Goodbye Gravity Falls – A farewell letter from us “kids”
Warning: Gravity Falls spoilers! Turn back now if you don’t want to get spoiled for the finale!
Dear Gravity Falls,
In the beginning of the series I was blown away by, first of all, the animation, the mood you set, the music, the backgrounds, and the angles. They were all very promising at first glance. But still, being a kid’s show, I tried not to expect much. Right off the bat, Gravity Falls, you made me eat my words, bow down and apologise for ever having thought of them.
The characters you introduced to me, Dipper and Mabel, initially made me think of the typical cartoon Yin and Yang duo: A control freak and a loose canon. But you made them so much more. You actually made them like each other and get-along despite the usual “we hate each other” cartoon-sibling relationship that we too often see on tv. (This, I admit, affected my relationship with my brother to an extent when we were growing up. We get along now though, don’t worry.) I never had this as a kid. I never had a pattern to look for in a good sibling-relationship. I initially just thought it was normal to hate your brother. It was normal to loathe them and be jealous of what they had. I thought that for such a long time. And I’m so glad you, Gravity Falls, exist now to make young kids think otherwise.
Aside from the mood you set for the characters, you gave the world depth. You gave this crazy town full of odd-ball people a purpose. They like where they are. And they’re not stuck anywhere. The continuity in Gravity Falls is amazing: From where this tree fell to the ground from last week, to who this Minor character hangs out with now. It’s 2D Animation, yes, but the continuity just gave it that extra oomph! that these characters are alive, doing their own thing, mowing their lawn, and they are never frozen in time (Unless Time Baby says so.)
Because of these, it’s very hard not to get attached to any one character in Gravity Falls. Whether you identify as a little girl who likes glitter, a kid who likes mysteries, an angsty teenager who wears eyeliner, or someone turning 70. There’s always someone to love in Gravity Falls. And the jokes, oh the jokes, never make fun of these characters for how weird they are. If anything, the jokes celebrate their weirdness. The jokes in Gravity Falls say, “You’re weird, that’s good! Do your own weird thing, man!” And I’m pretty sure a lot of kids- and adults- are grateful to have found a home, or at least a group of people, who likes them for how odd they are.
Ending Gravity Falls was a good call. (We will always have fan-art and fan fiction to immortalise this show, anyway.) Summer ends, people grow up, but what we will always have are the memories we made, the friendships we forged, and the lessons learned. I cried when the intro song played for the last episode, knowing that I would never be able to hear this tune the same way ever again. Unless I binge watch all the episodes some time in the future.
Knowing that I would never see these characters grow up, makes me feel like I’m finally leaving a friend who’s been nothing but good to me: supportive, funny, and would definitely hold my hand if we have to walk through a dark alley together.
Thank you Gravity Falls. Thank you for giving me a home, and friends, and thank you for telling me, and all of the kids who get to see this show that they’re smart, strong, funny, and creative. And people are only scary as they are interesting.
And as it goes:
Stay Weird.
