I hate the Loud House so much I talked about it twice apparently. This'll just be me expanding on one single point from my last entry, but ah, that's only partly true. While I will call back to that point, I wanna focus on the overall dynamic between Lincoln and his sisters, and why it feels so hollow in the longrun.
I'm no hater, I ducked out of Cartoonshi's Loud House video when he said he hated Lynn, sorry, but that prospect was ruined when it turned out 99% of that hatedom consist of pedophiles with an albinism fetish, and with how mainstream loudcest is, plus the fact some men can envision themselves as Lincoln getting all the love from the girls, it'll take a hell of a lot to convince me otherwise.
The show seemed to have a 90s appeal, but when you think about it, it feels like it's close to nothing when compared to other 90s Nicktoons.
Planks for Nothing
A show about a family of eleven siblings is an interesting idea on paper. But the execution is a different story. With so many characters, it'd be hard to give them all both a unique personality and additional dimensions, and a glut of main characters would just make things complicated. Those who don't make the cut are literally cut out, just ask Judy Winslow.
It can be done, but only for a set number. They really got it down in the sitcoms of the 70s, The Partridge Family and The Brady Bunch. With The Partridge Family it's easy to identify everyone as they are of different ages and interest, not to mention the fact that they're all a band would justify all of them being together.
With The Brady Bunch, they really play off the aspects typical of their age groups, the teenaged elders, the middle children and the youngest, not to mention their ability to play off of one another.
Granted any show could have characters play off one another, even The Loud House, but at times it only feels like it happens when it's convenient to the plot. Other times it's either expected or indicative of other shows. We know Lincoln won't get along with Lori so they play up the teen bitch aspect a bulk of the time. We know Lola is stuck up and spoiled at times but can swallow her pride. It only took five seconds for us to get Luan's schtick, and it takes up 95% of her character.
As mentioned in my previous entry, because of a stark glut of character or just bad writing, every character abides to their own archetype. They have other traits, but a stark bulk of their character is their archetype, it's the first thing that comes to mind with their characters, well except for Lincoln who has no real character. Fight me.
For many of these family tales, there isn't any nuance to the characters to make the story stand out from others like it, it really feels like it's down to basic components, mixed with stereotypes. Not to mention for a show so late into the game, even episodes that do things differently feel expected. Even times where the siblings try to help Lincoln feels predictable, and how often does it carry out to future episodes?
The characters are hardly likable enough for me to give them a deeper look, their arcs are par the course at worst, average at best. Archetypes are hardly characters in and of themselves, and these characters are only about 20% more than that.
But what the hell does that mean?
The characters are about as hollow as their relationship. For many of the interactions, once more, it's accepted at this point, and once you find a pattern that's all you could see. I have yet to see any meaningful interactions that aren't what you could potentially see in other cartoons. Hell, at times when things end saccharine or bitter, it hardly feels unique. I say unique given the success this show had, and with it overrated by many, you gotta call these things out.
When it comes to shows like that, I gotta question if the creators even had siblings. Now sure, Chris Savino had a family like that, but he's also a very crappy writer. It would've been better if it was boiled down to a few siblings, with them taking three traits from the others to get a more fleshed out character. The point to animation is to embellish reality, not every aspect of real life can translate well. No character has a second unique trait, though whatever second trait there is, it's expected or for convienence.
No one sister loves Lincoln more than the other, that's hardly fleshed out. They seem to have a hive mentality most of the time and however they treat Lincoln depends on the conflict of the day, it's hardly based on going off of personality (unless it's minimal) and more of plot convenience. I hardly feel the chemistry, it all feels manufactured most of the time; this is a boy who's in an all girl's family, his life is sad most of the time.
It really feels as though Lincoln does more for his sister than they do for him. He puts aside his selfish desires for his own sisters... at times selfish desires, with very little payoff. We're supposed to feel satisfied Lincoln made a sacrifice, but if all he gets is respect from his sisters and a bad ending, it feels like a hollow victory, like he's just making their lives better and getting little to show for it.
Even when I liked the show, the sibling interactions did not rank highly for me. No wonder we had a glut of saccharine, over-dramatic fanfics. Even the fans see what I see, though I can't describe it.
Sibling interactions work better when it's just two siblings, at least from what I've seen. Angry Beavers and CatDog got it down to a science.
With Angry Beavers, it's fair game to which brother is the most annoying, sometimes Dag can drive Norb nuts, but the shoe can easily go on the other foot. They argue and bicker a lot, but at the end of the day, they do care for one another, they just don't feel like admitting to it.
Ironically, CatDog has the most wholesome brotherly relationship of the two. The two play off each other very well and have a good balance. Cat is the smart one but doesn't think things through, Dog is the dumb one but at times is the most logical. It's more obvious they truly care for one another, but can't help but give into their habits. CatDog aren't archetypes, they're characters who have those archetypes.
I guess it isn't fair to compare, as Dag and Norb and CatDog don't have the privileged upbringing the Louds do, but chemistry is more clear and apparent for the two. Odds are clearly against them and they try to get by, while putting up with their differences, and none are bound to the exact same dynamic so things could be kept interesting.
The kinder moments don't feel as unique, had it not been for the personalities I'd say they're borderline interchangeable, anyone could be in that situation, with only the interests varying. We don't get the character with a personality expanding on their relationship with their sibling, we just get a personality that affects another character.
I have yet to see a believable interaction that wasn't just ragging and dysfunction.
To reiterate
The chemistry the Louds have feels disingenuous, hollow and rather basic, all things considered. The fact the sisters are all primarily singular personalities really hones in on how easy it is to produce and manage The Loud House, there really is no soul to it.
So why am I telling you this again? The sibling dynamic is one of the biggest points people use in favor of the show, I had to throw my piece in on that.
If you wanna see for yourself, check out an episode of The Loud House, then pop in an episode of Angry Beavers and CatDog and tell me which one emanates the best sibling relationship.
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