Doug: Trials of Peer Pressure and Honesty

Doug Tips the Scales

I found this one a few years ago on YouTube and read something interesting in the comments section. Someone said that this episode touched on a serious issue and how cartoons nowadays do not.
I really haven’t been up to date on the latest cartoons so I can’t confirm whether this is true or not. But I can’t think of many cartoons (past or present) that address body image issues quite like this.

Doug had spent a week at his grandma’s one summer and had put on some extra weight from too much pampering and junk food. And Beebe has a pool party in a week. So he does all kinds of stuff to lose weight. 

Judy has an interesting solution, but it’s only a temporary fix. She teaches him a “think thin” mantra, which works until he looks in a mirror.

“Hey, wait a minute. I’m still fat.”
“Well of course you’re still fat, Dougie. The point is that you feel better about it.”

Ultimately what works is eating beets and following Ronald Weisenheimer’s exercise videos.
He runs into some of his friends in between sessions and we hear a little about how they see themselves.
Connie and Larry suggest fashion choices to complement his body type. Neither seems to mind that they're not cookie-cutter thin. 

Connie: “I’m big boned”
(I’m sorry- every time I hear that, I hear Cartman’s voice: “I’m not fat, I’m big boned!”)
Larry: “And I’m stout.”
Doug: “So what am I?”
Both: “Husky...”

On the day of the pool party he'd reached his goal weight, but is still riddled with insecurity, so he plans not to swim. It turns out that all of his friends came up with their own excuses not to go into the pool. Skeeter is the most surprising because he’d said throughout the episode he was trying to *put on* weight. That’s not something you really think about- being self conscious about being too skinny opposed to too fat... but it’s possible.

In the end, Doug takes the leap of faith (literally, cuz he’s on a diving board) and everyone finally gets over their nerves and joins him.

***

A big theme in my favorite movie (The Breakfast Club) was peer pressure. Claire especially struggled with going along with what her friends expected from her. 
When I was in elementary school in the 90's, peer pressure was one of those big issues we were regularly talked to about. It usually coincided with the D.A.R.E. which educated about the harmful effects of drugs. 
Doug may not have an anti-drug story arc, but other types of peer pressure is a theme that comes up frequently.

Doug’s Big Brawl

Larry's a character who's been in the background for much of the series, but this was the first time he has a big role and is addessed by name.
He challenges Doug to a fight after he's caught in the middle of a game of keep-away (thanks to Roger and his buddies). 

Doug manages to get in one good punch and it knocks Larry to the ground. Just like what happened when he knocked down Patti’s old house with a single rock, he wins the admiration of his classmates but makes an enemy in the process.
His dad overhears about it when he gets home and offers one important piece of advice.
“Show me a man who resorts to violence and I’ll show you a man who’s run out of good ideas.”
Mr. Dink then asks “Did you cream him, Douglas?”
The scene that follows is pretty hilarious, especially when he gets more than he bargained for.

Back at school, Larry's AV club buddies launches their own smear campaign against Doug. It starts with flyers- I still don’t know what the hell a “pavid vermin” is. And a boobytrap in his locker.
Then we get to Mr. Bone’s lunch announcement. [sorry, I couldn't find any screenshots of this]

Quick side-bar: this was one of my favorite scenes in the series.
Mr. Bone introducing the lunch items one by one and all the students go “eww!!” and throw balls of paper at the TV screen for every option.
I found this so hilarious I actually put a similar scene in something I wrote, but it was about themes for prom... unfortunately I might have to delete it in a later edit, just because it’s such a strange tonal shift for the story I’m telling.

Anyway, the AV club interrupts the announcements to attack Doug and he finally storms over to their room to resolve the problem.
Larry immediately gives himself up and says that his friends were behind all of the smack talk. “They thought you made the AV club look dumb when you punched me.”
And they threatened to kick him out if he didn’t fight again and restore their reputation.
Um... I hate to sound like a pessimist, but I’ve always had the impression that AV kids were never considered cool. In fact they’re usually one of those cliques that’s picked on regularly.
Thanks to his dad’s advice and some other things, Doug finds a brilliant resolution to their problem- with some help from Skeeter.

They pretty much stage the whole thing on video cast and cut the feed with only Skeeter’s commentary to go by.

The biggest example of overcoming peer pressure might be Doug Throws a Party where the spotlight shifts to a rousing game of true or dare. 

Willy to Larry: "Ok, Larry. Who do you have a crush on?"(Beebe)
Larry to Skeeter: "I dare you to stand on your head in front of everyone." (In his underwear)
Skeeter to Patti: "I dare you to (Roger: "kiss")... to kiss... um... Porkchop!"

Patti has a good one for Roger: “I dare you to say something nice...about Doug.”
And after some stalling, he says “I think Funnie is...a...really nice...guy.”

But in an attempt to salvage his reputation, he turns the tables on Doug. He anticipates a very specific dare involving Patti, but gets something completely different.
Connie had come late with Patti and was hiding a bad haircut under a hat. Roger dared Doug to take it off to embarrass her. At the last minute, he chickens out. Patti is so impressed by his kindness that she kisses him on the cheek.

 

(In the whole Doug and Patti story arc, it’s kinda surprising that he didn’t spend an extra moment focusing on that)
Roger goes ahead and does it anyway, but Connie gets the last laugh when she punches him in the gut. Hell yeah!! Can’t say he didn’t deserve that.

***

Doug Way Out West

The second half of the truth or dare episode has Doug and his classmates visiting a local dude ranch. He rode a pony as a kid so he has some equine knowledge... but somehow he winds up convincing everyone (including himself) he had a past life as a cowboy. He even had an alter ego with a theme song- Durango Doug. Yeah, one of those guys who eats nail for breakfast without milk.

At the ranch, he quickly learns he’d made a grave error in judgement for putting down “Other” ("wow... other") under riding experience. Sugar is practically a bucking bronco so things don’t go well.
It’s kinda funny to see how his tune changes so much that he reimagines the “Durango” sequence where his new rawhide brand is of a chicken laying an egg...

So he’s able to keep up the charade until Patti finds him missing and she’s concerned he’d seriously hurt himself. Then after he confesses the truth, she really tears into him for being an idiot- if that’s not proof she returns his feelings, I don’t know what is. And at the end ,she gives him a few tips on riding. Like how leg pressure is how you make them go.

...I’ve ridden twice in my life and that never helped me. Both of the horses I rode didn’t listen to me or were more interested in snacking on whatever foliage or hay was around. I love horses so it’s kinda discouraging that my history riding them hasn’t been especially enjoyable.

***

Arnold’s schtick in “Hey Arnold!” is telling others to do the right thing.
Although Doug already has a pretty good moral compass and does this anyway, two storylines really put this mantra to the test.

Doug’s Hot Property

I didn’t get to find this one again on YouTube but it’s always stuck in my head.
Doug and Skeeter go into their local comic book store one day and the shopkeeper shows them “Man-o-Steel Man- Issue #1” which isn't for sale. 

(According to a wiki, Doug owns every other issue of the comic except this one and it's extremely rare as could be expected)

Fast forward to another scene- two high school guys are selling comics out of the trunk of their car in a parking lot. And one of them was the same issue #1 comic so Doug buys it.

He and Skeeter are in complete disbelief and amazed at their luck... then they find their comic book store had been broken into. So yeah... Doug finds out he bought stolen property.
As hard as it is, he decides to return it. It’s kinda scary going back to the reopened store and seeing how much everything changed. Guards and signs everywhere. Only one kid allowed in the store at a time. And the shopkeeper became mean old man.
If memory serves me, when he gives the comic back, he actually asks “ok jerk, where’d you get it?”
Shaking, Doug tells him the complete truth.
“I bought it fair and square, from a couple of high school guys. I didn’t know it was yours...”
That was enough to change things back to normal and the shopkeeper was back to his old generous self. 

Doug’s in the Money

Another of my favorites that’s also extremely memorable.
It starts with Doug going to the bank to exchange penny rolls for dollars to get a burger and a shake. It speaks to a much simpler time when pocket change really added up.

Anyway he finds an envelope full of money and turns it into the police station. And they laugh at him like he’s crazy.
Paraphrasing here: they’re like “this kid found a wad of money and turned it in? Who does that?”
Geesh... since when did doing the right thing make you a freak?
(Actually, Doug imagines a sideshow being run by a guy from the police station where he’s the “amazing honest boy”...)
Word gets around REALLY quickly and everyone at school finds out. Roger leads the charge of people making fun of him, as usual.

So 30 days pass and nobody claims it so Doug gets the money. And suddenly everyone treats him differently. (For me, the weirdest part is seeing Roger with his eyebrows arching in the opposite direction)
While counting out the $14,447 dollars, he overhears a news report with the actual owner of the money. Part of her plea included the phrase “I’d lost my head if it wasn’t bolted to my neck.”
Um... I gotta ask, if this money was so important, how the hell did it take her at least 31 days to realize it was missing?
Also, the cynic in me is like “slow news day, huh?” You usually don’t see news stories on tv about losing money like that. If it was stolen from a charity or it was some sort of domestic abuse situation, that'd be a more believable use of "evening news" TV time.

Doug’s first reaction: “I think I’m gonna be sick... Ugh, my money belongs to little old lady. Why me?”

We already kinda know how this is gonna end but some highlights.

Judy compares his predicament to something out of Shakespeare (“not him again...”) and she aptly names it “to keep or to weep, that is the question.”
Doug fires back at her, resolving to keep the money. “I’m guilt-free, Porkchop, and nothing’s gonna change my mind.”
...except a dream sequence that perfectly sums up the superego part of his predicament.
He imagines her house in foreclosure, the bank taking her belongings and she’s just wearing a barrel. Then she says the line again: “I swear I’d lost my head if it wasn’t bolted to my neck.”
Then the one guy says, completely deadpan, “Sorry, lady, we had to take the bolts too.” And her head falls off, “oh no...!”

Haha!! I’m sorry, but I just found that so hilarious. They had to take the bolts too!
Sometimes I’ll just quote this line out of nowhere and fall over laughing all over again.

So Doug, with a crowd behind him again for some reason, gives her the money back. 

She’s not in the sorry state he’d feared but she’s so grateful she gives him.... a pack of gum... I wish I was kidding.

The YouTube comments were relentless, saying what a jerk the lady was and also my comment about why it took so long for her to look for the money.
I love Roger’s comeback “oh goodie, gum. I hope you bought enough for everybody.”
Doug walks away, totally done with the whole thing, when Judy drives up. She saw everything and actually treats him to a burger and a shake. “Come on, you earned it.”
I love that so much. He spends a lot of the series embarrassed by Judy that it’s cool to see sweet gestures like that come out of nowhere.

***

Doug's Mail Order Mania


Whenever I see the Word Unscramble in the puzzle section of the paper, this storyline always comes to mind.

Doug opens a piece of junk mail. Inside, there's a puzzle and a letter saying if he solves it and make it through enough rounds, he could win a zillion dollars. After succeeding, he receives a follow-up letter saying to enclose $25 with the next one. Therein lies the rub.

One thing I picked up a few years during a rewatch: the contest was run by “Ponzi Publishing”... the incident with Bernie Madoff happened a couple of years before I made this connection. I also learned (thanks to the comments section) the term “Ponzi scheme” predated him (and Doug for that matter...) so it was an educational experience I didn’t expect.

Doug winds up becoming so desperate to win this prize he ropes Skeeter into it and they pull their pocket change. They succeed, but also are too strapped for cash to join their friends for a shake. I only bring this up because Beebe makes a comment: “Broke? Broke? What is broke?” To which Chalky replies “we’ll explain on the way, Beebe.”

...yikes

So now they’re “grand super bonus finalists” but need $50 to proceed. If we learn anything from the time they broke Mr. Dink’s grill, Doug and Skeeter aren’t very good at raising funds through odd jobs. In the end, Doug cashes his savings bond, but finally learns the truth at the post office.

“But I’m a grand super bonus finalist.”
“Sure, kid. You and a zillion others.”

The one good thing to come out of this story arc was that Doug eventually won something in the end: 3rd place for a sculpture he’d worked on all episode. Judy might not have lent him money for the scam, but she was at least nice enough to mail in his entry for the Tri-County Art Festival.

(couldn't find the actual art piece, but here is Porkchop posing for 

"Dog Crossing the Delaware")

.