Chad's Sleepover (Analysis of)
- Thread starter Dewey
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admin
Retired Administrator
Something with I think some people have missed is that its clear the Hal also has this obessive disorder about sorting, like Chad does.
If you watch the episode, when Chad moves something into "his" order, Hal moves it back into "his" order. The most obvious incidents of this was with Chad rearranging the books and Hal putting one back on another pile, and in the kitchen with the two plates.
Everyone of course should have worked it out, when Hal showed Chad his enclyopidea.
I am suprised you are comparing the obsession to Reese, and not to Hal, I would be trying to find some form of clue in other episodes that Hal has this obession, perhaps Bots and the Bees is one of them, where Lois leaves he starts to lose it.
If you watch the episode, when Chad moves something into "his" order, Hal moves it back into "his" order. The most obvious incidents of this was with Chad rearranging the books and Hal putting one back on another pile, and in the kitchen with the two plates.
Everyone of course should have worked it out, when Hal showed Chad his enclyopidea.
I am suprised you are comparing the obsession to Reese, and not to Hal, I would be trying to find some form of clue in other episodes that Hal has this obession, perhaps Bots and the Bees is one of them, where Lois leaves he starts to lose it.
We've learned in the past that Hal has various types of obsessive-compulsive disorder, but it's never been seen as a long-term thing before. Bots and the Bees, Hal Quits, Dewey's Special Class; they were all short-term...by the end of the ep, Hal was over his obsession and on with everyday life.
For the first time, we also see that Hal has more of an obsessive-compulsive disorder that's been with him for a longer period of time. He's not just going through a phase--he's gone through three encyclopedias. In evening scenes, we often see Hal reading a newspaper or watching television; could this be merely constrewed as a hobby that Hal uses to pass the time on other evenings. Maybe the entire obsessive-compulsive thing is being assumed a bit too far?
I think we can also make comparisons between Chad and both Reese and Malcolm. They all feel that their method of organization is the most logical; but "logical organization" is quite arbitrary. Chad groups things by object, color, size, etc. He's smart in that way, like Malcolm, because he uses more than one factor to determine an object's final placement. Malcolm doesn't have an algorithm he defaults to; he does whichever seems to be most appropriate for the situation. We see Reese's organizational skills primarily in Garage Sale, as appanah mentioned, and here we see another type of arbitrary organization that can also be thought to closely resemble Chad. We have just two factors here: color and size, but, like Chad's methods, it's still a very odd method of organization for a garage sale.
In conclusion, we all have thoughts or ideas or methods that we believe to be universal, but that, in fact, we may ahve in common wtih just a small percent of the population...or have just a small percent of our ideas in common with a small percent of the population.
For the first time, we also see that Hal has more of an obsessive-compulsive disorder that's been with him for a longer period of time. He's not just going through a phase--he's gone through three encyclopedias. In evening scenes, we often see Hal reading a newspaper or watching television; could this be merely constrewed as a hobby that Hal uses to pass the time on other evenings. Maybe the entire obsessive-compulsive thing is being assumed a bit too far?
I think we can also make comparisons between Chad and both Reese and Malcolm. They all feel that their method of organization is the most logical; but "logical organization" is quite arbitrary. Chad groups things by object, color, size, etc. He's smart in that way, like Malcolm, because he uses more than one factor to determine an object's final placement. Malcolm doesn't have an algorithm he defaults to; he does whichever seems to be most appropriate for the situation. We see Reese's organizational skills primarily in Garage Sale, as appanah mentioned, and here we see another type of arbitrary organization that can also be thought to closely resemble Chad. We have just two factors here: color and size, but, like Chad's methods, it's still a very odd method of organization for a garage sale.
In conclusion, we all have thoughts or ideas or methods that we believe to be universal, but that, in fact, we may ahve in common wtih just a small percent of the population...or have just a small percent of our ideas in common with a small percent of the population.
Hey Yardgames,
I just wanted to say that I enjoy reading your posts. You always come up with an idea or theme that I initially never thought about myself. It kind of adds a further dimension to the discussion.
Your message above is no exception - i swear, you are on the verge of making my ideas seem rather redundant.
Keep it up!
I just wanted to say that I enjoy reading your posts. You always come up with an idea or theme that I initially never thought about myself. It kind of adds a further dimension to the discussion.
Your message above is no exception - i swear, you are on the verge of making my ideas seem rather redundant.
Keep it up!
No, I need your ideas to function properly.
For example, on the main VC, this is what I had written prior to reading your analysis:
What I'm trying to say right now is that I use your ideas as a springboard and often end up writing more than I intend to on other angles of your ideas. Before reading your posts, I never looked at Malcolm quite that deeply, and I really do find it interesting.
When I'm typing my responses to you, often I don't even think about it as I type; I just sort of type and read back whatever I happened to type later on.
From what you've shared with us, I'm sure your thesis will be fantastic.
For example, on the main VC, this is what I had written prior to reading your analysis:
It really more skims the surface of the episode, sort of giving my thoughts about the various eps, but to go deeper and examine the symbolism and allusions that you do, I, well to be perfectly honest, I forget the episode easily after seeing it just once. Lately, I've started recording voice notes while I'm watching them so I remember what I intend to say.
What I'm trying to say right now is that I use your ideas as a springboard and often end up writing more than I intend to on other angles of your ideas. Before reading your posts, I never looked at Malcolm quite that deeply, and I really do find it interesting.
When I'm typing my responses to you, often I don't even think about it as I type; I just sort of type and read back whatever I happened to type later on.
From what you've shared with us, I'm sure your thesis will be fantastic.
You wanna know what makes me think?
A few weeks ago we talked about Dewey getting into the middle of the show more and more. Then, the last 2 episodes were the proof for it.
And it's not a long time ago that we discussed that the boys are social rejects, and kind of fear that they are not liked - and now we look at the Malcolm-Reese plot in Chad's sleepover and we see exactly what we were talking about.
Scary.
A few weeks ago we talked about Dewey getting into the middle of the show more and more. Then, the last 2 episodes were the proof for it.
And it's not a long time ago that we discussed that the boys are social rejects, and kind of fear that they are not liked - and now we look at the Malcolm-Reese plot in Chad's sleepover and we see exactly what we were talking about.
Scary.
allison
New member
I just thought of another situation: Hal became very neurotic when he played Bowling. He always had to do exactly the same, otherwise he thought he would lose. At the end none was allowed to leave and his "barn door" had to be open.yardgames said:
I think that was more than an obsession. It resembled the encyclopedia neurosis in a way.
hello, first post!
this site is quite deep, im pleasantly surprised..
just wanted to ask if there was actually a term for hal and chad's... thing, cos im not sure whether it was ever explained in the episode, if not, is there an equivalent to it? im just curious about the whole thing,
thanks people
this site is quite deep, im pleasantly surprised..
just wanted to ask if there was actually a term for hal and chad's... thing, cos im not sure whether it was ever explained in the episode, if not, is there an equivalent to it? im just curious about the whole thing,
thanks people
Welcome to the forums, enjoy your stay. All of Appanah's posts were quite deep; a valued member, indeed.
It's been awhile since we've dug out this thread. I think I would call it obsessive-compulsive disorder, but I'm no docor. Is anyone on these forums a doctor? They would be better equipped to answer your question.
It's been awhile since we've dug out this thread. I think I would call it obsessive-compulsive disorder, but I'm no docor. Is anyone on these forums a doctor? They would be better equipped to answer your question.