Visions of Childhood (Sick, Gnarly Rocket Power Style)

A T.V. show that I think depicts childhood in a unique way is the Nickelodeon T.V. show Rocket Power. This was my favorite show as a kid, and I think it is a different way of presenting the ways of a child.

The show is (was? I don't know if it's still on.) based on a gang of kids performing different extreme sports all around their California town. Not only performing them, but doint it really really well too. I think that it has an underlying meaning that kids will always be restless and somewhat deviant for a certain point in their life, but then they mellow out. I think this is an important part of childhood that adults seem to forget between the stages of young adulthood and middle age periods.

The show kind of outdoes itself though, going all out with saying such as "killer wave bro!, and gnarly grind on that rail squid!" Even as an eight year old watching the show at my house, it seemed a tad excessive. In this sense, it isn't really childlike. However, I still think that the way the kids are presented can be a substantial universal for the culture.



In all of the stories we have read about childhood, the concept is presented in a different, but similar way. It is presented as sort of an "out-of-the-ordinary" type of character who has some kind of individual identifying quality, be it Cates and his country style, Victor and his strange home-life, or Connie and her unique struggle. These all present a viewpoint from an underdog, if you will. A type of underprivileged person in some way or another. This is what makes them all similar.

What makes them different, is that they are all dealing with a unique situation. This is where as a collective group of stories, all of the authors got things right. They did a good job of representing different issues that kids can deal with, and did a good job of going out of the ordinary.

Johnny.