The Emotional Intelligence of Elmore

Image Source: Cartoon Network / The Amazing World of Gumball (via Pinterest)

In honor of the announcement of The Amazing World of Gumball making a comeback, I started rewatching a lot of the episodes. I noticed that some of the episodes make you laugh, but make you really think afterwards. For a show that is so goofy and random, it showcases emotions in an incredibly raw way. Especially when it comes to conversations — the real ones and the hard ones.  

In the show, there’s a consistent theme where characters are avoiding the truth, characters are prancing around what they really feel, avoiding real conversations, or are using humor as a shield. And this theme never feels forced, it actually feels familiar. In real life, people often run away from conflict. They don’t deal with it. They deflect or try to ignore the conflict and sweep it under the rug. And while we laugh at the characters dodging emotional responsibility in an 11 minute episode, it's really thought provoking when you realize that people aren’t much different from these characters.  

One episode that stood out to me was The Apology. Gumball and Darwin try to help their teacher; Miss Simian, from embarrassing herself, but try to do it in a discreet way. This leads to a misunderstanding and it causes Miss Simian to believe that they both were trying to embarrass her and are troublemakers. Things later spiral into a war of pride. Instead of apologizing to Gumball or Darwin for her overreaction, or even simply speaking to them to truly understand what they were trying to do, Miss Simian goes out of her way to prove that they are troublemakers. But she ended up being the one who was proven wrong every single time. Something that was really interesting about this episode was that it wasn't trying to stress who was right and who was wrong, rather it highlighted how far people are willing to go to avoid having one honest conversation that can resolve so much. 

Towards the end of the episode, Gumball and Darwin try to actually get into trouble to save Miss Simian’s job, relationship, and honor; even though she treated them horribly. When Miss Simian realizes what they were doing for her, she finally apologizes and tries to repay them. Her apology wasn’t huge or dramatic, but it was an apology that showed genuineness and truthfulness. 

The ending of The Apology really made me think. Even though the apology wasn’t this perfect and grand gesture, it was sincere, and sometimes, sincerity is all that’s needed to begin repairing something that’s been damaged or on the journey of becoming damaged. It reminded me that while real conversations can be uncomfortable, they matter significantly. And maybe, conversations are the first step toward something better.