The recent Really Loud House controversy proves one thing........

 

For those that have been following the recent updates, you may have heard about the leaked plots coming for the live action series for The Loud House.  There were statements of a girl (or boy, or non-binary....you never know in this day and age) named Charlie that's supposed to be in it and it's been suggested that this character or some other significant other is Lincoln's crush.  Immediately the backlash happened especially on Twitter.  "Who is this crush?  It should be Ronnie Anne!  This better say Ronnie Anne is his crush or I'll get furious!"  The tweets go on and on and on..........

Now, I don't know what is going to happen to the series, and if it has bad writing, I'm not going to defend that, but if fans start throwing fits sending death and harassment threats to the writers, producers, directors, and heaven forbid the actors, then yeah, I'm going to defend the people involved in the series.  This controversy brought to light an argument I've been making for a while now and that argument is this:

CARTOON SHIPPING IS TOXIC!!!!!!!!!!!!

When I was a kid, I never worried about what cartoon character is sleeping/dating with whom.  It didn't matter.  I wanted to see what the Rugrats were up to, I wanted to see what the Ed Boys are up to, I wanted to see the Powerpuff Girls win, the antics of Dee-Dee and Dexter, and trying to figure out just how old some of these theatrical cartoons were.  Once in a while there were set ups for a good dating episode, but that's all they were.

Today.....everything involves around shipping.  If you show one brief instance of sexual attraction regardless of what series it is, the fans will take to it and make it their life's mission to make sure that ship stays afloat.  And with the acceptance of the LGBT community growing this past decade or so, it got worse to fans wanting same sex relationships, and if you disagree with their ships, they will make sure that you get cancelled by calling you a homophobe and a racist.  

I'm not sure when shipping began, but it has to have originated somewhere in the 80's and 90's with anime, especially those involving romance.  As anime grew popular in the western world, some elements would transfer over into western cartoons.  Some were great such as art style, some not so great.  

Now, don't get me wrong.  I don't mind a good ship every once in a while.  Most of them are when I can picture myself having a relationship with someone that I could have a crush on.  For example, I rooted for Charlie Brown to get to know the Little Red Haired Girl.  I always rooted for the underdog to get the girl.  And I didn't mind a good episode about dating and/or crushes every now and then.  Even with girls, because there is nothing like a young girl in love.  But to assign every character with a boy or a girl counterpart and make it their life's mission is ridiculous.  This past decade has been all about that in cartoons.

The Loud House by no means is not the biggest offender in this case (Steven Universe and Adventure Time equally got that going), but it certainly has its share due to the nature of the show being a slice of life animated comedy.  Many of the kids are at their coming of age time in their lives, so of course at times dates would be brought up.  Not every episode, but a handful.

Again, don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the early moments when Clyde had a crush on Lori as I pictured myself in a situation of unrequited love.  The episode with Lucy and Rocky is among my favorites.  And I never had a problem with Luna dating Sam, ever.  But there were episodes that hinted some potential ships such as when Lincoln made Ronnie Anne cry so he is forced to date her to make up for it.  Immediately fans saw the two as a couple.  It should also be noted that there are moments throughout the series where there is potential for a love interest for Lincoln, but nothing truly became of it other than become good friends such as Stella and Ronnie Anne.  It's not to devalue the characters in any way, but there are certain lines that shouldn't be crossed in a kids cartoon.  There were also ships based around side characters such as Maggie and Luan simply because of one scene, one very brief frame where Luan made her smile.  Even though the point of it was to show a bonding between Lincoln and Luan making her birthday party happy.  And the less we talk about Loudcest, the better.  

It also appears that they were playing with the shipping fans throughout the series.  Whether it was intentional or accidental is debatable.  L is for Love has ALL the Loud siblings having a love interest including Lynn, but a couple seasons in she says, "I thought I had a crush once, turns out I was dehydrated".  Thus ticking off potential shippers.  Things get even weirder in the spin off series, The Casagrandes where Ronnie Anne becomes best friends with Sid Chang.  Now full disclosure, Sid's my favorite character in the Casagrandes, and any episode that revolves around Sid is pure joy.  That said, shippers went nuts over the friendship making it a gay relationship then even further with Lincoln having it a threesome bi relationship called Sidonnielincoln....or something like that.  Hints of these relationships may have been accidental, but they didn't feel so subtle.  In one episode, Ronnie Anne got two free tickets to Dairyland but has to choose between Sid and Lincoln.  Fans immediately saw it as "who will she choose?????"  In another episode where both Sid and Ronnie finally make it to a Twelve is Midnight concert, the following quotes were said: "We finally made it!"  "And we made it together!"  They then start hugging as chanting "Twelve is Midnight!  Twelve is Midnight!"  Now the scene itself is innocent enough except they sound like dog whistles for Sidonnie shippers, and that's exactly what they did next.    

Any criticisms of The Really Loud House regarding the series as a whole whether it's acting, casting, or writing should be welcomed, and you don't have to like it or watch it.  (And as a disclaimer to please leave the actors alone, they are having a grand time making the series and building strong relationships outside of filming).  But to get upset of the series simply because they're not going along with your ship is very immature, and you should stop obsessing over it.