WTH? Wednesday
Probably won’t be an actual series or anything, but the title’s pretty darn catchy, isn’t it? Thankyouverymuch.
I started this post months ago. You know, back when I was still blogging with regularity.
Anyway, I’d sort of forgotten about it until last week when Lilly and I were watching her very favorite show (at the moment). She’s moved out of her Little Einsteins phase and is now solidly a Handy Manny kinda girl. When she saw him in Disney she nearly cried with delight!
We had to wait in line to see him 3 times.
And she hugged him so long and hard we eventually had to pry her out of his arms!
Overall, I’m fine with it. The show is cute enough and not overly annoying, though I do find playboy Wilmer Valderrama an odd choice for preschool programming…but I digress. So Manny, thumbs up. I’m cool with you. But what is going on in your town man? I have never watched an episode without a thousand questions running through my head. So like any stay-at-home mom with way too much time on her hands curious woman would do, I googled for some answers.
Which I didn’t really get, unfortunately.
But I did find a whole slew of other socially repressed curious moms like myself, wondering the very same things. So at least now I know I’m not alone in my craziness. See?
- Are the people of Sheetrock Hills illiterate? Why does Manny’s store just have a big picture of his head instead of a name?
- Is Kelly a closet socialist? When she closes her store to help Manny with a project, he protests and tells her she should go back to the store. Her response: “Community comes first Manny.” Hmmmm…
-Is Sheetrock Hills is a barter society? They certainly don’t ever exchange money. Manny never pays Kelly for anything from her store, and I’m not sure I’ve ever heard money so much as mentioned. Kelly stands there next to a cash register that never gets opened, leading me to believe it’s all a farce. So if money isn’t exchanged, how do you think Manny pays her for the goods? Sure, he could have a house account. Or is he paying her in other ways? They’re awfully flirty.
- How do the tools have eyebrows? They are just suspended in the middle of nowhere up there. Are they fake? What holds them in place? If they are real, do they grow? Out of what? Why do they even need eyebrows?
- And speaking of the tools, they always seem excited to eat. How does that work exactly? They have no hands to hold the food. And where is their digestive tract? That food has to be going somewhere.
- Why does Manny never remove his hat? What’s he hiding under there? Ditto the gloves.
-What’s the backstory on Mr. Lopart? He’s always snubbing Manny but somehow I think he’s not a bad guy, just misunderstood. Do you think he insists on doing it all himself because he’s jealous of Manny and trying to keep up appearances, or because his intellectual growth was stunted and he’s the emotional equivilent of my 2-year-old, insisting to do it “my OWN self!”
-And is there any actual doubt that Mr. Lopart is gay? Or are we to believe he’s asexual? And either way, isn’t he a bit stereotypical? A middle-aged single man, living with his mom, unnaturally attached to his cat, with a funny voice and forever seen in a cardigan sweater. Couldn’t we be a bit more original here?
-The gay thing makes me wonder if there is an unspoken push to be PC in this show. I mean, we’ve got the hispanic majority (check!), the gay man (check!), the woman-in-a-man’s-profession (check!), the Asian family (check!), the Indian family (check!), and various kids in wheelchairs (check!) always in the backround. I think this town might be a gated community to keep out the plain old white bread.
-Which then leads me to wonder, where is this place? The US? Mexico? Puerto Rico? or…?
-Are the kids in Sheetrock Hills total jerks who destroy their parents marriages? Why does everyone seem to be from a single parent household? There’s no Mr. Lopart, no Senora Sanchez, no Mr. Portillo. Something is amiss. (PS-Don’t freak out about the kids crack-it’s an SNL joke)
-Why does no one, ever, no matter where they go, ever seem taken aback by talking tools? They don’t even mention it! How is that not just a little bit odd? I’d freak right the heck out if a flashlight ever hopped up and talked to me.
Yeah, I know I’m weird for thinking this much about it, but when you see something for an hour a day, every day, for months on end, I just can’t help but go there. If you ever figure any of this out (or know a writer with answers over in Handy Manny land), I’d love to hear from you. I need to get these things out of my mind so I can go back to pondering more important matters. Like why the Little Einsteins parents aren’t being investigated for child neglect.
Tags: cartoons, Disney, handy manny, kelly, Mr. Lopart, tools
How I See the World, The Stay-at-Home Mom Gig | Heather November 25, 2009
Facebook comments:
By Becca - Our Crazy Boys, November 25, 2009 @ 1:36 pm
I’m cracking up. I used to think those things about Blue’s Clues when my little guy was into that. I haven’t seen Handy Manny yet, but you can bet I’ll be watching it very soon… thanks to you!
.-= Becca – Our Crazy Boys´s last blog ..Hi Dad… What’s up? =-.
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By Lisa Battista, November 30, 2009 @ 8:01 pm
This is the most entertaining, and even insightful, blog post I’ve read in a long time! I was chuckling out loud. My preschooler also watches Handy Manny frequently and I have at times pondered these very issues – it’s hard not too. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one!
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By Ed & Anna Silverthorn, January 4, 2010 @ 9:10 am
My wife and I were just pondering all of the same questions about Handy Manny, especially the orientation of Mr. Lopart. Before leaving for work I decided to google it to see if anybody else was wondering the same stuff. Your blog was very funny. For the record, I also think Special Agent Oso is a moron. Shaun the Sheep is by far our favorite.
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By Jennifer, May 17, 2010 @ 7:53 pm
And why doesn’t Manny have parents? He mentions his mom once in passing and that’s it. And how on earth did Elliot manage to buy a racecar on his video store salary? Anyone else thinking drugs?
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By Kenny, May 30, 2010 @ 1:56 pm
My wife always tells me to stop when I ask questions like those. But you’re right, when you watch these shows over and over again you can’t help but ask these questions. Like why doesn’t Rocket on Little Einsteins just fly over every obstacle instead of turning into a train or and animal?
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By Eric, April 26, 2011 @ 8:29 pm
I think the fact that we have watched this show so much that we have suspended the obvious that is all a fictional cartoon (I mean we never wondered how the Coyote never died after being blown up and falling off cliffs in the old WB cartoons) and have ventured into conspiracy theory territory.
I mean, yeah, what the heck is up with the lack of spousal and parental representation especially Manny’s. Were they taken up in the mother ship that brought the tools to Earth? I mean, with certain shows like Calvin & Hobbes the sidekick being “alive” was a figment of their imagination. But everyone seems to have no problem with physics and gravity defying tools with human like attributes with no Government agency ever descending on their position. Are the tools Aliens? Robots? Experiments in reincarnated material? Is everyone in Sheetrock Hills on acid? What DOES Mrs. Portillo put in her pastries?
And Kelly, shes obviously psychic and able to manipulate matter. Her store is quite small, and yet every episode she seems to have an entire stock of new items that magically are what Manny needs. Does she read his mind as he’s walking up the street and make it appear. And her purse and truck apparently double as replicators because no matter where Kelly is, she has it.
And Mr Lopart, Manny couldn’t build a closet big enough to put him in.
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