7: A Victim of Romance
When AIO can encourage perpetually flirtatious non-relationships.
By David Hilder | August 18, 2012
When AIO can encourage perpetually flirtatious non-relationships.
By David Hilder | August 18, 2012
Are you a victim of Odyssey romance? Some AIO fans are concerned about the perceived focus on romantic relationships in the more recent Adventures in Odyssey episodes. And they’re not wrong in bringing up the issue. We had the Trent and Mandy saga, Wooton and Victoria in Album 49, Album 50’s competition between Curt, Jimmy and Jack for Lucy’s love, Rosalita and her two boyfriends in Album 51, Wendy and Michael in Album 52, Buck and Emily in Album 53, and Brad and Valerie in Album 54. In addition to that, romance seems to be brewing between Wooton and Penny, and also Barrett and Priscilla, and we’ve again had to deal with Connie and Mitch’s relationship in Album 55 in order to end it once and for all, ensuring we’ll never have to hear about it again. Unless of course fans weren’t satisfied by the latest attempt, which admittedly a few weren’t. But, it must be said that if some fans had their way all the time, major characters would be getting married off every season.
One of the objections about Odyssey’s romance is that romantic relationships of any kind can be seen as inappropriate for kids. Some may say children can’t relate to these stories or that they can encourage them to grow up too quickly. But I would argue these relationships are not entirely irrelevant for kids. And there are definitely still important lessons that can be learned. Maybe not so much during those extended super sweet romantic moments, like when Connie acts so over-infatuated with Mitch. From that first scene you’d think all she cared about were his green eyes and amazing box-lifting abilities. Like Whit says, you have to be very careful about love at first sight. And when it comes to meaningful relationships, there’s no reason Odyssey shouldn’t be offering the Christian perspective.
During the wrap up of First Love, Chris says that although for some members in the audience dating can seem like a long way off, “now is the best time to understand and decide what you’ll do when you’re ready to date.” And in A Question About Tasha, Chris says, “Though many of you probably aren’t thinking about getting married, it’s still something you need to take very seriously.” This seems to summarize AIO’s stance on romantic relationships. Even though kids listening are not going to be involved in serious romance at present, that doesn’t excuse not setting good examples for them now so they’ll be prepared for the future. It’s not teaching them to grow up too quickly. It’s showing them for later, for when they inevitably will.
Which brings me to the other objection, which I find has little more weight than the previous one. Has Odyssey really set a good example for its audience? Well, sometimes it has. Those two episodes I just mentioned certainly did. They both involved ending a romantic relationship to keep a Christian from being unequally yoked with a non-Christian. You can’t deny that is an important lesson. But what about relationships between Christians? When Christians start dating on AIO, they never seem to stop. First off, they live in a prolonged state of flirtation before they actually get to dating. And then the dating part takes even longer, if it ever goes anywhere at all, with enough dramatic circumstances for a lifetime. Sometimes that dating might lead to something, but other times maybe not. It can occasionally feel like almost none of our characters have what it takes to set an example that we can admire and strive to replicate.
These quasi-relationships, which sometimes even the participants don’t know the status of, can go on for a very long time. And as we see with Connie and Mitch, they go through so much together. But through that lengthy process nothing much comes of it, except perhaps emotions like regret years later. We hear about all the awkward tensions more than we ever hear about the honest moments, the moments of wisdom and insight into people’s lives that could actually be educational. Eugene’s immaturity especially shines through in his relationship, in which he jumps to conclusions numerous times and has endless communication problems with Katrina. During the planning stages of Album 25, one outline had Eugene and Katrina getting married in the Imagination Station during the buildup to dramatic climax. It was ultimately decided against. But they finally are forced to get married during the Novacom Saga because Katrina’s father was on his deathbed. Maybe the only way AIO thinks they can get these things to move forward is through dramatic action and adventure, unlike in real life where these things would come about more naturally.
And you’ll notice that afterwards we hear very little about Eugene and Katrina’s relationship, except during situations of intrigue and action. Was it because there was no tension or unpredictability between them, so their relationship became less interesting? There was no more crazy drama that could ever manage to top what Eugene and Katrina has already gone through, so there were no more lessons to be learned? The only time we did hear from them as a couple was during the intense search for Eugene’s father. And only recently have we begun to hear more about Eugene and Katrina together. Katrina made her triumphant return to the post-relaunch era in The Green Ring Conspiracy, in which she was kidnapped and then managed to convince Buck to back down and make the right choice. Thankfully, after that we got Albums 54 and 55, which spent time to prove to us that Eugene and Katrina are actually in a genuine married relationship. It was a nice offset to the wild non-married escapades we had heard before, which could sometimes skip over more applicable lessons. It often felt like those crazier episodes were in place of the more personal storylines that could have been created, instead of in addition to them. You can’t dodge the slice of life shows. They should be a top priority because they lay the foundation that allows the action/adventure shows to have greater meaning and relevance. We will be far more invested in these characters if they feel like real and relatable people.
Crushes and romantic relationships are normal. But when they last for years and years and never seem to get anywhere—that gets a little tiring for the listeners. Our favorite characters almost seem to be setting the example of engaging in unending games of flirtation, which don’t require commitment or responsibility. Perhaps AIO is showing us the way not to participate in relationships. In The Triangled Web, Jack Davis was so overwhelmed with fear of the future that he was simply hovering, and not doing anything. It took a push from Whit for him to take his relationship with Lucy seriously. Relationships aren’t going to be perfect, but sometimes I wish Odyssey’s main characters would make more of an effort to stop playing around, and just getting serious.
But, alas, we still have an abundance of silliness on the show. And it’s worrying that Wooton and Penny could be heading down the same road. Wooton, who doesn’t act overly mature in most situations, undoubtedly won’t do much better with this one. Of all the main characters, Wooton is always the least serious one, and the least likely to express his true feelings for someone he loves. Penny, who is slowly maturing as a Christian, perhaps isn’t ready for a relationship either. So this couple is likely to go on officially separate for a while, during which time Wooton will keep uncomfortably hanging around, desperately hoping that Penny likes him the same way he likes her, but never having the courage to speak up. It’s similar to the situation with Eugene and Katrina, except in that situation Katrina at least was ahead of Eugene in level of maturity. Eugene and Wooton are the ones to compare. Both were afraid of making things awkward by expressing their feelings and putting the women they love in a difficult situation. However, their solution to say nothing at all and simply let life go on makes things even more awkward. Also, both of them happen to have awkward conversations with Connie where they attempt to sidestep the issue of being in love and Connie rightly guesses their predicament and offers advice, which in Eugene’s case at least usually resulted in even more miscommunications and comedic moments.
I think Armitage Shanks, Katrina’s father, probably has some of the best wisdom on the subject, which he offers to Katrina in The Turning Point. He says, “What’s with this cat and mouse game you’re playing? ... Why don’t you just spell out how you feel and get on with it? ... Doing my taxes is complicated, getting two people who love each other together isn’t complicated … Right now I’m concerned about what this relationship, or non-relationship, is doing to you…I don’t see how you can go on like this. Either you and Eugene come to an agreement about moving your relationship forward, or you give up the relationship with him completely. I don’t see how you have any other choice.” What a perfectly logical and simple conclusion, which Eugene and Katrina perhaps should have discussed earlier, if only they had been more open with each other.
Eugene describes to Jack his situation as feeling like he is “a windup toy in a box, banging and crashing from one wall to the next but never getting out of the box.” Of course, this mainly has to do with Eugene not being a Christian at the time, which was stalling Eugene and Katrina’s relationship. But even after Eugene does become a Christian and Katrina returns into his life, did they immediately stop their game of cat and mouse? It doesn’t look that way. In fact, their relationship was more in question than ever. At some points it looked like Katrina might actually choose Brandon to marry instead of Eugene. It wasn’t very clear what exactly was going on. Their relational turmoil was so great it even drove Eugene to consider joining a monastery and resigning from the world altogether. And when Katrina unexpectedly proposed to Eugene in For Whom the Wedding Bells Toll, even then it was all up in the air. Eugene took a survey to decide whether he should consent, evidently because he was still quite unsure, which in turn made Katrina question whether Eugene was even ready for this next step. And how can anyone blame her? His first thought was to take a survey. This behavior seems a bit outrageous, even for Eugene.
Romantic relationships are serious and should not be dealt with like their main purpose is to be some kind of comedy. When that happens, it can become easier to keep the situation long and drawn out in order to obtain as many laughs as possible along the way. Comedy is a natural part of life, but the temptation to overdo it over a large period of time has to be resisted. It can become too much like a parody at that point. I don’t think that’s fair to the listeners or the characters, even though the latter happen to be fictional. If these kinds of relationships don’t ever go anywhere, then they can’t be considered healthy relationships. And the audience doesn’t want to be the victim of always listening to unhealthy romance; they want a good example they can follow.
The purpose of a romantic relationship is marriage. If AIO characters aren’t interested in marriage or are too afraid to take the next step forward, they shouldn’t be dating. And if they’re not interesting in dating, they shouldn’t be flirting, because they clearly aren’t prepared for the future responsibilities that should follow. Basically, romantic relationships on Odyssey can become inappropriate when they are left open-ended for too long, because they can drag on without fulfilling what a good relationship is supposed to. Affection locked in perpetual flirtation that can never progress is not something AIO should want anyone to aspire to. That’s why we need to hear about more good examples of what a romantic relationship is supposed to be, not more failed relationship attempts. Trust me, most of us don’t want more marriages every single season. But when people do get into relationships, they should follow through, whether that means moving forward, or ending the romance altogether. Cat and mouse games are unfair to everyone involved.
One of the objections about Odyssey’s romance is that romantic relationships of any kind can be seen as inappropriate for kids. Some may say children can’t relate to these stories or that they can encourage them to grow up too quickly. But I would argue these relationships are not entirely irrelevant for kids. And there are definitely still important lessons that can be learned. Maybe not so much during those extended super sweet romantic moments, like when Connie acts so over-infatuated with Mitch. From that first scene you’d think all she cared about were his green eyes and amazing box-lifting abilities. Like Whit says, you have to be very careful about love at first sight. And when it comes to meaningful relationships, there’s no reason Odyssey shouldn’t be offering the Christian perspective.
During the wrap up of First Love, Chris says that although for some members in the audience dating can seem like a long way off, “now is the best time to understand and decide what you’ll do when you’re ready to date.” And in A Question About Tasha, Chris says, “Though many of you probably aren’t thinking about getting married, it’s still something you need to take very seriously.” This seems to summarize AIO’s stance on romantic relationships. Even though kids listening are not going to be involved in serious romance at present, that doesn’t excuse not setting good examples for them now so they’ll be prepared for the future. It’s not teaching them to grow up too quickly. It’s showing them for later, for when they inevitably will.
Which brings me to the other objection, which I find has little more weight than the previous one. Has Odyssey really set a good example for its audience? Well, sometimes it has. Those two episodes I just mentioned certainly did. They both involved ending a romantic relationship to keep a Christian from being unequally yoked with a non-Christian. You can’t deny that is an important lesson. But what about relationships between Christians? When Christians start dating on AIO, they never seem to stop. First off, they live in a prolonged state of flirtation before they actually get to dating. And then the dating part takes even longer, if it ever goes anywhere at all, with enough dramatic circumstances for a lifetime. Sometimes that dating might lead to something, but other times maybe not. It can occasionally feel like almost none of our characters have what it takes to set an example that we can admire and strive to replicate.
These quasi-relationships, which sometimes even the participants don’t know the status of, can go on for a very long time. And as we see with Connie and Mitch, they go through so much together. But through that lengthy process nothing much comes of it, except perhaps emotions like regret years later. We hear about all the awkward tensions more than we ever hear about the honest moments, the moments of wisdom and insight into people’s lives that could actually be educational. Eugene’s immaturity especially shines through in his relationship, in which he jumps to conclusions numerous times and has endless communication problems with Katrina. During the planning stages of Album 25, one outline had Eugene and Katrina getting married in the Imagination Station during the buildup to dramatic climax. It was ultimately decided against. But they finally are forced to get married during the Novacom Saga because Katrina’s father was on his deathbed. Maybe the only way AIO thinks they can get these things to move forward is through dramatic action and adventure, unlike in real life where these things would come about more naturally.
And you’ll notice that afterwards we hear very little about Eugene and Katrina’s relationship, except during situations of intrigue and action. Was it because there was no tension or unpredictability between them, so their relationship became less interesting? There was no more crazy drama that could ever manage to top what Eugene and Katrina has already gone through, so there were no more lessons to be learned? The only time we did hear from them as a couple was during the intense search for Eugene’s father. And only recently have we begun to hear more about Eugene and Katrina together. Katrina made her triumphant return to the post-relaunch era in The Green Ring Conspiracy, in which she was kidnapped and then managed to convince Buck to back down and make the right choice. Thankfully, after that we got Albums 54 and 55, which spent time to prove to us that Eugene and Katrina are actually in a genuine married relationship. It was a nice offset to the wild non-married escapades we had heard before, which could sometimes skip over more applicable lessons. It often felt like those crazier episodes were in place of the more personal storylines that could have been created, instead of in addition to them. You can’t dodge the slice of life shows. They should be a top priority because they lay the foundation that allows the action/adventure shows to have greater meaning and relevance. We will be far more invested in these characters if they feel like real and relatable people.
Crushes and romantic relationships are normal. But when they last for years and years and never seem to get anywhere—that gets a little tiring for the listeners. Our favorite characters almost seem to be setting the example of engaging in unending games of flirtation, which don’t require commitment or responsibility. Perhaps AIO is showing us the way not to participate in relationships. In The Triangled Web, Jack Davis was so overwhelmed with fear of the future that he was simply hovering, and not doing anything. It took a push from Whit for him to take his relationship with Lucy seriously. Relationships aren’t going to be perfect, but sometimes I wish Odyssey’s main characters would make more of an effort to stop playing around, and just getting serious.
But, alas, we still have an abundance of silliness on the show. And it’s worrying that Wooton and Penny could be heading down the same road. Wooton, who doesn’t act overly mature in most situations, undoubtedly won’t do much better with this one. Of all the main characters, Wooton is always the least serious one, and the least likely to express his true feelings for someone he loves. Penny, who is slowly maturing as a Christian, perhaps isn’t ready for a relationship either. So this couple is likely to go on officially separate for a while, during which time Wooton will keep uncomfortably hanging around, desperately hoping that Penny likes him the same way he likes her, but never having the courage to speak up. It’s similar to the situation with Eugene and Katrina, except in that situation Katrina at least was ahead of Eugene in level of maturity. Eugene and Wooton are the ones to compare. Both were afraid of making things awkward by expressing their feelings and putting the women they love in a difficult situation. However, their solution to say nothing at all and simply let life go on makes things even more awkward. Also, both of them happen to have awkward conversations with Connie where they attempt to sidestep the issue of being in love and Connie rightly guesses their predicament and offers advice, which in Eugene’s case at least usually resulted in even more miscommunications and comedic moments.
I think Armitage Shanks, Katrina’s father, probably has some of the best wisdom on the subject, which he offers to Katrina in The Turning Point. He says, “What’s with this cat and mouse game you’re playing? ... Why don’t you just spell out how you feel and get on with it? ... Doing my taxes is complicated, getting two people who love each other together isn’t complicated … Right now I’m concerned about what this relationship, or non-relationship, is doing to you…I don’t see how you can go on like this. Either you and Eugene come to an agreement about moving your relationship forward, or you give up the relationship with him completely. I don’t see how you have any other choice.” What a perfectly logical and simple conclusion, which Eugene and Katrina perhaps should have discussed earlier, if only they had been more open with each other.
Eugene describes to Jack his situation as feeling like he is “a windup toy in a box, banging and crashing from one wall to the next but never getting out of the box.” Of course, this mainly has to do with Eugene not being a Christian at the time, which was stalling Eugene and Katrina’s relationship. But even after Eugene does become a Christian and Katrina returns into his life, did they immediately stop their game of cat and mouse? It doesn’t look that way. In fact, their relationship was more in question than ever. At some points it looked like Katrina might actually choose Brandon to marry instead of Eugene. It wasn’t very clear what exactly was going on. Their relational turmoil was so great it even drove Eugene to consider joining a monastery and resigning from the world altogether. And when Katrina unexpectedly proposed to Eugene in For Whom the Wedding Bells Toll, even then it was all up in the air. Eugene took a survey to decide whether he should consent, evidently because he was still quite unsure, which in turn made Katrina question whether Eugene was even ready for this next step. And how can anyone blame her? His first thought was to take a survey. This behavior seems a bit outrageous, even for Eugene.
Romantic relationships are serious and should not be dealt with like their main purpose is to be some kind of comedy. When that happens, it can become easier to keep the situation long and drawn out in order to obtain as many laughs as possible along the way. Comedy is a natural part of life, but the temptation to overdo it over a large period of time has to be resisted. It can become too much like a parody at that point. I don’t think that’s fair to the listeners or the characters, even though the latter happen to be fictional. If these kinds of relationships don’t ever go anywhere, then they can’t be considered healthy relationships. And the audience doesn’t want to be the victim of always listening to unhealthy romance; they want a good example they can follow.
The purpose of a romantic relationship is marriage. If AIO characters aren’t interested in marriage or are too afraid to take the next step forward, they shouldn’t be dating. And if they’re not interesting in dating, they shouldn’t be flirting, because they clearly aren’t prepared for the future responsibilities that should follow. Basically, romantic relationships on Odyssey can become inappropriate when they are left open-ended for too long, because they can drag on without fulfilling what a good relationship is supposed to. Affection locked in perpetual flirtation that can never progress is not something AIO should want anyone to aspire to. That’s why we need to hear about more good examples of what a romantic relationship is supposed to be, not more failed relationship attempts. Trust me, most of us don’t want more marriages every single season. But when people do get into relationships, they should follow through, whether that means moving forward, or ending the romance altogether. Cat and mouse games are unfair to everyone involved.
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