Sectarian Review 97: Gumball, Capitalism, and the Andersons

Episode 97: Gumball, Capitalism, and the Andersons

11/21/2018

A super-special episode for Thanksgiving and Black Friday! This week the show explores an episode of the Cartoon Network show The Amazing World of Gumball called “The Money.” The episode humorously shows how under capitalism, human beings effectively cease to exist without money. Making this episode extra-special, however is the fact that Danny is joined by his wife, Kim, and their two daughters, Nora and Ella. The whole Anderson family tackles the subject with humor and insight and the Anderson youngsters will blow you away with their brains and charm. Tune in before giving up Thanksgiving for Black Friday!

3 Comments

Enthusiastic Gumball Fan

11/22/2018 07:22:35 pm

Hello! I really liked this podcast; you and your family just have a very wholesome relationship with each other that elevates this podcast so much!

Truth be told, I am not the most well-versed in the humanities nor would I have found this podcast under normal circumstances. However, somebody who does know of this podcast shared this with me, and as huge Gumball fan, I just had to check it out.

I have a deep appreciation for the show myself, although mine has always come more from an appreciation for the work that goes into crafting the comedy and stories rather than anything philosophical. With that said, "The Money" has always been a favorite of mine, and the way you guys go in-depth about it is fascinating.

Some things to note:

- This episode marks the first time Gumball actually followed through with his seemingly idealistic principles. An earlier episode, "The Bumpkin," had Gumball reject going to school and finding a job in a capitalistic society in favor of living an off-the-grid lifestyle much like his classmate Idaho the Potato. Gumball has Idaho teach his entire family about "the way," and whereas the rest of the Wattersons are able to adapt albeit reluctantly, Gumball eventually gives up and goes back to his house to play video games and party, claiming he has principles but he can't live by them.
- In one your "Stop-and-Thinks," your daughters mentioned how the characters voices seem to change. To elaborate, Gumball and Darwin are voiced by actual children. Gumball and Darwin are supposed to be twelve years old, but the children voicing them eventually go through puberty and their voices become too deep to be believable as twelve year olds, so the staff end up having to hire new kids. However, the show being as meta as it is, acknowledges this within the show itself by having Gumball and Darwin "glitch out" before receiving new voices, usually to their dismay.
- The episode in which Larry quits his jobs causing the entirety of Elmore to fall into an apocalypse is titled "The Pizza," and the episode in which Bobert the Robot eventually plans to exterminate mankind is titled "The Loophole." Both are fun episodes to take a look into.
- Since you guys seem interested in how the show explores people being relegated to certain roles, the entirety of Rob the Cyclops' arc ("The Nobody," "The Nemesis," "The Bus," "The Disaster," and "The Rerun") may be worth looking into.

This was a fun listen. Sorry that this comment became far too long.

Danny Anderson

11/28/2018 11:45:16 am

Hey there EGF! Thanks so much for the wonderful feedback. This is a very fruitful continuation of the conversation the show started. My kids have been watching Gumball for years and I've often just let it hover in the background, but when I watch it closely, there is so much going on and you've done a great job of show us that.

And thanks for the kind comments about our family. We do try to have fun together when possible. Thanks for reaching out!

Danny

Danny Anderson

11/28/2018 11:44:46 am

Episode 97: Gumball, Capitalism, and the Andersons

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