Hey Arnold: Harold

When the series began, Harold started as the typical bully. He'd always tease the other kids and threaten to pound them if they crossed him... but I don't know if he ever beat anybody up.

As things progressed, he got a lot more depth and background. He became a little less of a bully and more of the type of character who needed that extra courage to overcome something. 

One of the things that set him apart from a lot of animated characters at the time: he came from a Jewish family.
Rugrats touched on this a little bit, but only during Passover and Chanukah. They went into the origins on some of the practices associated with those holidays, but maybe not day-to-day life.

Harold Berman and his Jewish upbringing comes up in two particular episodes.

Harold's Bar Mitzvah

First time I'd heard of a Bar Mitzvah too...

Harold is 13 and has come to the time in every Jewish boy's life where he must complete a rite of passage to become an adult.

But on the day of the event, he decides to run away and live on Elk Island because he's afraid to cross that threshold. 

Of course he runs into Arnold and Arnold does his thing, trying to convince Harold to go back to the synagogue and go through it. But it's not quite as easy as giving him a big speech.

...a few interesting things happen first.

I forget the exact quote, but I think his rabbi tells him that to become a man, you must be righteous, give charity and use prayer. And during his journey to Elk Island, Harold winds up doing all three of these. 
There's a woman and a boy both saying they'd lost somebody. Harold doesn't put two and two together, though. He says "I should get that kid together with that lady that was yelling. They can scream and cry together." It turns out they were a mom and son that had lost each other.

Another scene: Harold buys a Mr. Fudgey bar from the Jolly Olly Man and comes across two kids fighting over the same popsicle. He then gives up his to them so each has one.

On the bus, there's a punk that threatens to beat him up and says "you'd better say your prayers, kid." Harold starts praying in Yiddish and it freaks the guy so much that he runs away. 

In the end, Harold does come back and says a few lines from the Torah to complete his transition to manhood.

But he confesses to Harold that nobody wanted to rent him a boat to Elk Island because he was too young. 

Harold the Butcher

Another episode I found particularly memorable, especially after I spent a summer working at the deli counter at the local grocery store... like with Harold's case, it came about through obligation... I had to get a summer job and he had to learn a valuable lesson.

There was one afternoon where Harold was feeling hungry and on pure impulse, he stole a ham from Mr. Green's butcher shop. 

After he got caught, his parents sent him to their rabbi. First he said he was disappointed in him because he stole, breaking one of the commendments. Then he said it was because he stole a ham. "Ham is not Kosher, Harold. Not Kosher at all."

Harold apologizes profusely, but that isn't good enough for the rabbi. He says he's just saying he's sorry because he got in trouble, but he needs to take more from this experience. So he tells Harold about a friend of his who coveted a vest and tried to steal it. His punishment was that he had to work in the tailor shop, learning how to sew and stitch and all of the work it took to make that vest. 

So Harold has to work for a couple of weeks at Mr. Green's shop after school. 

For the first few days, things don't quite as well. All he lets him do is sweep the floor and occasionally move inventory. There's a scene where he asks where to put some sausage links and they're dragging on the floor and he proceeds to trip over them... twice. 

But over time, Harold grows to enjoy being there. 

Another scene I remember because it was a teachable moment: Mr. Green is pounding a steak and Harold asks what he's doing.

"Why are you beating that steak with that hammer?"

"I'm tenderizing it."

"You're what?"

"I'm making it softer. It tastes better."

"You mean, you can change the taste of meat just by hitting it."

"Don't you have sweeping to do?"

I'd never heard of meat tenderizing before this :P don't know why that always amused me

He fulfills his obligation, but he begs Mr. Green to let him stay on. To no avail. He even tries to steal another piece of meat from the shop to go through the punishment again. This also doesn't work. And everyone sees how miserable this rejection makes him.

What gets him back in the door: Mr. Green is having his annual big meat sale and he's in the weeds. Arnold brings Harold to the shop. Mr. Green resists at first, but finally agrees.

Helga's mom asks about her brisket order and Mr. Green says they're out. But Harold says he still has some in the back... Mr. Green remembers that he's right and relents.

The day is a complete success and he agrees to let Harold stay on to work there after school. 

This quote just about sums it up: 

"I just love being here and being around meat."

***

Another common theme for Harold: he's always a little paranoid about what other people think of him. He's afraid of getting teased or someone giving him a hard time because of something he enjoys or something about himself he can't control.

Weighing Harold

Harold has always kinda been a little overweight, but after a recent incident where Sid and Stinky were teasing him about how much he eats, he starts to spiral out of control.

It started with a bet where he had to eat 50 Mr. Fudgey bars and did it easily... but after hearing the comments, he goes on a cruise to lose weight.

But after getting back from the cruise, he gains more weight than he lost. It's literally out of control. 

Arnold offers to help him lose the weight and he eventually gets to the root of the problem... Harold is insecure about his weight because of what other people think of him. And I think Arnold tells him to stop caring what other people think and all that matters is what he thinks of himself. 

One incident that upsets him. There's a boy and his mom. The boy says "look, mommy, there's a fat man." She corrects him, "no, that's a fat man. He's a fat boy." 

Yikes...

Anyway, after losing the weight, Harold went back to looking the way he usually does. But everyone is completely impressed. I'm not sure if they were just saying that to make him feel better or they really thought he looked great... I was kinda expecting a more radical transformation, but considering how much extra weight he'd gained, it's amazing he was able to get back to his original weight. 

Hey Harold!

Getting Harold and Big Patty together as friends... possibly more than friends... seemed like an inevitability. Both of them are a little large and old for the grade that they're in. Both have reputations as bullies, but are also perceived as being stupid.

But I'm still really glad the show runners wrote a couple of storylines for them hanging out because it's a great character showcase.

Rhonda is throwing a big party that everyone's invited to. Harold doesn't want to go because nobody will think he's handsome or want to dance with him. But after some convincing from his mom, he decides to go. 

He and Patty both have rough nights. She dresses up really pretty, but she's the only girl that isn't invited to dance. They meet when they're both throwing cherries at the same dumpster. They don't hit it off right away; both tell the other how they don't like the opposite sex and take offense accordingly.

Then Patty says he won't dance with a girl because he's scared... he takes her up on that dare and he actually takes her hand and waist and they do a slow dance. 
They talk further. She says how he's big for a 4th grader and he says he was held back a few years. "It's not because I'm dumb or anything. It's just that I didn't apply myself or something." She adds how people have called her dumb too and he says that he doesn't think so.

The night gets late and they spend the weekend hanging out together.

Everything is going really well until Sid and Stinky see them together and teases Harold about it the next time they see him. He brushes it off, saying that it's nothing.

And he puts distance between them. 

But when they continue to make fun of her, Harold bucks up and tells them how he really feels. Maybe not that he's in love with her, but that he likes her and essentially tells them to stop making fun of her or he'll beat them up. 

In a later episode, the two of them compete in an arm wrestling contest. And after she beats him in a previous bout, he's embarassed about it. This puts their friendship to the test for sure, especially since his insecurity comes from the fact he lost to a girl. 
In the end, he decides he doesn't care. His admiration of her and their friendship is more important than what other people think of him. 

***

Harold's Kitty

Despite his tough exterior, Harold has the occasional soft spot.

He and Arnold come across a stray kitten. And Harold decides to take it home with him while they wait for the real owner to claim it.

As time passes, Harold falls in love with the kitten. Arnold realizes this and tries to tell him that the real owner might show up, but he's not listening to him.

This eventually escalates into a stand-off situation where Harold barricades himself and the kitten in his house and nobody can get through to him. 

The real owner shows up and the two of them already know each other. 
At the beginning of the episode, Harold was picketing her fence and she threw water on him to make him stop. 

Arnold eventually has to sneak into the house and convince Harold to give the kitten back... 

it's kind of a sad scene where he comes out of the house sobbing and hands it back to the owner. 

After she thanks him, he say he still thinks she's a mean old lady and she still thinks he's a rotten kid. But if he promises not to steal him, he can come over and play with the kitten. So it's not goodbye forever.