I’ve been binging on Bob’s Burgers on my lunch hour, taking time to deprogram and entertain myself. I didn’t like the show at first but it grew on me as I found the exploits of the Belcher kids and their friends highly entertaining. And the music is a serious bop.
But I never had a favorite episode until Amelia.
The plot line is a class assignment from Ms. LaBonz to do a multimedia presentation on a hero. In the library, a book on Amelia Earhart dropped from a shelf and curious, Louise picks it up. Classmate Wayne dismisses Earhart as the product of a publicity stunt, which pisses Louise off, who is now determined to learn more.
And she is enthralled.
She encounters challenges working on her assignment, finding the story of Earhart a difficult task. She has to deal with Wayne's harassment. She has to grapple with the feeling Earhart maybe wasn't a hero because she failed in her flight across the Pacific. She faces defining what makes a hero. A defiant rebel, she learns to ask for help, from her siblings, her parents, and Benj, a student in Tina's class who is a puppet maker.
For a cartoon character who is perpetually 9 years old, she grows up considerably in this episode.
There's so much to love.
The storytelling is well crafted. The plotline weaves together things viewers of Bob's Burgers are well acquainted with, such as Louise's defiant nature, her interaction with her teacher Ms. LaBonz, and her relationships within her family. It introduced a universal experience, writing a challenging class assignment - mine was on industrialist Andrew Carnegie. The storyline also harkens back to previous storylines between Louise and Ms. LaBonz, who has taken a hard line with Louise on past class assignments, challenging her because "I know you're smarter than that."
But the storyline also defines Louise's character on a finer point, standing up to a bully. She's had bullies before, where she trades clever barbs with high schooler Logan or avoids stalker Millie. But with Wayne, she not only uses her wit, but she uses her intelligence to best him. And he's the worst kind of bully, a misogynist who uses sexism to belittle and dismiss Earhart and Louise, taking over her and louder, as if to drown out her voice. I think we've all had our share of bullies like this, I'm immediately thinking of Earl in Freshman Composition, who heckled me during my Beatles presentation, he being an Elvis guy.
It's interesting to note the misogyny is not solely on Wayne. Reading reviews online, a vast number of male viewers "hated" this episode, telling the writers to "stick to burgers." Oh, that you would make the point of this episode, again, for everyone to witness.
And a shout-out for the animation. Going from full, saturated color to sepia-toned animation-within-the-animation as the kids create a shadow puppet presentation to show in her class for the completion of her project.
Earhart was a pioneer for women and a woman's right to be everywhere. I had my own graphic Earhart project back in college, a commemorative postage stamp. I created a series of her plane with Amelia, and her blonde shag, standing next to her plane in the last image. Do I still have it?
It's nearly 90 years later and we are still talking, loudly, about you. Bravo Amelia, bravo Louise.
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