Monday, March 5, 2012
Example 3: Odyssey Allusion in Sonic X
In this episode of “Sonic X: An Underground Odyssey”, Sonic
and his friends trek into a deep cave in search of emeralds. The cave is very
similar to the cave of the Cyclops. Throughout the episode, there are many
random allusions to the Odyssey. For example, in the very beginning the people
on the deserted planet are “longing to be home” and “have been lost for a long
time.” And along with that, they hope to be home soon, and are not giving up
hope, much like Odysseus. There is also a scene where, a character, Chris is
talking about how the cave might be dangerous and a different character holding
“Snuggles” reassures him by saying, “don’t worry, if things get scary at least
snuggles is there, he wouldn’t let anything happen to them Chris, ‘cuz he’s
tough!” This seems to be a reference to the gods, and more specifically, Athena
as she was always at Odysseus side and now Telemachus as he searches for his
father, the “emerald.”It is interesting because, this is a kid's cartoon show and it alludes to the Homeric classic. It is funny to me because the targeted audience is highly likely to not understand the allusions at all. So why include references to the Odyssey in a cartoon show?
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If the show is targeted at middle school kids, they may actually have encountered at least a very abbreviated version of the Odyssey when they studied ancient civilizations in 6th grade. So the allusions might not be wasted after all. Moreover, most kids movies, and that's probably true for TV shows as well, are trying to reach two audiences, not just the children, but also their parents. You'll find, e.g., in the Shrek movies lots of jokes that 10-year-olds wouldn't get, but that the parents who had to shell out the money for the movie tickets would appreciate.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that the Snake-Insect-Cyclopes in this Sonic-X episode are technologically advanced, quite in contrast to the Homeric Cyclops Polyphemus. Yet even in Greek myth there are technologically skilled Cyclopes, namely the ones that work in Hephaestus' smithy below Mt. Aetna.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, because the cave hides this futuristic emerald copying workshop, the stake that Odysseus uses to brn out the Cyclops' eye has been transformed into a spark-emitting electrical cord with which Tails hits one of the cyclopic monsters right in the eye.