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otterno11's review
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
2.0
After I recently finished watching the last season of the 2010-2018 Cartoon Network show Adventure Time, I decided to fill that hole by exploring some media that analyzed some of the deeper, more thoughtful elements that seemed evident to me throughout even through its silliness and bright colors. I really enjoyed, for instance, Emily Nussbaum’s essay on Adventure Time in her collection of TV criticism I Like to Watch, so I was curious about what this collection of academic essays would add to my understanding of the deeper meaning behind this lush and affirming fantasy adventure comedy show. Unfortunately, in the end, there wasn’t that much in Adventure Time and Philosophy that will really stick with me. As the first of those numerous “popular culture and philosophy” books I’ve read, if this is anything like a typical example, I’m not really inclined to check out any more even for those topics I might otherwise be interested in.
Containing 26 essays from various writers, some written more coherently than others, most are pretty dry despite the author’s occasionally obnoxious attempts to capture the blithe, slang-heavy voice of the show. The collection was published in 2015, in the middle of season six, so it obviously lacked access to the heavier topics and revelations of the later seasons, but there are a lot of thought-provoking motifs and material throughout the show for in depth discussions accessible to kids as well as adults. Unfortunately, the large majority of essays barely scratch the surface on these questions and mainly served as shallow Philosophy 101 introductions to various basic philosophical concepts, such as meta-physics, free will, and idealism, and thinkers like Plato, Kant, and Heidegger.
Often shoehorning Adventure Time characters to serve as examples or cases in point for what amounts to undergrad lectures, there was very little interest, it seemed, in actually taking on these topics through an Adventure Time lens aside from just the basic subjects like heroism, fantasy, and authority. Even as the contributors cite various episodes and situations in the show in their explanations of the tension between science and magic in the show or the spirit of play it embodies, I feel that all too often it didn’t really matter that they were talking about Adventure Time specifically, it was simply a convenient place to hang their heavy handed points and stick with the theme rather than any real interest in examining the show itself.
It was particularly disappointing to me how little analysis or discussion there was on the actual messages or intentions of the artistic expressions made by creator Pendleton Ward or the creative team at Cartoon Network, a topic barely discussed at all. I’m less interested, for instance, in what Finn or Jake or Marceline would do in a certain situation than I am in why they were written and designed the way they were, what influences and ideals inform these choices.
The best essays, such as What’s Time Anyhoo by Mary Green and Ronald S. Green capture something about the show and say something interesting, but far too much of the time the Adventure Time elements are more or less superfluous and could be said about any fantasy fiction. Ultimately, I feel that there are better introductions to basic philosophical concepts even if they might not use random exclamations of cabbage or reference Glob as much.
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