[ SECRET POST #5105 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #5105 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 33 secrets from Secret Submission Post #731.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

01. https://i.imgur.com/t67YRL7.png

[(Anonymous)]

when they fucking lost the ambergris like it was nothing I got legitimately upset.

I don't mind it so much struggling to get by as a premise, but when they dangle little spots of hope like that it's actively unpleasant. They need to give it the weight it deserves, losing the ambergris should feel like a sad, tragic moment, not something funny or wholesome.

[(Anonymous)]

Tbf, there wasn't a reasonable chance of selling the ambergris, it most likely would have just caused legal trouble. Even if The Nose hadn't robbed Louise, the idea that he (or anyone else they knew) was competent enough to move it and get them the money is kind of ridiculous.

[(Anonymous)]

1. that doesn't address the emotional issue
2. even holding it for 5 years, 10 years, 20 years, until the right moment arrived would make sense. Even selling it for a fraction of its worth would make sense. Even then just being sad about it instead of being "lol alls well that ends well, guess we were just too greedy" no, it didn't end well, they are still struggling financially. They weren't being greedy, humans need money to live.

I guess we arrived at the crux of my issue with this story, using a family that is struggling to get by for a moral about how greed is bad, and you should be grateful for what you have, is spiteful.

[(Anonymous)]

It's tough, because having something that depicts that kind of financial insecurity is genuinely really important and good

But it's also often unpleasant to deal with that stuff and also really hard to tonally balance it

No real good answer, it's just tough

[(Anonymous)]

I can never rewatch the one where Bob's old friend offers him money but wants to change the decor in the restaurant. I totally get where Bob is coming from, wanting to be authentic, but like... money! That they need!!!

On the flip side, I love how relatable it can be. Linda "taking [Gene] to the mall to visit an outfit he likes" and Bob saying the clothes he took to the donation center were happy to be back made me laugh so hard. I rarely see stuff like that addressed on shows, but the first one especially was something I did growing up. :D

[morieris]

Same.

It's one reason why (different medium and genre) I was kind of cringing at Diary of A Wimpy Kid #14? (Wrecking Ball). Like damn, haven't those people been through enough.

[(Anonymous)]

Me neither, op. It's just way too stressful and hits too close to home for me.

[(Anonymous)]

It can be really hard to watch at times, but other times it's really cathartic to watch a really hard part of life depicted. It lets me know I'm not the only one whose family had to deal with such struggles.

[(Anonymous)]

This is how I feel about it too.

[(Anonymous)]

They did it better in Malcolm in the Middle. That felt a story told by people who understood this kind of hardship. In Bob's Burgers it feels like a plot device.

[(Anonymous)]

This secret reminds me of that tweet ”The Belcher's finances stress me the f**k out!"

Also same

[(Anonymous)]

It makes me uncomfortable, but I usually like it when the protagonists come out on top. The Belchers though, they never feel safe and it keeps me uneasy.

[(Anonymous)]

I can definitely see this. Personally, I think I hate it more when characters are given problems that realistically would cause serious financial consequences but this is never dealt with and everything is apparently fine in the end.

[(Anonymous)]

When it's part of the story from the start, I often love it and find it deeply resonant and moving, in a "Don't touch me or look at me rn, I'm trying not to cry" kind of way.

I usually don't like it when it's a curveball thrown into a story where the characters were financially stable before. The profound anxiety of that is basically never something I'm into.

I grew up poor, so I guess I relate to stories where poor is the status quo, and find them cathartic. Whereas when characters go from well-off to broke or in debt, I guess all I get from that is extreme anxiety without the sense of catharsis.

Experientially, "poor as the status quo" stories are like praying for the 400th morning in a row that your rust-bucket car starts. Whereas "Rich to bankrupt" stories are like praying the engine in your private plane stops failing long enough for you to land it in a field. Both hinge overwhelmingly on anxiety, but it's a very different type of anxiety in each.

[(Anonymous)]

Same. It's why I can't watch "Brother, Can You Spare That Jacket?" from "The Golden Girls". One is because of the financial insecurity being as "entertaining" (remember: they lost the winning lottery ticket that was inside Blanche's aviator jacket was because of Sophia's folly. She legit thought that Blanche's aviator jacket was really old and worn out, so she donated it to charity), and the other reason is that it goes into "Very Special Episode" territory about homelessness and that not only hit me close to home but it's very depressing to watch.

[(Anonymous)]

Same, right down to skipping episodes. A friend of mine loaned me Name of the Wind a while back and I had to explain that the threat of tuition hanging over Kvothe’s head really diminished my enjoyment.

[(Anonymous)]

In most cases I agree, but with Bob’s Burgers you can feel comfortable knowing they are never going to take it to a serious place. That’s just not the tone of the show - they use finances as an impetus for their hijinks sometimes but everything will be fine by the end of the episode. If you need an in universe consolation, consider that Mr. Fischoeder likes the Belchers, owes them a few, and likes to give Bob shit enough that he may threaten but wouldn’t actually evict them.