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dragonkeeper19600 · 7 years

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Either, Do an analysis of Nazz's scene in the swamp from Big Picture Show. Starting from where Nazz and Kevin are thrown into the swamp ending at the point where Nazz chucks Kevin's bike into the swampy water. Or if you don't want to do an analysis you may answer this question Is Nazz truly a kind person? Do you think she has been wearing a mask? *If you have any questions look at the post on my page.

Everyone throughout this month has been consistently naming the swamp scene in Big Picture Show as one of their favorite Nazz moment. Their reasons for liking this scene in particular seem to be A. We finally get a moment of definite personality from Nazz and B. Kevin gets told off for being a jerk/idiot/Gary from Pokemon. So, a lot of fans view this scene in a sort of “Right Vs. Wrong” light. I rewatched the scene a few times to see if that reading holds up.

The last time we saw Kevin and Nazz before this scene, they were in the Lemonbrook Gag Factory. I know you said we only had to analyze the swamp scene starting when they’re in the pipe, but I think it’s important to at least remember what happened to them before that.

So: In summation, Nazz accidentally flips a switch, activating a conveyer belt at the factory. The conveyer belt begins to carry away Kevin’s bike. Kevin panics, and Nazz volunteers to get it, but in trying to reach for it (which involves standing on her tiptoes and reaching up like a ditz), she gets caught, too. Kevin is completely frantic. He tries to flip the switch back, and when he can’t, he shouts, “I’m coming, babe!” climbs to the top of the conveyer belt, dives heroically in front of the chute leading to the waste disposal pipe and at the last second grabs… his bike.

Whew! That was close.

Um, meanwhile Nazz is still kind of stuck on the conveyer belt. She shouts, “What are you doing?” because, of course, she was kind of expecting Kevin to try and save her and not the bike, but the only other thing she has time to say is his name before the conveyer belt dumps her into the exact hole Kevin saved his bike from and all three end up in the pipe.

Evidently, that was a pretty long pipe because the swamp scene starts with them still rocketing through it. It was still daylight when they arrived at the factory, and the sun has already set by the time they land in the water. Who knows what ecosystem of horrors they ran into along the way.

Anyway, Nazz comes out first and lands on her face. Just as she’s getting up, Kevin, like, careens over her with his bike hard enough to literally knock her shorts off. Not sure how she got ahead of him, seeing as how her fall from the conveyer belt is what knocked him in. Continuity error! NURSE!

Anyway, Kevin screeches to a stop, frantically pulls off his shirt, and begins polishing the bike with it. Nazz stomps up, covered in mud and with a water sausage stuck to her head, and shouts, “How’s your bike?”

Kevin’s response: “Oh hey, Nazz!”

That fucking “Oh hey, Nazz!” cracks me up. It’s just so casual! It’s as if he’s pleasantly surprised to see her in the neighborhood. Like, he hasn’t even been thinking about her at all up to this point. “Oh, hey? What’s up?”

Kevin’s obsession with his bike has reached a truly absurd level. This is beyond just being self-absorbed, it’s like he has no ego whatsoever outside of the bike. He ripped his shirt off, knocking his hat into the bog in the process, just to rub down his bike. It’s like even his own safety doesn’t matter compared to that of the bike. Where are we? Who cares? Bike. Is Nazz okay? I can’t hear you! Bike! Should I be taking my shirt off in a place full of mosquitoes? There is no God, there is only T H E B I K E.

Anyway, this is the point where Nazz slaps him.

I have a few words to say about that slap. Nazz is clearly infuriated that Kevin has prioritized his lord and master, the bike, over her safety. She’s had a pretty stressful day, something she herself will bring up later in the scene. Remember The Scam That Went Too Far happened that morning. She’s potentially miles from home, exhausted, scared, and full of rage. A lot of people see her slapping Kevin as a moment of triumph for Nazz. However, I have a few qualms about women slapping men in the media. Hitting is often portrayed as an acceptable way for a woman to express her anger with a man because, well, she’s just a woman and it’s not like she could hit that hard anyway. However, in real life, violence between anyone of any gender is not okay, and Nazz’s slap has in no way clued Kevin in to what’s upsetting Nazz. Granted it should be obvious why she’s unhappy, and it’s not Nazz’s fault that Kevin’s a fucking idiot, but his immediate question upon getting hit was, “What was that for, man?” That slap in no way told him what he was doing wrong, and it rubs me the wrong way how many people are applauding it.

But then again.

This is Kevin we’re talking about. Kevin’s a pretty violent guy himself, as I’m sure you know. He’ll knock Eddy into the sky without provocation. He once threatened to tie Edd’s legs into a pretzel. He completely destroyed Jimmy’s toys without remorse. Granted, that last one was a mistake, but not even an “I’m sorry?” Really? A big part of why people like this scene is that Kevin usually doesn’t receive any kind of retribution for his violent outbursts. It’s not like Kevin has gotten out of the series unscathed up ‘til now, but there is the sense that Kevin has had this coming for a long time.

On the other other hand, the code “don’t hit girls” is something that seems to have been drilled into the boys in this show. Ed specifically mentions it’s something that his mother taught him. (As a side note, this would be the same woman who taught Sarah to show no mercy.) Girls are on the receiving end of slapstick in this show, but it’s usually either delivered amongst themselves or is the result of some prop falling on them, like when the fence flattens Sarah and Nazz (and, um, Jimmy) in “High-Heeled Ed.” The girls are hardly ever, if ever, deliberately harmed by the guys. Ed holds Edd back from attacking Sarah after she coughs on him in “Is There an Ed in the House?” Rolf lets Nazz absolutely thrash him in “Little Ed Blue” when he tries to steal her popcorn. Even Eddy has never physically retaliated against Sarah. Really think about that. Can you name even one moment when Eddy hit Sarah? One?

A man’s refusal to hit a woman is rightfully seen as a sign of his moral fiber. By contrast, if a man does hit a woman, it’s considered a horrific crime. Remember when, in this same movie, Eddy’s brother called Edd “girlfriend” and then slammed him into the ground? Not even Eddy’s brother hits a girl onscreen, but the fact that he thought he did and was okay with it is used as (one of many) indicators of how terrible he is. Kevin’s already an unpopular character, but imagine if he ever slapped Nazz, the way Nazz just slapped him. People would be burning him in effigy for that.

What complicates this question even further is that, well, none of these characters are really supposed to be role models. They are just kids, and the things they do are meant to be a reflection of how children behave not a guide for how children should behave. And Ed’s mother, the one who told Ed to never hit a girl but told Sarah to show no mercy, is implied throughout the show to not be the best parent.

So, it’s unclear if the show is treating this double standard in a positive light. Honestly, you could probably write a whole dissertation on these issues, something like “The Morality of Violence in Slapstick,” but honestly we don’t have time for that.

Anyway! Back to the scene. Nazz slaps Kevin (with her left hand, I might add. Is she left-handed?) and when he asks why she did that, her response is, “It’s late and I’m cold.”

This response implies that she’s expecting Kevin to take care of her. The subtext is clearly, “What are you going to do about it?” but Kevin doesn’t get this, and as she glares at him, waiting for a response, he just silently looks back.

I like how his eyes awkwardly drift to the side as the silence drags.

Making prolonged eye contact with someone is sometimes seen as a hostile gesture. That’s definitely the case here, and it doesn’t seem like Kevin can face that angry look for too long.

It definitely seems like Nazz is testing Kevin. Evidently, he fails because she angrily declares, “Fine! I’ll make a fire.”

Kevin’s response? “Sweet!”

Oh, Kevin. Someone help this poor, idiot child.

Nazz’s attempt to make a fire is truly pathetic. Not only does she not seem to know what to do, she’s working with wet wood on mushy ground. When she blows on the sticks, it sounds like she’s blowing raspberries, not really the type of air needed to start a fire. She seems to realize how futile it is, angrily slapping her sticks on the pile of wood she created and then throwing them on top. In typical cartoon fashion, a roaring fire immediately springs up out of nowhere, rendering her instantly dry.

She gets busy getting herself warm, rubbing her hands together and such, but when Kevin calls out to her (“Wicked fire, Nazz!”), she gives him a truly delightful glare.

Kevin asks if he can join her in what I guess is supposed to be a seductive way. Nazz normally responds positively to attention like this from Kevin, but this time she just ignores him and pokes the fire. Kevin is surprised by this response. Evidently, Kevin thinks that if he just acts friendly, Nazz will forget about whatever’s bothering her. Remember: Nazz still hasn’t really told him, and it’s not like this kid is going to figure it out himself.

Kevin looks from the bag containing his sandwich to Nazz, and you can practically see the wheels turning in his head. Maybe splitting the sandwich with her will improve things? He offers to do so, but Nazz, still mad, takes the whole thing.

Kevin’s a blundering idiot who fails to grasp the simple concept that girls have feelings and don’t like being run over with bikes, but I still think it’s kind of cute how he doesn’t even get mad. He just sidles over next to her, comments that it would be nice if they had another sandwich (not once reproaching her for eating the whole thing), and puts his hand on her shoulder.

The sound effect they use in this shot struck me as oddly familiar. I was wracking my brains trying to figure out where I’d heard it before when I suddenly remembered: It’s the fucking growling stomach sound from Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life.

In this case, however, I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to sound like a cat purring. This one affection gesture from Kevin is enough to placate Nazz. She sheepishly apologizes for eating the whole sandwich. Kevin gives Nazz a thumbs up to show he’s not mad and puts his hand on her shoulder. Nazz responds by tugging Kevin abruptly close in a shoulder-to-shoulder embrace, which he was clearly not expecting.

The following scene is rife with sexual tension. I feel weird saying that considering these are thirteen-year-olds, but there’s really no better way to describe it. Nazz bats her eyes as she apologizes for slapping Kevin, and both of their mouths are really close together through the following exchange.

Nazz: “It’s been such a crazy day, you know?”

Kevin: “Yeah. No foolin’.”

Nazz: (dreamily) “No foolin’…”

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m uncomfortable.

Kevin holds a finger to her lips and tells her not to move and that he’ll be right back. Nazz waits for him, clasping her hands together into a silent squee, no doubt expecting some kind of romantic gesture. But when Kevin walks up with the bike, her eyes pop.

Kevin comments casually that leaving the bike out in the cold is bad for the paint. Here is where Nazz loses it. She socks him in the stomach and tosses the bike out into the swamp in a fucking WWE giant swing. Kevin frantically chases after it as Nazz shouts, “That’s I think of your stupid bike!”

Perhaps the most vital component of any relationship is communication. If both partners aren’t on the same page or one has problems or an issue that the other doesn’t know about, then all kinds of additional problems can come up because neither party has everything they need to solve the problem. Throughout this whole sequence, Kevin and Nazz fail to communicate as they should.

Nazz clearly has an idea of what Kevin should be and most of her ideals for him are born from his status as a male. She wants him to be there for her, to save her, protect her, provide for her, hold her, and Kevin seems incapable of doing any of that. Kevin’s attitude by the fire reminds me of the stereotypical “husband in trouble” idea. He knows that something’s wrong, but he can’t figure out what, and he figures he can get himself back in the clear just by being nice. He tries asking her what’s wrong exactly once (“What was that for, man?”) but doesn’t ask her to specify when her answer gives him no clarity. He never asks her why she threw his bike into the tree, dismissing the action as “I just don’t get her, man.” Kevin seems to have abandoned understanding Nazz’s behavior as a lost cause. It kind of reminds me of Eddy’s recurring complaint: “Dames! Who can figure ‘em?”

This seems to be a recurrent issue men have in general. There’s a common saying that women are “mysterious” or “unfathomable” creatures because men find themselves unprepared to deal with any kind of emotional negativity from a woman. “If I’m not upset, why is she upset?” Maybe that’s oversimplifying it, but it’s a damaging attitude to have because what’s so “mysterious” about women is their failure to behave in the exact way men anticipate them to behave. Oh, you think that a hug and a smile is going to make the problem go away? Clueless boy, you don’t even know what the problem is.

Nazz, for her part, is not making things any easier for him. True, as I’ve said before, the reason she’s unhappy should be obvious, but assuming that something that’s clear to you is also clear to someone else is often dangerous. Nazz tries to give Kevin the silent treatment after he disappoints her. While she may have needed a minute to be alone, that strategy didn’t really help Kevin at all. I don’t think it was cool of her to hit him, take his sandwich, or sock him in the gut, but it definitely wasn’t cool of him to run her over with his bike, not even worry about her safety in the factory, or dismiss her anger as “Women, amiright?”

This is a good scene because we get a lot of character from Nazz and see her pushed beyond her limit, but neither character really comes out of this scene looking ideal. But, honestly, none of the characters of Ed, Edd ‘n’ Eddy are flawless. That’s kind of the point of the show. This scene documents the early growing pains of two kids in their first love. Of course they’re going to fuck it up and do and say stupid things. They’re still young (that’s they’re fault); they’ve got plenty of time to learn how to do it better. Not necessarily with each other, but definitely with someone.

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