No wonder Helga loved Arnold ... He was the embodiment of all the stability she was never exposed to
galacticbutterfly
"You're the adult." Poor kid growing up faster than her own parents.
Starmadien
It’s unfortunate that we’re living in a time now where producers are too soft to tackle these issues in family entertainment. Hey Arnold was a great series.
justinrgray
“I need a smoothie” - the flashback that just brought back is WILDDD. She was ALWAYS saying that 😳😨
MelanatedFemininityCode
That’s why Helga talks so freely around her. It’s because she knows her mom won’t remember. I noticed this when I was a little kid.
kakesforme
Every kid in that show was raised in a traumatic environment. That's why it was so relatable 😅
leodarislive
That “you’re the parent you supposed to take care of me”part was DEEP DAYUMN!
teetosmusic
This show was the most relatable even as an adult now. I felt for Helga but it also made her a strong ass kid.
katiestall
"I'm mad because you're the parent. You're supposed to take care of me." Felt that one.
barb
"you're a lousy mother"
Dang, that hits hard. Helga is the most self aware in the family.
justaregularuser
The writer for "Hey Arnold" drew inspiration from people and places he grew up in Seattle, Washington. So this was people they knew. :(
daenerysdivine
These are the cartoons I miss, that the younger generations won’t really be able to see. If you were a kid that was going through shit back then, these shows taught you a lot. I really don’t see anything this relatable these days.
sacoryafreeman
I love how cartoons used to get real with issues that children might face instead of just being weird.
aarond.
Its the episode that explains why she was so mean. It's because of everything she dealt with at home.
Just because it was the 90s doesn't mean that kids didn't know what was going on. This was and is some kids life's, helped kids feel validated.
Leigh
“I’m the kid, and you’re supposed to be the parent” came out my mouth a couple times during my childhood.
aloveaffairwithself
Hey Arnold was not afraid to be real and I respect it a lot for that
RyneMcKinney
Hey Arnold is criminally underrated. It was so ahead of its time.
SpaciousWinner
No wonder Helga loved Arnold - she had such bad childhood in an unloving home that a first guy who showed her any sort of kindness was the one (and to be honest, Arnold IS pretty cool dude)
Bergen
What people fail to realize is that they add these scenes for the parents. Most households only had one or two TVs when these were shown. These scenes were for the parents watching with the kids. It was to teach them just as much as our favorite shows taught us.
MiniWolf
Millennials watching these cartoons as kids prepared us for real life
