Thursday, March 17, 2011

A question I received.

Over on the tumblr version of this blog, someone asked,
"Would there possibly be any psychological explanation to...Doug's episode title openings? or the show's general intro?"

So I answered...

I've never really thought about it much, but I want to answer this. So, maybe consider this post as stretching the theme of the overall blog as far as it can go.

First, the show's intro is really just a perfect intro to the show. It tells you everything you need to know. First, Doug is writing everything you see.

You should never expect an outside perspective.

Second, some whimsical, athletic girl is occasionally going to wander into the mix.

And Doug's writing will always reflect how much he loves her.

Third, some guy with rickets will always try to ruin Doug's shit.

And fail, usually falling for the same traps that he sets for Doug.

Fourth, Skeeter will always just hang around and make an ass of himself.

And finally, Doug's writing will show you how he sees life.

Life does leave you tied up, feeling nervous and restricted if you have an anxiety disorder.

As for the episode title openings, there's one thing that's always bothered me: Doug's anger with Porkchop. You know how they go:
Light's out...

Doug sheds some light on the situation and all we see is an empty room with "DOUG" painted on the wall. Porkchop runs off and gets some paint...

And then Doug gets pissed at him and usually chases him off like so...

Sometimes he threatens to chase him off, but then doesn't and just turns off the light. It never works out though.

If this doesn't happen, it's something else. Either Porkchop comes back alone and turns off the light, or Porkchop comes back with the paint and throws it at the camera. All that matters is that it goes to black.

But anyway, the point is...why does Doug get mad and chase Porkchop for further vandalizing this invisible wall in this room of nothing? It's not like the episode titles are insulting Doug. If Porkchop painted "SUCKS" or "SHOULD DIE" under his name, I could understand.

I don't want to make the argument that these title sequences are daily psychological breakdowns that Doug has before he gets his medications from the nurse in the children's hospital, and Doug recognizes his impossibly dexterous and literate dog as a figment of his imagination and wants Porkchop to strop intruding on his life, because there's no evidence supporting that at all. But I have no problem giving you that idea anyway...

1 comment:

  1. They're just snappy intros/title sequences, I don't think anything else about 'em myself.

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