of their situation, make excuses for bosses wile they suffer from them? I don't see it much. This show isn't Dinosaurs levels of "omg was this written by Marxists?" but elements of it at least reach Simpsons (mild) levels of that lol.
My memory from that rewatch in terms of transness was ambivalent to negative but hearing you talk about it actually reminded me of some positive elements I probably hadn't fully thought through. Now it's more ambivalent/neutral haha. Thanks for all your thoughtful and nuanced videos.
Also "Put me out on the field coach and I'm going to suck dick"... I had to stop and laugh for full minute omg.
You should do a character analysis of Alice from Superjail. Mostly, I just want to torture you by forcing you to watch Superjail, but I do think there's enough to analyze in her character. If you don't want to analyze the entire show, I think the most relevant episodes would be "SuperBar" and "Jailbot 2.0". Love you Lily!
God yes, Alice was my first queer awakening and Dr. Monarch from Venture Bros. Would love to see that
Thank you so much for doing a vid on The Oblongs. This show occupies a weird place in my heart as, like you point out, it often didn't rise above the standard level of comedy for the time...but also as a disabled lgbt+ person who grew up in poverty, I really connected with a lot of the ideas and potential this show had. I was in college when this first came out, and at that time it was the first thing I'd seen showing disabled people as just...people. and the same with Anita - there are some unfortunate jokes, but she was a character beyond her transness. Which were both huge. But as you point out, there are a lot of places where it goes for the easy laugh. This COULD have broken a lot of boundaries, and I honestly think that in the right hands today, this could be a really fantastic gem of a series.
YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW EXCITED I AM THAT YOU DID AN EPISODE ON THIS!!! I didn’t think you’d talk about it when I had mentioned it before, but it’s so exciting to see that quite a few other people were also looking forward to this episode, loved the video 💖💖💖
I had no idea how universally disliked this show was! I loved it as an edgelord teen, and I assume if I watched it again, my favorite part now would be the same as it was then - the rich/poor dichotomy. But I imagine it would be a little harder to just ignore all the other bad stuff.
The Oblongs is the most underrated Adult Swim show, it needs to come back somehow.
holy shit this played on adult swim in my country. I remember being like 10 or 12 and staying up late to watch this, I can't believe you're making a video on it. Awesomeeee
The fact that the phobe is a dog is actually a really clever statement
Had never seen it, but was surprised to be reminded that the show existed. Sounds interesting, if a very mixed bag.
BUT - as a transfem person, I randomly happen to be wearing a blue dress and blue opera gloves today! So that's a wild coincidence. Alas, I don't have shoes that match that close.
The body hair thing is such a a lazy trope! It cracks me up when someone clocks me and insults me as being "hairy", because I am so obsessive about daily hair removal that I can't possibly take the dig seriously. I am bald, have no facial nor body hair. Only eyebrows and lashes.
I haven't thought about this show in a million years. Always knew I had stayed up way too late when this and Super Milk Chan came on.
Great episode as always, Lily!
ayyy, one of five or so Lily fans who watched Oblongs and was waiting for this video is here! excited to watch this
I remember the Oblongs, I saw the episode on Adult Swim where the pretty, rich upper class stick figure white girl pretty much got kicked out of her click because she no longer looked like them.
I am a bit familiar with this series.
this show autoplayed on tv once and my dad looked at me surprised I’d never seen the show and also insisted it was a kids show (which I did not believe) so finding out it’s a niche adult show is definitely something
It is WEIRD to hear her called anything but pickles XD
I know, I'm not sure why they keep calling her Marie.
I guess I didn't realize this at the time, but this show does make sense as only being the one season now because of how I remember it always being like the same few episodes. I do remember it being on the WB network and then moving over to the Adult Swim line up later, it was just never a very funny show or doing very much memorable, but I do have a vivid memory of it.
I feel like there was a lot of adult animation that had a weird schedule or bounced networks or something back then. I remember Squidbillies, Home Movies, Mission Hill and all of these other shows that seem kind of obscure in my head and at the same time I know other people watched them because I remember seeing them with others or even referencing and talking about them with others.
always watch your videos as soon as they come out!! i remember watching this show many moons ago but i've forgotten a lot of it so im glad to look back on it here. trans rights
I vaguely remember this show; I don't think I've ever seen a full episode. Looking forward to this review!
I can imagine a creative team thinking "we're so good, we hired a real voice actor for our trans character" and then completely checking out and not interrogating their messed up assumptions involved with the everything I just said. Makes these kind of retrospectives really important.
Im so glad we're talking about The Oblongs, I wasnt born when it aired but I have vague memories of seeing reruns
I would love if you covered superjail! its an adult cartoon with a canonically trans main character and its from 2008!
I'd love to see your take on the Rocko's Modern Life reboot episode they did a couple years ago - static cling i think. It was a situation where the voice actor for the trans character is a cis man (the show creator), but the character was a recurring character from the original run who ended up coming out some time between the last season and the special who was originally voiced by the same person. I also think it's one of the few kids cartoons (maybe the ONLY one) to ever do something like that. The original show did have a lot of adult humor, but it was part of the Nicktoon's line up, and the special is still more or less family friendly. (Also honestly it was a really happy moment for me because this was my favorite show as a kid). I also think it handles allies educating people instead of leaving the burden on trans people pretty well for what it is.
I remember liking the Oblongs as a kid. Dunno why, I wasn't really old enough to be watching it, but something about the humour appealed to me lol. It wasn't perfect by any means but I liked how the main characters were all disabled and poor but were still a loving family. I also liked how the dad wasn't an asshole like most other sitcom dads. What's funny is as a kid I thought the dog yelping after looking up the character's dress was a joke about her going commando, not about her being trans lol. Like I knew she was trans in an abstract sort of way, but that wasn't what I thought of when I saw that joke for some reason.
Heck yeah, i love this show! Thanks for the cool video, lily
It’s so awesome to not only see coverage of the oblongs, but also focusing on anita. Awesome work!
I’d love to see you cover Alice from superjail sometime.
I loved the Oblongs as a kid! That must be why I thought there were way more episodes than 13.
I loved this show. I watched it as it came out. I was devastated when it ended
I loved the oblongs when little and remember being so excited when Anita was on screen because I was still in elementary and never seen a trans person before. She isn't the perfect representation but she isn't the worst representation ever and was the first trans anything I had ever seen so Anita is in my heart!
Oh man I was such a fan of this show growing up as a "weird kid." I'm very glad I recently found your channel
I adorded this show as a kid and still have every episode on DVD, though my memory was a bit hazy
I was /waiting/ for you to review this!! Oblongs is so underrated
I loved the plucky attitude of this show. Anita always struck me as the valley's wise, if beleaguered, truth teller.
Wow! I'd forgotten about this show, couldn't tell you where or why I'd seen it before.
I still find it crazy how obscure it is, it was one of my favorites as a kid. It was like one of the least terrible adult cartoons out there
Mabye says a lot about who i am now
I vaguely remember seeing this on adult swim as a small child, seeing this is bringing back an obscure long forgotten memory.
I wonder if Will would be down to revisit the role if they did a reboot. He pops into tv shows here or there, and Oblongs as a premise could be a great cartoon today. Especially since that's all we got, reboots, haha.
The bit that sticks with me most about the Oblongs is during that same episode where the father's bits get stomped, Milo can't fall asleep without the sound of them having sex in the next room and he slowly falls into sleep-deprived madness.
This always stuck most with me too, and I remember it periodically 🤣
He called it "the white noise", really funny episode
Oblong is The Addams Family for the new millennium
I always considered Anita to be an examination of queerness in general within the Hills/Valley divide: a person who, like Pickles, chose self-expression over conformity and was unable to do so in The Hills. The gender jokes she's given aren't amazing, but her response to the dog's transphobia, the wax joke, the "it's private" moment with Pickles all give me the impression of someone who won't let other people tell her how to feel and expresses their feminity with a toungue-in-cheek approach to their ongoing physical transition in a community that doesn't ask many questions.
I own a signed copy of Creepy Susie! I'm so glad to see someone talking about it, as an impoverished and different queer child it made me feel seen. I'm hoping that it aged well and you enjoyed it, but we'll see 😅
I can agree with your take that it's a mid comedy that land in the pitfalls of it's time. If I recall correctly there were issues with production and Angus Oblong over how the concepts and characters were presented in the series
You made such a big deal of "there is no way there is going to be a revival of this show" that I was expecting a Gilligan cut to a poster announcing "Summer 2024: The Oblongs Movie".
I’m one of the few fans of this show and I’m so happy you covered this show! Even if it hurt for you to call it shit lol. I love Anita Bidet and while her representation is subpar I was always happy she got to have her own happy life dating and running a business and being buddies with Pickles.
I think the show could sidestep the issues of using so many stereotypes if they had another trans woman who was more feminine passing, then we could have both trans characters providing some nice variety and showing that trans women can be masculine or feminine and still be women.
I think for me it doesn't come across quite as mean Spirited as it might otherwise be because the show picks fun of some stereotypes related to these bothered groups, but then turns around and says "they may be weird or gross or dumb or poor but they're still better people than those vapid robotic rich people who are causing everyone's problems. If Anita passed perfectly then she would almost feel out of place (though to be fair they could make something else about her be weird, but I like that underlying aspect you mentioned about how trans people like her would prefer living in the hills because of how trans people would be treated elsewhere, and having another weird trait explaining her living there would kind of take away from that), so while it's obviously still questionable to make jokes about her being hairy or masculine, I mean, the show is also unabashedly making jokes about Bob not having any arms or legs when talking about how he doesn't initiate hugs or has a jump in his step. But he's a main character, treated as sympathetic. It feels a little more like an in-group form of the joke than an out-group form, even if technically it's an out-group writing the jokes afaik. But that could just be me rationalizing it because I have a soft spot for the show due to nostalgia. I do think the show would probably do a better job if it was made today compared to 2001. It's inherently a show that intentionally humanizes and sympathizes with oppressed people who don't conform to societal expectations, and criticizes capitalism and blind, vapid conformity, so I think it ultimately has its heart in the right place.
I do like how Anita's womanhood isn't ever questioned despite her more masculine traits, and if you took out the scenes that are intended to make it more obvious to the audience that she's trans, like were we see her pre-transition or the mention of the surgery, and if her voice was more feminine, then you could go through the whole show not knowing she's trans and those jokes would still work just as well as jokes about her being a more masculine woman, but her being trans does definitely make them a bit more iffy. They could definitely benefit from a trans voice contributing. Even just a few more of the type of jokes like the wig one, where a presumably cis woman deals with some of the same struggles, could help make some of those jokes work a bit better by making it a thing that is not exclusive to men or amab people, and thus not specifically a jab at her being trans. Like the wax one, it would have been funny if Marie had said "you're gonna need a lot more wax" first, and then Anita also said it too after taking her place, because then it's less of a trans woman thing and more of a joke about how similar the two are as friends and residents of the Valley, and the reaction from the Hills woman would have been extra funny if this was the second time she heard that line. Or with the whisker burn thing, Bob could have commented on getting similar burns when his wife forgets to shave her legs or something. Idk, sometimes it's just fun to think of ways that problematic jokes could be changed to make them less problematic but still funny lol. Obviously they could just tell different jokes, but I actually like the idea of joking about things that are considered masculine being experienced by both trans and cis women because it's not actually something that only men deal with. Like the wig comment.
As someone who isn’t trans, I love the Oblongs, it’s a beautiful show. I am a very big fan of it!
BABYYY, the WAY I just dropped everything to watch this as soon as I saw it was uploaded
I could never think of the name of that show, I remember watching it while staying up for the late-night anime aired on Adult Swim. So I actually remember a good few episodes that were often rerun. I really enjoyed your video on it- if the show was handled right, it could have had a better following. Hope all is going well on your end! Thanks for the video. ^_^
I remember the Oblongs! also it IS on streaming channels off n on too, keep up the great vids
This show was so ahead of it's time. All the trans girls I know (myself included) _love_ The Oblongs. Not as like a "fans since the 2000s", fans in the last few years. I don't really remotely agree it's "average" in any way, shape, or form. It's much more bitingly "fuck the rich" than almost anything. And like, I like my bodytype being portrayed in a non-judgemental way. Nobody gives her crap for it or anything except the dog (and like, that dog is def not dog-intelligence), she just exists and the entire framing of the jokes doesn't remotely match the usual framing. She's the one making the jokes, as a "that's life" type comedy. Like, my body hair ain't about to pass for a cis woman. Lil sick of non-passing representation being considered bad. Like, sorry I exist.
I was surprised by the analysis too. I loved Anita as a child and like you said, she wasnt the joke she made the jokes. We all make unflattering jokes. Im a hairy cis woman so i feel what Anita said. Also Oblongs os a great show. Im starting to feel like this is a niche show that only poor and middle class Americans loved. I still think the show holds up fairly well. Anita was my first trans experience and my first experience with boundaries. I am glad someone else feels this way.
@@nitashajohnson4767 I agree entirely. I think there's a lot of "poor/"middle class" (poor still) American culture" everyone else misses, because we don't get rep or osmosis.
@PosthumanHeresy thank you for responding! I love this. I hate this whole weird passing thing because even as a cis woman we don't all "pass" some of are hairy, big, bold and loud, ect. Being a woman is not a monolithic experience. Black women are afraid to speak out because of our live experience and other races. I haven't shave my body since I was 16 and I'm 34 so I'm a hairy woman. I like that Anita had hair. I'm very muscular for a woman too. I love sport. I am trying to get into body building. Like Anita represents a lot of trans & cis women alive than & now. I couldn't tell as a child she was trans, it wasn't until I got old as a long time fan that I realized but I always loved her character! She's a stand out side character for sure. The crazy thing about oblongs is I thought they were middle class, not rich like the valley people because I thought i was middle class and I heavily related to them. The show perfectly shows middle/poor lives. People say & do shitty things and a lot of times it's out of ignorance & not malice. Anita, I feel wasn't a character to be portrayed bad, she literally taught me how to say no, she was made out of ignorance with good intentions. Compare that to the Drew Carey show, another show I liked during that time period. Their trans rep is horrible and makes me very uncomfortable even though I thought I loved that show.
@@nitashajohnson4767 Absolutely!! And yeah, I'm not muscular but I got my Sicilian family's hair. The whole body is a razor destroyer. Like, a fresh razor is garbage after doing the whole body if it's been a while, and chronic pain means I'm not shaving daily. And the race point is so fucking true. Passing is a very white-normative concept, and with the whole "paranoidly calling any cis women trans" thing it's honestly gotten worse. If someone made a high quality, realistic drawing of Marsha P. Johnson, some 20something who doesn't read queer history would assume the drawing is a bigoted caricature because of the whole passing culture thing.
@PosthumanHeresy peridot. Being a black woman that doesn't subscribe to social norms makes her very relatable. Like being hairy doesn't make me less of a woman and being having a period doesn't make me more of a woman(because some people like to use that shit,). I related to Anita & Pickels on a social economic level I didn't see that either one of them were not women when I was a child. I saw them as cool ladies in a show that I liked.
DUDE. I KNEW I THIS CARTOON WASN'T A FEVER DREAM. WTF THANKS LILY
the oblongs felt like such a contradictory show... here is this show criticizing some of the worst aspects of our society, while also participating in some of the worst aspects of our society.... the bigoted jokes, the poor taste humor, the body shaming... sure the show had the occasional "we're all freaks and we need to stand together against the REAL problems" kind of message but.... it kind of falls flat when at any given moment the show was willing to stand WITH the real problems and completely ignore it's own message....
22:10 I like the way you had to specify EPISODE because you're talking about transitions LMFAO
I always thought Anita was supposed to be a intersex, due to all the mutations and such of the Valley. Though I only saw episode here and there back when it was on Adult Swim.
I think that word is considered a slur, or at least harmful. I'm not assuming any ill intent on your part though. I think Intersex is preferred
I was really expecting a smash cut to a headline about an Oblongs reboot near 35:00 there.
I really liked the oblongs when I was a kid! I think it's a severely underappreciated show...even if the trans rep is...less than favorable
I loved The Oblongs! It was broadcasted here in Brazil and I stopped everything just to watch it!
obsure? i guess i am odd, i saw this show and anita was my favorite character because of how awesome she was. a lot of the jokes they told at her expense felt more to do with the poverty of the valley. like that wax joke just felt like she couldn't afford to do the upkeep with waxing she use to do before she went to the valley as looking at her pretransition self, she was a lot less hairy.
Thank you for covering this. I forgot about her. This is awesome.
I love the Oblongs! I wish there was more episodes
Oh man, I watched this show. I remember feeling stuck somewhere between thinking it was Fine and finding it kind of tasteless, but honestly if you asked me to recall anything about it before this video, I wouldn't have been able to remember a single thing. What an interesting little trip down memory lane, thanks for taking a closer look at this character!
Can we get more seasons of Oblongs with some different cast members? Would love to watch more episodes
I feel like I watched some of this when it was out. Thanks for covering it.
I always thought it was a shame that oblongs was as short lived as it was as it seemed like it would've gotten better once the writers had a chance to really nail down the shows identity
i didnt know what trans people were back when that came out so i always just assumed the pollutants that messed everyone else up also made her grow a lot of hair and mucked up her voice or something lol
23:39 I love stuff like this where you can’t tell if it’s scripted or it just happened 😂