nicky little and helga... it's so interesting when you see two characters who are victims of parental neglect share tropes in common, but the type of neglect is so different. yet both characters show the extreme affects of parental neglect.
the only difference between these characters, is that one advocated for herself and adapted to the household enviorment and the neglect was less pronounced and obvious, the other was completely defenseless to what was going on in their household and couldn't find a way to compete with her sister. especially because helga was preschool age, and nicky was already in kindergarten and competed for becky's attention already (in some ways made progress- moving up from kindergarten to first grade, but leaned into to the idea of being "the brawn" instead of "the brain")
there's two scenes where both of these kids are ignored to the point of their parents not knowing where they are
nicky little is similar and different to helga pataki in that- a she is confused child broken into the role of an overachiever who lacks identity and freedom and helga is a confused child who is broken into an even more confused child- only one area of solace, one person who gave her kindness that she was infatuated for him for most of her life. nicky finds comfort and pain in books. nicky used to be a bully but found a way not to be and could adapt, helga didn't have the resources or capacity to adapt and the world made her harsh and a bully as a result. the one person she cares about, she acts so harsh towards to protect herself/fear of judgement. but nicky is "duty bound", living out someone elses fantasies and even trying to define herself in them, to make those dreams sound like her own- she's given mixed messages on the value of the arts vs "stable careers"- she's been made up to be a sophisticated artist and an academic- yet lives thru her friends who help her have some fun and ignore all that baggage. she finds happiness in her friends, even if she's her harshest critic- because that's all she has...
turnnoffyourmind
jacobvanloon
vaporwave
theartofmadeline
tangentwithtanner
dededos
kianamaiart
baratheonpilled
