Is Over The Garden Wall About Having Faith? | Idea Channel | PBS Digital Studios 

I wouldn't go as far to say that Greg has faith, but rather that he's oblivious to the dangers around him. Throughout the show he's rarely shown with a frown on his face, and always continues on the journey oblivious to the life threatening situations they come across; this is where most of the comedy from his character comes from. To have faith you must first realize what you're putting that faith in, but Greg for most of the series just goes with the flow, not realizing what the dangers of moving forward are.

Yes! Finally, a topic I can talk extensively about! Well, if you wonder of such, Wirt's experience in the 8th episode shows that all children who give up their hope and faith in these woods are turned into Edelwood Trees, which **SPOILER ALERT** results in their death, or maybe just the capture of their soul by THE BEAST. Can't be sure. Anyways, most of the situations that the characters encounter is when they either find Wirt in a situation where he feels there's no hope left for survival, or when Greg goes though what is thought to be a hopeless situation with a smile and a silly plan (and maybe a little song) for survival. And it's not like THE BEAST takes away their hope. They give up hope on their own. That is when THE BEAST claims them, and they cannot be retrieved afterwords. It can show that *once YOU give up hope, it is near impossible to get it back. It would take the presence of another, heck, even the ABSENCE of another, to retrieve your hope. And that hope, along with courage and your actions, can get you almost anywhere*.

It is crazy how you made your point/observation about being accused of "making things up" at the end of the video, and then people make a shit-storm in the comments, proving your point.

I know this comment won't be read anymore, but I would just like to thank you, Mike, for being a person that discusses gender and representation problems with the knowledge that you're a privileged person talking about other people's problems, and you are still very much able to step down when people start criticizing women and minorities in general. Thank you for being such good ally with your feet on the ground, it really means a whole lot for the minorities watching this.

Ok.... let me stop you right there at 1:49.... Now I have to see this show! I have to see this first.

While I found your ideas and points very interesting, I'd like to present an idea of my own about the series. The entire thing is an allusion to Dante's Inferno! I had to read the book for honors and there are a multitude of parallels between the two works! So I guess it's sort of about faith, as Dante is also related to that theme. Here are a few of the parallels I'm talking about: Dante is also often called the pilgrim by scholars and within the work. He (Dante) is guided through the afterlife by two people: a woman named Beatrice (who the Beatrice the bird was actually named after according to the writer of OTGW, to my knowledge) and a poet named Virgil, who keeps Dante uplifted and encourages him to keep moving through out the work (As Greg does for Wirt). Each episode represents another ring of hell presented in Dante. (example: the level of the greedy and the money grubbers corresponds with the number of Uncle Endecott's episode). OH! Also all of the rivers show up in the episodes that correspond to their location between the rings of Dante's Inferno too. I have some other notes on the subject, since I made it the focus of an essay I have been working on for my honors class.

Also, thank you for taking the time at the end to share this observation you've made.It's great to see things like this addressed and brought to light, rather than be ignored and never acknowledged as a problem. Just thank you for the work you do, and the unique perspective and knowledge you bring to each and every one of your videos.

Agreed. It is faith that helps the two get home. But here's the interesting bit: SPOILERS It's interesting to note that it's WIRT who saves the day at the end by choosing to have faith. Both in his own ability, and his brother's health. The beast tempts him by offering him a "definite answer", Wirt chooses not to take this "easy" way out, taking the "harder" route which involves him taking risk.

That spoiler-o-meter needs to become the officially used thing for warning about spoilers, especially with the Darth Vader "Nooooooo".

Re: your comments at the end: I've always known the internet was a messed up place. I've been surfing the tubes for over twenty years, and I've seen everything. And that's always just sort of been how it Was, just a natural manifestation of what happens when you get a bunch of people, let them be anonymous, and then put into place systems that reward "virality" over "goodness", pushing the foul opinions of a fringe few into the forefront. The last couple of years, though, I've been getting more and more disgusted by the internet at large. Many people's attitudes toward women in general and feminism specifically, and also gender and sexual minorities (LGBTetc), have become so toxic and vile that it goes beyond words. If you so much as hint that women should be treated the same way as men, you'll get a barrage of hatred telling you that people who just want equality are somehow the villain, and yet at the same time they claim that we already have equality or, even worse, that the group in power (in this context, heterosexual men, generally speaking) are actually the oppressed minority. No amount of pointing to wage statistics will convince them of the truth that's obvious to nearly everyone who isn't a straight guy (and to a lot of straight guys like me, too). I don't know what to do about this problem. I've seen different communities deal with it in different ways. Your tactic seems to be to carefully and intellectually argue from a position of facts and reality, and that's great in theory, but I know (and you probably do too) that it won't actually convince the vast majority of the anti-feminists. They're convinced and they have a rationalization for everything; they're like a cult. Other communities I've seen use the strategy of mercilessly mocking them for their stupid beliefs, and while that might be less desirable from a moral and intellectual perspective, it gets the job done a little better - no one wants to look stupid, and mockery can help make them reexamine their beliefs. But it's still not a particularly effective strategy. Others still ban people who exhibit this behavior, which at the very least helps make that particular community more pleasant, but then the anti-feminists confuse "not wanting to hang out with people that have vile opinions" with "censorship" and it fuels their persecution complex, which might do more harm in the long run. Long story short, it's a really messed up situation. I still have hope that it can get better, but it's getting worse (just look at "gamergate") and will probably continue to get worse, at least for a little while. I don't know if I really have a cohesive point at the end of this long rambly comment; I just felt like writing down my feelings on it. I guess all I can say is, don't ever hesitate to stand up for what's right. I don't know how to do that effectively, but we've gotta try. So, Mike, keep on keepin' on.

I have apparently pulled a Henry David Thoreau for the past few months, because I have never heard of over the garden wall.

I haven't seen Over the Garden Wall so I can't much comment on this video but I do want to say, Mike, thanks so much for that bit at the end talking about the type of comments that seem to come up in your videos that quote/focus on/otherwise acknowledge the existence of women and female experiences and perspectives. I think that the "you made that up!" reaction comes from many things. Mainly privilege blindness and this sort of "men as default" idea that a lot of feminists (myself included) talk about. Basically we live in a world where the male perspective and experience is the one we see in media the most. History mainly focuses on white men, white men run most of the media and are CEOs, etc. Most stories that we see in TV and movies are from the male perspective. I think that creates an environment where, when confronted with a female perspective that differs from their own, some men immediately reference it to their own experiences. If their experience and the female experience differ, then it's assumed that the female experience doesn't exist, is flawed, or is in some way inauthentic. So I appreciate you acknowledging that these comments seem to come up in these situations. Additionally, when you posed the question at the end of the Taylor Swift video, I appreciated you stepping back and giving women a chance to respond with their perspectives, understanding that we would have our own views. You didn't say it explicitly, but when you ended the video by saying that perhaps you weren't in the best position to comment, it seemed like you were giving a nod to the fact that women may "interact" with Taylor Swift's image in a different manner than you and other men do. So thanks for that.

Regarding the "you made it up" posts: Here's an idea: feminism is scaring people. Somebody once said that you only get really mad at something that scares the bejesus out of you. It's a fight response. And people are so scared at what a feminist world may be that they're willing to fight fight fight anytime the issue comes up... or anytime they can bring it up, regardless. It was similar to when Jackie Robinson broke the colour barrier in baseball. A lot of people were quite happy to let the "negroes" do their thing in another corner of the United States, but Jackie Robinson was now encroaching on something special... a field that was steeped in history and symbolism. Baseball was America, as much as anything was, so to allow Robinson into baseball was to truly, for a lot of people, allow Africans into America. And that symbolic act deeply frightened a lot of Americans who previously was letting the Civil Rights movement slide under their radar. Perhaps that means that America will someday soon have its first female President.

*SPOILER ALERT!!! DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE SHOW!!!* I think Greg actually does give up something, himself to save his brother. Although I don't think he knows exactly what is happening to Wirt, Greg knows that if he doesn't do something, he will lose Wirt. So Greg goes along with the Beast with the idea that if he does what the Beast asks of him, he will not only spare Writ, but allow himself and his brother to return home. Which thinking about it, isn't that the real meaning of faith; going through something and while not knowing the dangers or what you will face ahead, you still do it anyway because you believe that everything will turn out OK in the end?

YES OTGW episode! Thank you so much! It's such an amazing series isn't it?

Thank you for making this video. It made me marathon Over The Garden Wall and it's one of the most amazing things I've seen in a while.

SPOILER HAND is super awesome and fantastic. Thank you for your effort in regards to spoilers.

I find it interesting that some men think they are authorities on what it's like to be a woman when they haven't taken that walk. I know empathy is a thing, but that usually isn't something I see employed in comments that simply brush off an issue that a minority or woman brings up. Empathetic comments tend to show some kind of consideration for others firstmost. I've seen this in race issues as well, especially lately, (y'all need to touch on Ferguson somehow). People who are not qualified making decisions or comments for or about other people, trying to wrangle the narrative in their favor without consideration. I think that these kinds of people think they are in a higher position or "better" than the people they presume to speak for, and that therefor gives them the "right" to say whatever they want like they are an authority when they have neither earned that right from the people nor suffered in any way to gain the appropriate perspective.

I really appreciate this channel and how PBS Idea Channel presents topics in general. Mike, you really create a forum in which everyone can share ideas and then once you set up a discussion you don't really leave it, you continue to go back to it. You guys are awesome!

Loved the fire and passion at the end there. Really needed to address it, great job!

After several rewatches of Over the Garden Wall I've picked up on so many details and am continually building new theories and ideas about the show's themes. Faith sums it up pretty well, but the biggest take-away for me was the idea that "what you fear exists only in your head" (and not just because SPOILER wirt's journey into the unknown is an elaborate dream /SPOILER). All fear stems from the human psyche, and while some fear is healthy, most of the time it is irrational and hinders our ability to act. (The rest of this is pretty much all SPOILERS) Wirt is a clear example of this: as others have mentioned, his anxieties about Sara are unfounded and ultimately self-sabotaging. He is clearly friends with Sara, Sara likes and reaches out to him and Jason "total package" Funderberker is hardly the competition Wirt thinks him to be. His worrisome attitude is reflected in the unknown, particularly in episodes 2 and 3. In Pottsfield, Wirt's suspicions that they are digging their own graves is fantastically thwarted, and actually shows us a very benign and optimistic view of death. In Schooltown Follies, the wild gorilla on the loose is just a gentle man in a suit, Langtree's love did not in fact abandon her and her father's instruments weren't in fact stolen. Everything turned out better than expected! Of course, the idea of shutting down your fears and believing (whether in yourself, your peers, the world, etc.) is a very common narrative, but what I thought was fantastic about Over the Garden Wall was how it engaged me in the story as well. Especially during the aforementioned episodes, I found my own fear being dissolved. I was often expecting the worst to happen. The show's spooky ambiance misleads the viewer into thinking that a typical horror film scenario is going to play out, then happily surprises you, essentially sending the message that you shouldn't worry so much. And that's faith: not allowing your assumptions and doubts to distract you from living your life. I honestly feel like I could write multiple essays on Over the Garden Wall. This video only scratches the surface, but I hope it gets more folks to watch this amazing show! Perhaps there can be a more spoiler-y, in-depth analysis video in the future? : DDD /wishful thinking

Thank you, Mike for making your best efforts to respectfully approach the topic of faith without Christian bashing. I think you did a wonderful job in considering what is likely a minority (at least from my first guess) of your audience. It normally is a kind of rough time of year to be of a Christian faith and have everyone think that the general Christmas season was a social construct of Christians, but you stand out as a glistening light of hope that we won't always be responded to in hate. It means the world to me :) of subject from this video, but I thought you should know that you touched my heart just with a little bit of sensitivity. Have yourself a merry Christmas! I can't wait for the next upload.

My favorite episode! Good job on this one and showing me series to watch.

I am incredibly grateful to you guys for introducing me to this wonderful miniseries and I hope more people will watch it because it's amazing!

This is a very interesting subject also when put in the perspective of a person with faith. I've been a Christian all my life and been listening to sermons and discussions about faith plenty of times. One thing that always pops up now and then is the subject of doubt. There have been many times a preacher or a discussion partner have voiced the thought that you have to doubt to grow in your faith. For me this has always been somewhat odd and felt awkward at times. I've never felt any kind of doubt in my faith. Never. The transition from childhood into adulthood have change my expression of faith but never the faith itself. It even grew stronger the older I got. There have been plenty of times where I've put my life in God's hands and simply asked for Him to do what's best for me. Whatever or not others believe any of it doesn't matter to me. I've always found in the end that even things that were heavy and painful at the time gave me something valuable I wouldn't have had otherwise. The point I'm trying to make is to give focus to this notion that to win something you must first lose something. To get faith you must lose faith. To become an adult you most cut your ties with childhood. It's all boil down to the idea that achievement always comes with sacrifice. This seems to be true with Kirkkegard's ideas as well. Of course, sometimes you have to make sacrifices but most people seem to never try and see what could be achieved if no sacrifice is made. That instead of cut the ties to childhood you accept your childhood. Instead of gaining faith by first losing it you gain faith by actually showing faith. The last part is something that even in church and among Christians is seldom considered. The idea that faith has to be questioned is much, much stronger.

Over the Garden Wall is a cartoon reimagining of Dante's Inferno

Thank you so much for reminding me of this series existence. I'm trulu grateful I've seen it ... and I'm not ashamed to admit that I cried a little after the ending :)

I knew it! I saw it in your discription last episode and it made my day. You guys are awesome. Im just gonna leave this tasty episode for tomorrow. Another reason to look forward to reaching home

I resent the false dichotomy of faith vs. cynicism. A child, who hasn't had their ego warped by abuse, has good self esteem, sees the possible, believes they can solve problems. An older child, who has been exposed to the punishments culture heaps on individuals who have this child-like self image, feels timid, insecure, worried and fearful. When I let go of the "faith" I was indoctrinated into, I lapsed into cynicism for a brief spell, simply because I was mired in this false dichotomy, and had no other modeling of how to be in the world. For me, it was Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" that shook me out of that falsehood and launched me into a lifetime (I'm 59) of: Never being bored, always being engaged in social justice, constantly being creative, resourceful and solution-driven. Am anything but cynical. So, a truly mature perspective on life, to me, seems to be taking that original, undamaged childlike self image and world view, educating & refining it, dismissing the self-destructive, restrictive punishments of a faith-based culture that forces one to abdicate one's sense of personal and social responsibility for the "blessings" of some idolatrous, outside force, rejecting the social control of guilt, shame and powerlessness and getting to Awe. No gods required. It's how I: live my life, overcame the traumas of abuse, leave things better than when I found them, overcame depression and suicidal ideations and wake up -- every morning -- challenged and intrigued by what will happen today?

First off, thank you SO MUCH for introducing me to Over the Garden Wall. I don't think I've never gotten so invested in a serial, let alone a Cartoon Network miniseries. However, I can't really get behind the idea of Greg being a figure of Faith. I think if someone is to have faith, they have to have faith _in something_. Greg doesn't have that (or at least isn't conscious of it), he just does what comes naturally and treats everything like a game. Instead, I think of Greg as a figure of innocence and optimism, possibly as Wirt's inner child. One of the major themes in the show is the idea that things are not as bad as they seem: Aunty Whisper never wanted to eat them, the Woodsman wanted to help all along, the Pumpkin Villagers never acted maliciously. In all these stories, it's Greg's moxie that shines out to light Wirt's path. And when Wirt is separated from his innocence he finally grows and finds a way to face his responsibilities. As a final note, what do you make of the final line in the last episode? When Kitty sings "the most beautiful lies of all" during the epilogue?

Thank you for that last comment response! It's wonderful that you went the extra mile and addressed that! :)

Thank you for that last segment. It is so wonderful to hear someone addressing that sort of attitude in a clear and positive way.

It's interesting to bring up the binding of Isaac in an episode where a faithless character is described as poisoning those around him as Abraham literally attempted to kill someone because he was told to. He was just 'following orders'. That typifies the blind obedience that religious faith encourages and exemplifies how faith can be poisonous. Besides, A man who believes that what he's doing is right and will turn out fine because of faith or a lack of knowledge is surely a man incapable of courage. A man without fear is definitionally a man without courage because to have courage one must act in the face of fear. And if Greg has no fear, then he has no courage. So can we call him a true hero? It's not just about the feats one performs, but the difficulties that one has to face to overcome them. Courage is the making of a hero, so without courage, can Greg be a hero? Can a Knight of Faith be a hero?

I have to disagree. *spoiler alert* The Woodsman, because of his fear, puts his faith entirely in the idea that his daughter's soul is in the lantern. It is only through Wirt's cynicism that we realize this premise is "dumb" and not founded on physical evidence. Wirt's journey isn't to adopt Greg's happy-go-lucky attitude, but to accept him as a brother and accept himself as a person so he can get Sarah. Earthbound-wise you're spot on though.

This episode of PBS Idea channel got me to watch Over the Garden Wall, which I had NEVER before heard of. And I just want to say, thank you. THANK YOU SO MUCH! I LOVED every single moment!! I loved Wirt's character development and his chemistry with Beatrice and wonderful little Greg and the MUSIC and just the overall charm of the whole thing and just aaaahhh!!

Thanks for showing me this. Watched the entire thing today! Things got pretty intense. That last episode was amazing.

best spoiler alert ever, thanks.

Damn. Mike calling people out on their shit.

The best idea in this video was the spoiler hand! Thank you for going out of your way to not spoil anything for me!

Not actually related to the video topic and I don't know if anyone from the team even checks the comments anymore but I just wanted to say Thank-you. It's been a while since I've seen an idea channel episode, I finally got around to watching Over The Garden Wall and remembered wanting to watch this episode so looked it up. I'd forgotten how safe this channel and community made me feel. So again, just in case someone does see this, thank-you : )

I mean, I feel the series is more about Wirt gaining self-worth. I feel each character represents how Wirt is controlled by his doubt due to his low self-esteem. The Beast could be a symbol for the possible rejection Sara may bring upon him, but as we see, Wirt is so doubtful he feels competition in Jason Funderberger, who is, by all accounts, a complete dork. When Sara finds the tape, he is faced with himself once and for all so retreats into the deepest aspects of himself. I see the point you make about Greg being a symbol for faith and optimism. This is because that's his thematic place as Wirt states that Greg and dad keeps on wanting him to take initiative and join band, thus confronting his doubts about himself and Sara. However, we see Wirt resenting him for it. This is until it becomes clear that Greg can't face The Beast (ambiguity) for Wirt and only Wirt can find that the soul of the beast is actually being kept lit by all that inhabit the forest (Wirt's traits that keep him away from the unknown). Wirt comes to realize that "Jason Funderberger" is not the issue by saying it's "the perfect name for a frog" that he just so happens to carry with him on his journey. With this he finally confronts his Beast in the real world and begins talking to Sara. At least, that's the way I see it.

Unfortunately i was not surprised by the comments at the end. Idea Channel is great because of the intellectual conversations and thought provoking content, and i have always loved it for being that in the face of an internet that is becoming increasingly intellectually bankrupt (looking at you, buzzfeed). But what Mike mentioned at the end is just plain sexism, just a less drastic version of what you see other places. Look any place on the internet, whether it's journalistic content, youtube video, or any other content produced by a woman and scroll down to the comments. Inexorably you will find a catalogue of sexual comments and threats. Without fail. Do you ever see those kinds of comments on stuff made by a guy? Of course not. I assume this channel has a subscriber group that's not as crass or uninhibited as the people who comment "let's see some tits" on other things, but is that and what Mike described not coming from the same place? I think it is and it goes to show that sexism knows no bounds, intellectual or otherwise.

Haven't even finished watching yet, just wanted to thank you for doing an episode on this beautiful miniseries.

Having not watched Over the Garden Wall, I didn't expect this episode to hold much for me. But, even if I'm not 100% sure what's going on in regards to the subject being discussed, Idea Channel always gets me thinking in interesting ways, so I watched anyway. I'm so glad I did, just to see the bit about "making things up" when females are brought into the picture. Thank you for bringing up this problem, because it IS a problem -- not just here, but pretty much everywhere. And thank you for bringing it up in a way that clearly states that it is a problem, but without insulting the people who made the statement. So often people say things without really thinking them through, or without having considered the complexity of the subject they're commenting on, and when someone blows up at them for making that comment, the commenter can feel that the conversation isn't worth having or thinking about because the people who disagree with their statement are just mean. Just one more instance to point to when telling people how wonderful Idea Channel is. TL;DR: Thanks for bringing up a problem that is dear to my heart without bashing anybody.

I base my opinions on my own experiences, and the experiences of people I know and have witnessed. That is what I draw from to form my opinions. However, if I make a claim about negative experiences as a woman, I am often asked for "SOURCES?" or told that since I am one person, my personal negative experiences have no bearing on any overall gender inequality. Even if I know many, many women in my life who have had negative experiences. People (mostly on the internet) try so hard to prove that sexism doesn't exist, they pick your argument apart piece by piece, demanding specific proven examples of everything. Of course I cannot provide such empirical evidence, it is based on sharing of stories and personal experience. Then you get the people who claim you are "making it all up for attention". These are the same people who claim women want to "play the victim". There is no way to argue with these people because they assume everything you say is a lie. Anything I say about a negative experience as a woman is dismissed, so it doesn't matter if I can prove it or not. This is what is so frustrating.

Mike you should start a personal channel where you can do vlogs. I would love to see a more personal side of you and hear your thoughts on new things more often. Also I think watching you play video games would be awesome. :)

That last part in the comment response... I've been watching idea channel for a long time and let me just say that this last thing you said like made my heart skip a beat. thank you for pointing it out. i have so many words but i will keep it short. thank you for sticking up for us ladies

I definitely watched the first minute or so of this video, thought to myself, "Hey, this series looks interesting!" so I paused this video, watched all of Over The Garden Wall in one sitting, and then returned to this video to hear your analysis. Also, you're the reason I found out about Welcome to Night Vale and Attack on Titan. Thanks Idea Channel!

*Here's an Idea: "Everything is cliché"*

Hello, fellow knights of resignation.

Wow, the Q&A at the end was practically episode-worthy on its own. Good job guys.

First thing: great video. Thank you. Second thing: I am glad you "warned" us about topic of this video last week. I have managed to watch Over The Garden Wall (which is not that easy this side of the pond) on time and have enjoyed this episode more thanks to that. Keep it up. Do let us know what should we watch/ read/ listen to in preparation for next Idea Channel episode. Third thing: Greg is just a child. And he behaves like a child. He is curious. He is not afraid of things that are unknown to him. He doesn't see and respects boundaries. He does not obey authorities. He acts without considering consequences. You can call this "faith" you can call this "innocence". We lose a big chunk of it during adolescence. My first comment on Idea Channel video! yay!

I hope you, Idea Channel, read this. You ended this episode talking about those people who think gender inequality doesn't exist in so far as how we view those genders in media. I'd like to point out that within PBS Digital Studios that may be the case (not that it's within PBS, but perhaps with those who view it). Lets take this show and BrainCraft. BrainCraft is hosted by the talented Vanessa Hill, and everyone should watch it cause it's wonderful, and she has less subscribers than Idea Channel. Is that because she is a woman talking about science? I remember when IFLS creator revealed she was a she and there was a good deal of surprise and some pushback. It's as if we think less of women as authorities on science. Also I remember and episode of BrainCraft called The Psychology of Accents where she appeared on camera during the show for for one of those rare times. I instantly saw many comments talking about how sexy she was. I'm not sure how many women (or men) gush over Mike's sexiness in the comments on his videos, but I would wager they are far less. It's as if a woman's talent can be equated with her beauty and not the other way around (though it might be because there are many talented women whose talent increase their attractiveness in my eyes). It's a difficult subject to cut apart, especially based on one or two examples, but I agree that it is a real thing and hopefully you can delve into the subject more deeply on a future episode.

I think Kierkegaard's faith may be misapplied here. Kierkegaard spoke of faith in the context of a nominally Christian Europe, where most people accepted the title of being a Christian without understanding or committing to any responsibility therein. While the implications of OtGW may bear on Kierkegaard's notion of Faith, Greg is innocent: he hasn't witnessed the absurd in any respect and I would think he's simply incapable of grasping it at this stage. Wirt may be more appropriate for the analogy, but it's difficult to call him the knight of infinite resignation either.

Thanks for the wonderful video, as always. As I was watching OtGW, I couldn't help but think how much I and so many people I know could use a little bit of Greg's unrelenting optimism, or faith. Wirt, as a worry wart, is continually incapacitated by his anxiety, going so far as to completely surrender agency in his life to avoid having to confront it, which notably made him a lot happier. I see a lot of parallels between his behavior and the behavior of myself faced with going to college, getting a job, and becoming an "Adult", and I see a lot of that with friends and acquaintances who are going through the same thing. The biggest message I found in OtGW was one of facing your fears of failure through risk, something that's difficult for a lot of adolescents, teens, and adults. Greg never considers risk, and ends up in dangerous situations because of it, but also helps himself and Wirt overcome serious obstacles by instigating them, something Wirt is unwilling to do due to fear.

God damn it, Mike, I have so much respect for you and what you and everyone who works with Idea Channel do. Thank you so much.

Welp, thats two youtubers who I watch who have reccomended OTGW. Guess I'll have to marathon it this weekend! (the 1st is RebelTaxi if you're wondering)

"Faith in the face of the impossible"? Eh? Mike, you do realise that someone's going to mention Gurren Lagann right? I mean...just look at it >.> Resignation is seen as a 'traditionalist' pro-masculine(All the standard masculine power figures who aren't Simon and Kamina such as the village elders preach resignation: 'there is no surface','the giant face is God'), society-imposed value, whereas optimism is timeless and empowering. Not necessarily being masculine either, optimism is framed as a universal means of survival for humanity(and all life to some extent by the end), with the Anti-spirals employing despair as a literal weapon against optimism through appropriate challenge.

Your response to the comments for last weeks videos are why I love you mike

I wish I had something more intelligent to say, but I just wanted to say thank you for all that you do, and thank you for being so amazingly socially aware and for calling out those who seek to discredit you. You are great, and keep doing what you do.

When I watched Over the Garden Wall, I got more of a Courage the Cowardly Dog vibe. Thats mostly because the show is for kids and yet it is dark/scary.

Oh, boy. I love Idea Channel and Over The Garden Wall, but I can't seem to figure out if I agree with you or not or why. So instead I'm going to talk about kids TV in general. There are a surprising amount of animated kids shows that are being treated in this really respectful way, and not being dismissed. Over The Garden Wall did well on everything, basically, including some nightmare fuel images (THE BEAST, DEAR GOD, IT'S UNHOLY LOOKING), and was really deep. Steven Universe is very emotionally true, often unexpectedly, with really cool mythology and really strong characters. Gravity Falls is hugely fun, with messages and codes built in for older viewers and actually interesting mysteries. I haven't personally watched Adventure Time but it seems like again, it's got good characterization and some good ideas. Young Justice was downright amazing (damn you, Cartoon Network sexists!), and Avatar: The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra (depending on the season, heh) are some of the best shows to be on television, period. All of those shows have huge Tumblr fandoms and teenage/adult followers. This can't be new, not from the way other adults are telling me to watch Batman: The Animated Series (1992) even now. But are we simply talking about it more, or does the good stuff stand out because there are shows out there like, say, the million-and-one Disney sitcoms and fewer animated shows, and even fewer really good ones? IDK but I think it's interesting.

I am glad I've managed to watch this mini-series. Pretty special, especially by how it resolves huge things in some episodes.

I don't normally comment, but I wanted to say well done for taking the time (and having the guts) to stand up and explicitly note the trend in "making things up" claims. Backlash from that sort of thing can be pretty rough, and I greatly respect someone who is willing to accept that and still call people out. I doubt I'm the only one who feels that way.

(Caveat: haven't seen OTGW, but I'm intrigued! Nevertheless, I'm going on only what's been presented) The difference between Greg and Wert is about ignorance vs dawning realization of How Things Happen. Greg doesn't understand How Things Happen, doesn't really need to, because he does his thing and Stuff Still Happens. Wert is struggling with a burgeoning awareness of How Things Happen and a feeling of apprehension that he needs to act, but doesn't feel like his actions affect much. Being thrust into a supernatural world where Weird Things Happen doesn't affect Greg, because the background is still taking care of itself and the rules by which these things happen remains as mysterious as ever. Wert has the added uncertainty of realizing the Supernatural World doesn't behave anything like he knows, and his agency in affecting it is even more in doubt. He's fearful because the few rules he understands are missing, but he clings to them. He has to give up clinging to the old rules and let things happen before the Supernatural world falls into place. Maybe? How's that for commenting without knowing the material?

When are you making an episode on Mother 2, boye??

I appreciate all of the episodes dealing with existentialism. My opinion is keep it up! (I am taking a class on existentialism right now, and I approve of everything that has been said so far).

This is the reason I watched OtGW all those years ago. It changed my life. Thank you.

"There is no authority fallacy because she (taylor swift) is an authority" - but that is the fallacy! Authority fallacy has NOTHING to do with claiming someone who isn't an authority is an authority (that is another thing, widely known as straight out lying). It is assuming that because something was said by an authority it is true - authorities make mistakes, authorities can be wrong, and arguments must be judged by their own merit, not the previous accomplishments of whoever says it. The identity, behaviour or morals of the speaker does not alter the truth value of an argument/proposal, whether those traits are good or bad; they're simply irrelevant to the argument itself. And the reason why people usually claim you guys made something up only in the videos when you quote certain female public person about certain issues are the only videos you do this: claim things are a fact (i.e. a phenomena which has been observed and can be observed again by other spectators) because A or B said they saw it (i.e. relying on one individuals alleged anecdotal experience), rather than provide an actual credible research on the observation of such fact (specially when they have to do with statistics, something that can be easily biased, so just taking what one person experience as gospel is hard to swallow unless you're suffering of confirmation bias). That is most certainly not scientific, and since it is usually the only case you play this number (at least that I can remember), guess what? The only situations when you do not provide sources that match the size of the claims are obviously going to be the only times you are accused of doing that in general - that is not a surprise, that is nothing special, that is expected.

I still hate the idea of faith. You don't need faith to fight the unknown...I'd find courage to be more useful since you can still take stuff with a grain of salt and not just blindly go forward. Cause in real life blindly go forward with faith still fucking ends badly for people...a lot.

I'm usually able to form a coherent thought after each video, but this time all I can say is wow. This is a particularly stellar lens to examine OTGW through.

Thanks for the spoiler alert meter and hand signal! I appreciate it!

I know it's not proper idea channel etiquette to talk about last week's episode, but I'm going to do it anyway. Sorry - not sorry. I can't speak for other people, or other comments (as I hardly read any), but I can tell you when I tend to leave annoyed comments it's because of politics and not because of some latent bigotry on my part - and I'm willing to bet I'm not alone on this. It ruffles my feathers since opinions like mine on your political videos are only ever addressed at the end of a video in a somewhat condescending tone while comments that don't offer an alternative, or potentially enhance your own ideas are often highlighted and discussed at length. If they are even discussed at all, an egregiously offensive or dim witted comment is used to represent all conflicting views to your own. I'm not saying that you do this on purpose (it more than likely isn't), but you only ever seem to do it on your more political videos. To rather violently change the subject, math is a very important thing to me. It is essential to what I do, and it has molded the way I look at the world. One concept I've found to be bizarrely well equipped to describe the world is the Standard Deviation, and I always think of it whenever any kind of equality is discussed. Beware anyone who tells you they can raise you're standard of living by lowering you standard of success, more than likely they are a snake oil salesman. Take education as an example. 5% of school children can be thought of as outliers. Positive outliers are the kids that are unstoppable learners, they are on a quest to better themselves or they are just virtuosos. No school can keep pace with them. Negative outliers are the exact opposite. They might be the hardest working kids at school, but they still will fail. Their's is a sad story, maybe the just weren't ready, stuff wasn't taught to them the right way for their exclusive needs, or maybe the they just aren't capable of learning that thing (Think that sounds all kinds of wrong? Imagine if dancing was considered an essential skill for one to earn one's high school diploma would you still think it would be wrong to say that some people just can't dance? Swap dancing for algebra and people start having all these silly beliefs and ideals). The problem is that both Positive and Negative outliers are, well, outliers. As inspiring and depressing as their stories may be, you shouldn't make decisions for the other 95% of kids because of them. Hence the inner city school conundrum. Inner city schools perform badly, but why? Inner city schools have the most money and attention spent on them, so why do these schools routinely get trounced by their country bumpkin counterparts? It's because people will rise to whatever challenge is set before them, or they will at least try. Somewhere along the way, some dumbass thought the best way to help the inner city schools (which where only a little behind the curve at the time), would be to lower the standards to graduate from those schools. After the inevitable drop in performance in those schools, those same dumbasses came back and declared that the solution would be to lower enrollment standards, and then graduation standards, and then job acceptance standards for people coming from these inner city schools. Right along as standards dropped so too did the center point of that bell curve. Everyone part of these falling standards suffered for it, and we ended up getting slapped with common core curriculum forced on all schools - a general step down for nearly every school system. The reason why I get so uppity over these 'glass-ceiling' (and other highly political) issues is that the battle against them, creates the very thing being battled against. The fight against patriarchy creates a patriarchy where before there was very little. The fight against racism creates racism where before there was very little. The fight against flagging educational standards creates flagging educational standards where before there was very little. The fight against inequality creates inequality where before there was very little. When people say you are just making things up, they are being literal. You are creating it, and it becomes real when you fight against it. I'm not saying that these problems didn't exist, or that they weren't problems. I am saying, they are being approached fundamentally wrong, and it's exacerbating the problems. I tend to be on the outside of a lot of discussions because of my weird political alignment. I think of myself as a pragmatist, but I've been called everything from a pinko commie to a backward conservative or even a raging libertarian depending on who is currently disagreeing with me and on what, so I guess I should just be used to being talked down to. When I'm arguing the merits of certain socialist safety-net programs with Republicans I catch a lot of flak, even when I acknowledge the abject failure of all other socialist programs in order to make plans to avoid the pitfalls those programs typically face. When I argue in favor of more efficient government programs, and therefore programs of smaller reach and scope, with Democrats I get called racist, classist, or even genderist (if there is such a term). When I suggest that the Articles of Confederation were a terrible system to live under to a Libertarian, I wake up in a tub of ice with both my ears talked off. I know that gender equality is a big issue for you, so I can forgive you. Everybody has some issue that turns them into a giant squid of anger, blinding them to any and all facts. The issue that has such a strong confirmation bias that one can't help but grasp at isolated non-contextual errata like so many straws. That said you NEED to accept that equal under the law is equality. Now the fact that there are groups of people given so called 'positive discrimination' under the law simply because they are a member of that group is subject of another rant, that you won't like or responded to, for another time.

I was doing my homework at the same time I was listening to this video and as soon as you mentioned Ness I gave the greatest shout ever. I totally agree with you, thanks for noticing that resemblance!!

Great episode, and the spoiler-hand was fantastic too :)

thank you for addressing that problem so perfectly. you wonderful wonderful man.

I just wanted to thank you Mike for recommending "Over the Garden the Wall" in the way that you did. That show is best viewed little to no knowledge of what it is about. Your recommendation was just enough to get me intrigued to watch it and not knowing anything made the whole experience a surprise for me. Now I am suddenly writing fanfiction (which I have not done since first reading Harry Potter) about the show and going to forums to share ideas about what the Unknown truly was and do people go there only when truly lost. Anyway love the show and thank you for such a tactful recommendation last episode.

Hey Mike and team: one thousand thanks for introducing me to over the garden wall! I binge watched all the episodes last night, its so good. Keep faith in the absurd!

The talk of faith in this episode has reminded me of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Having just re-watched this anime I feel that everything being said here can be directly linked to Gurren Lagann with Kaminas saying "Go beyond the impossible and kick reason to the curb! That's how Team Gurren rolls!" not only with this but how the humans faith is directly addressed by several of the antagonists.

I feel I must clarify because I don't remember how I worded my comment last week... I DO NOT THINK YOU MADE ANYTHING UP! (or that it isn't an issue that doesn't exist... just not something I'd done myself and therefore not encountered) I just want to now say, I love Idea channel, I enjoy watching your shows, you make me think about interesting things, sometimes in different ways. (though from my use of commas in that sentence... not necessarily improve my terrible grammar!) Please don't let those with negative opinions get to you! You guys are awesome and I love what you do, keep it up!

First of all, thank you for introducing me to Over The Garden Wall. Second of all, I think it's a very good thing for you to talk back to your audience when you are concerned about something. It's not something many RU-vidrs do. By addressing this "observation" not only are you putting it in context, but you are also (hopefully) encouraging discussion. Let's hope you don't get too much flack from angry/defensive internet people. Curate the comments section as much as you want!

Your pitch of "Adventure Time meets Grimm's Fairy Tales meets Miyazaki meets Mark Twain" pitch was all I needed to get absolutely consumed by how much I love this show. In my social circle, how many people have had this show recommended to them via this episode is large. I imagine that I'm not a unique occurrence. Thank you for introducing me to this show. I miss you guys.

Thank you so much for the spoiler hand, I think I actually want to watch the show now :)

Thanks to you, I got to watch one of the most charming cartoons I have ever encountered. Because apparently I was lost in the woods in the past month, I never knew it existed. So, thank you.

I watched the whole series because of this video! I'm glad I did, it's an amazing series

That spoiler hand idea is just Brilliant!

Decided to download over the garden wall before watching this episode. That was SO worth my time.

The main theme I noticed throughout the 10 episodes is responsibility. The woodsman was trying to keep his daughter alive, Wirt had to learn to take responcibuility for his brothers actions (and how own), Beatrice was on a quest to undo what she did to her family. To quote the woodsman "Everyone has a torch to burn..."

So glad you brought me toward this show

MIKE!!! You tricked me into watching something amazing again! I had no clue this show existed and then you upload this episode and now I have bought it and watched it and love it! The same thing happened with Adventure Time after the BMO episode. Why must you keep introducing me to cool things!?!?

You have actually pointed out something that I had never realized. *inserts quick back story* So growing up my parents would always say that I always was the optimistic younger brother and did everything without fear until I started to take after my brother. They still say I'm pretty optimistic, but that something changed. Personally I always looked up to my brother and always loved seeing him triumphant after doing anything that looked difficult (i.e. beating a game, filming a movie). My brother on the other hand often views these triumphs as things that can sometimes just be in the way. Point being that I maintain my child like optimism to this day because my brother always made everything seem possible, while my brother adopted a more mature pessimism after dealing with many problems firsthand, not knowing for sure if he'd be able to overcome his challenges. Now I feel like I should be thanking my brother, or at least give him a hug. :)

And now, to binge watch Over the Garden Wall. Thanks!

its 2 years old so im sure whatever i could say about OTGW has been said already but i watched the whole thing for the first time the other day. almost cried. so good! i wish they would have made a few more episodes to flesh out the characters and story/ theme a bit more but yeah, amazing for what they did in 10 short episodes.

Yeay! I did not know about Over the Garden Wall, something for me to watch :3 ... also, kudos on that comments at the end of the video, it makes me happy that you addressed that.

I just want to say that nobody's accusing you guys personally of making it up. The problem is that feminism today seems to be based on manufactured controversy, and almost a moral imperative TO manufacture controversy and promote manufactured controversy. From Sarkeesian to Spider-Woman covers to this. You can only cry wolf so many times before people stop listening.

I literally had to watch this entire series (over the garden wall) so I could watch this episode, and I have to be honest, that show is flawless.

God! you guys introduce me to this miniseries... another one! -I went though all the episodes just to see this post.... and is really good...

I'm really happy by reading the comments that more people are going to watch this show.

I see a David Bowie album in the background, congratulations you just put two of my favourite things in a video

First off it's great that you did an episode about Over the Garden Wall! I was wanting someone to delve into the possible philosophy behind the show. When I first watched the show I thought of it as them going through limbo. A lot of what they encountered throughout the show either echoed problems they had in the real world things that were in the world around them. Both brothers had a different set of problems when they went into the Unknown and each episode seemed to put them in a situation that had them work through it. For me it seemed that the show was trying to convey that by running away or being afraid to face the problems at hand in the end end up hurting not only ourselves but those around us, often times making things worse then what they need to be. I think that OTGW tried to show that we should have a bit more faith in ourselves to be able face problems and to not try to avoid or be naive to whatever difficulty we may be facing in our lives. That whether we like it or not, our actions not only effect us but those around us. Both brothers faced trying to escape the Unknown in two different perspectives. Wirt, by not believing in himself and his unwillingness to get close to others not only landed them into the Unknown but almost made it impossible to leave. He feared being let down by others, and being hurt in the processes. Meanwhile, Greg always saw the good in everything, almost to a fault. He believed that if you wish for it hard enough, anything can be possible. And by this he lives his life vary care free and not really ever thinking about how his actions and lack of thought might effect others around him. I really love Greg, through the hole tale he tries to do what he thinks is best for his brother. In many ways I think that he shows us that anything can be possible if we put our mind to it. But, blindly doing so without thought isn't the best way to go about things either. For instance, when he took the Beast's word for face value he and his brother nearly didn't make it back. Over all I think it's more about a balance between having faith and being realistic. If we over think things we can't get anywhere in life. If we overly have faith that things will work out, we end up going in circles and the problem never is resolved.