Sunday, March 29, 2009

Ed, Edd, & Eddy



I am only going to write a short (quick) blog in response to a challenge by Dan.


I actually started thinking about this cartoon a while back. My son loves to watch the seemingly brainless antics of these three buffoons. After watching them a few time, I started thinking that there has to be something other than inane stupidity (I still do think that is all that was intended by the creator). But, I noticed that each character was locked into a simple attribute. Ed is a simple and strong oaf. Edd (AKA Double D) is the brainy and non-athletic type. Eddy is the schemer who is always maneuvering the other two to try to make money – with the goal of buying jaw-breakers. (This is so simple you are probably already anticipating the result…)


Given the near identical nature of each boy’s name, they apparently are each aspects of the same person. Ed represents innocence and the single minded strength in that innocence. Ed sees beauty and fun in everything. He is usually depicted with a vacant stare as if his mind is in a constant state of Samadhi. (He would be the Chakras four and five)


Edd (Double D) is the analytical one who explores, examines, and dissects everything. He is the higher intellect and reason. He is usually the first to identify the flaws in Eddy’s scams but he still goes along with it. (Chakras six and sometimes seven)


Eddy represents the Will and the desire for status. He worries what others think of him. He wants to be older because he thinks it will make his life easier. He is always thinking of ways to make money. Ironically, his schemes require more work than doing honest work for honest pay. Eddy is the driving force which drives the other two. Without Eddy, Ed’s strength would have no direction and Double D would have no focus. (The bottom three Chakras with a strong emphasis on the third)


Obviously, money is the ‘ticket’ with which they purchase ‘happiness’….


The Canker sisters represent the confusion and perplexing anxiety a prepubescent male has about ‘icky’ girls.


I bet you all can figure out the rest of the characters, as they are all rather one-dimensional.


Back to you, Dan.

1 comment:

Dan said...

You know, I have been overlooking this particular cartoon for years, having just caught snippets here and there while the kids watched, now I have to go watch more.

I find the Trinitarian trope fairly standard in human thinking however. There's the obvious Christian connotation, but think also of Freud's Id/Ego/Superego, Superman/Batman/Wonder Woman, Kirk/Spock/McCoy, etc, etc.

I used to posit the idea that each of our human religions had pieces of Truth (not to be confused with truth), inherent in the creation of the Creator. The concept of creation in the Creator's image would manifest in humans as the right brain/left brain/body equation, or in more poetic Biblical terms Heart/Soul/Mind. There seems to be something inherently trinitarian in the human experience, regardless of how we apply that to the Is. Hmmmmm...