Growing Up with Gravity Falls - A Video Essay
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- čas přidán 8. 08. 2021
- Thank you to Alex Hirsch for creating Gravity Falls. It's one of the most impactful shows of my childhood and several other people's, and it helped me out a lot when I was younger.
Anyways here's a video essay about it. This one is a bit personal because of how much Gravity Falls means to me, and I'm not sure it's that good, but I hope you guys enjoy regardless.
Mabel slander will not be tolerated in the comment section and I am dead serious about that
LINKS + SOURCES:
The show seen in this video is Gravity Falls. Big thank you to my friend Cass, who helped me brainstorm for sections of this video and provided some of the points.
Music (in order):
Library Stroll - OneShot OST
Resurrections - Celeste OST
Eleventh Hour - OneShot OST
Mae’s House II - Night in the Woods OST
Respite - Undertale OST
Home - Undertale OST
To Sleep - OneShot OST
It’s Raining Somewhere Else - Undertale OST
Self-Contained Universe - OneShot OST
All music is used with permission from the creator or under other copyright-free designations.
All clips of any show are used under the designation of Fair Use law for commentary and analysis’s sake. - Krátké a kreslené filmy
At the end of Journal 3, Ford writes, "And that brings us to you, dear reader. If you are holding this book in your hands, you hold something more than a record of the curious happenings of a town called Gravity Falls. You hold a record of one man's folly and the kindness of a family that saved him from himself. *It's never too late to learn that growing old doesn't have to mean growing up.* Stay curious, stay weird, stay kind, and don't let anyone ever tell you you aren't smart or brave or worthy enough." And that excerpt possibly sums up my intention with this video far better than I ever could. Thank you :]
"It's never too late to learn that growing old doesn't have to mean growing up."
Reminds me of a C.S. Lewis quote that I love:
"Critics who treat 'adult' as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."
When this show came out, I was a little kid with a fear of “scary” shows, so I never watched this series in full until years after it finished. But when I did watch it, I loved it! I was going into high school for the first time the summer I watched it so the theme of growing up still stuck with me.
Ironic because Gravity Falls came out when I was about 13 and right before I was moving to a different country. I never bothered to watch it until I was 23 when a roommate suggested it and all I can say is wow.
I seriously wonder what 13 year old me would've thought.
I really think your essays give a new meaning to, essays. They show points that others will miss whilst watching a harmless show, a new plot even its truly amazing how others see this, it shows how a close eye can give a meaning of lore and or a hidden meaning. Its comforting. Thank you Kurkarl. You make this life abit more exciting - Cass
ok but in all seriousness, ive never watched gravity falls but the way you describe it really hits home for me. the music, editing and everything else just ties it together!!!!! amazing video as always
YOURE the best. i am so glad u enjoyed
I love theese kinds of video essays. I have watched countless essays on multiple topics, and I have to say - your video essays are one of my favourites. I love painting, but I always find it boring to just sit in silence, so video essays like yours keep me entertained. Thank you for that
*This video was expertly done! Really made me miss the show! I will be watching your other videos now! :D*
As someone going through a bit of a gravity falls renaissance due to the 10th year anniversary, this video essay hit all the right notes. What a fantastic and criminally underviewed video, and by someone who isn't even in their senior year no less (this reminds me of the kinds of essays I saw studying film in college). The most poignant part of this video was near the end, when you described how Dipper and Mabel were frozen in time, and that we would never truly see them grow up, because they themselves are snapshots of our pre-teen selves in our memories.
Whenever I'm at a low point in my life, I always return to this show, longing to return to the days when Season 2 was coming out, when I would read fanfic of the show in an attempt to immerse myself in a world that I saw as infinitely superior and more freeing than reality. I won't lie, sometimes I do dream of that world, because it feels like a place where I would be understood. But seeing a video like this reminds me that others feel the same, that others understand, that I'm not abnormal for my weird hopes and dreams, and that helps me move on, and grow up.
A funny thing is that I'm working on my own video essay, due the 10 year anniversary, and looking at my script, a lot of it is similar to your video, but not as good honestly. I don't wish to compete with others, and I want to say something new, so I decided to retool it into a more personalized video essay that describes my experiences with the show and how they mirrored Mabel's. I myself have had periods of time where I trapped myself in a fantasy world trying to deny growing up, as I felt like I was in a world where I didn't belong, where I was worthless.
I don't know much about you, but I think you've got a bright future ahead of you. Thank you for this video and for making me contemplate the show from a different perspective.
I wish I could properly express my appreciation for this comment. I definitely lost myself in this world a lot when I was a kid too, and I've felt similarly abnormal for that sort of thing, so it makes me really happy that you could take away that there are others like you out there. Even if I'm seeing this a little late, your comment means a lot to me, so thank you very very much :)
this video totally hit the nail on the head. i was 4 when gravity falls came out and i started watching it, so i never really worried too much about the whole growing up theme since it was so far away for me. now i'm barely older than dipper and mabel and staring high school in the face, and gravity falls has 100% helped me through it. your bit about mabel realizing growing up is okay as long as she has her brother is absolutely correct too. i'm a twin and when we were about 9, me and my brother started growing apart. it terrified me and broke my heart and made me want nothing more than to run back in time to when we were inseparable. i personally relate more to dipper, but holy shit i have never felt more like mabel than in those few years of distance from each other. we've only recently started repairing our friendship, and again, every feeling you described was totally right. thinking of sending my twin this video lol
The ending of this video shattered me because I’m basically in the exact same situation: Summer before final year of high school, rewatching Gravity Falls because I miss it and the sense of childhood that comes along with it, only to spot all the themes of growing up. Thank you for this meaningful essay
i’m going to rewatch the series with these themes in mind bc that shit hit me like a truck. i’m turning 18 in three months and i’m the least mature person i know. obviously everyone has to grow up, no one can control that, but i can at least be content with having a childlike view of life. fantastic video essay bro
This show scared me as a kid but it was so tragically amazing, I couldn’t stop watching. I returned when I was twelve by mere coincidence and as someone with a difficult life, I forced myself to grow up and plan my life ahead. Having the same breakdowns as the pines twins as I realized I was leaving that small childhood I had behind was awful but this show happened to teach me that even though I was in such a hard situation and I had to grow up so fast, I could still act like a kid.
That Celeste background music was weirdly perfect.
Edit: oh, and Undertale!
I was only 12 like Dipper and Mabel when it first premiered and I was 16 when the finale aired. I spent my teen years watching this show and I basically grew up along with them! Gravity Falls is a masterpiece and will always hold a special place in my heart. Hard to believe it is 10 years old now. Thank you for doing this analysis it reminded me why I love this show so much.
You know it’s going to be a good day when you get a notification saying kurkarl uploaded
I was pretty young when I started watching gravity falls, and the message flew over my head until I rewatched it, I’m 13 so everything really connected to me. I realized recently that I can be a kid, I don’t have to be so mature. After being on the internet and going into really really heavy topics that need rl be dealt with carefully, I changes my whole mindset from childish and carefree, to anxious and self conscious. I really wish I could still be a child but you really can’t. I came to that conclusion a long time ago. Dipper and mable are exactly how I feel.
I love how this show dealt with growing up and changing. It balances comedy, drama, and it’s message perfectly, the characters are made so well that they feel real. God I love this show!
Also Stanford and Stanleys relationship, imo, is a huge fear for Mable. She’s terrified that Dipper will leave her like Stanley left Stanford, she cares for her brother but doesn’t understand why he wants to grow up. To Mable, she knows reality but she doesn’t like it or want it. She knows it’s hard growing up and she just wants to stay a child, bur Dipper feels as though growing up is inevitable and the faster you get it over with the less it will hurt. I think that if Dipper and Mable didn’t spend the summer at gruncle Stan’s house they would have ended up exactly like Stanford and Stanley.
Amazing video! You always feel so passionate about things you talk about. Once people realize how good you are at these things I’ll be able to say I was one of the first people here.
I love your comment! I was originally going to have a section in this video about the parallels with the Stan twins's relationship and how it parallels with the younger twins, but I cut it out. You totally get what I would have said about it, though. Thank you so much :D
THIS IS A BANGER U NEVER MISS!!
really great essay. Love your personal connection with the show, and how that all tied back around. Keep up the good work.
This came up in my recommended, probably due to the fact that I just finished my “roughly annual” rewatch of Gravity Falls. This is a really underrated video essay, you perfectly explain why both Dipper AND Mabel’s arc work so well, they’re two sides of the same coin.
Also your music selection is great 👌
Bro I grew up with this show and my sister and I fit Dipper and Mable’s personality almost perfectly. Still one of the best shows I’ve ever watched.
When I first finished watching Gravity Falls, I was super upset and my dad told me to stop crying because it is just a show. Gravity Falls is more then a show. It is a important peace of our lives and deserves to be seen as that
I was actually crying by the end of this video
I'm going to college soon too and i just finished watching gravity falls 😭😭😭
I watched some episodes as a kid, but it came out when i was a preteen and thought i was too cool for cartoons, so i never really got into it. Revisited it again as a young adult because I'm into cartoons again. Life's funny that way
I watched this after finishing the show! I never got to see the last few episodes when they aired, and it always made me sad.
I love the video, although obvious to me now, these woven themes were so well done. As I rewatched I was able to reach into my subconscious and remember these life lessons (because at the time I was obsessed with the mystery) and they still hit.
I felt a great satisfaction finishing the show, and this video is great sum up of just one of the themes that are in it.
I’m glad I wasn’t the only person who loved the show. None of my friends watched it when it aired so don’t get my love for it! I really appreciate this video!
i’m a month away from finishing junior year rn, i think im gonna go rewatch gravity falls 🥲
new comfort video
This is such an underrated video ???
i loved this essay :) i've been meaning to rewatch gravity falls for a while now and this video really made me want to! keep up the great work!!!
I know exactly how you feel I was 13 when the show first aired and I was 17 years old when I watched the finale in February of 2016. I can't believe the show is 10 years old now🥲
Never stop doing your thing fam..! Your content is fantastic..! Your channel deserves at least 20 thousand subscribers by now..!
Great video, and I totally agree dude, rewatching it at points where you yourself are going through changes of growing up, hits so hard
I just wanted background noise while doing my nails but now I’m sobbing
this is absolutely incredible
Love your video essays :)
This almost made me cry multiple times
Correction this made me cry
kurkarl youve done it again this was an amazing video essay !! well done :D
i just rewatched your colour theory of the dream smp, i love gravity falls :)
Got chills 😭❤
Love it so much !
There are two things you should have mentioned about Mable giving the rift to Blendin/Bill that would dramatically increase the understanding for anyone who hasn't watched the show
1. Blending was possessed by Bill at the time (in the video you refer to him as Blendin first and then as Bill later without any context, this might confuse viewers)
2. Mable didn´t even know what the dimensional rift was because she was never told.
Mm.. yes. Gravity falls with Oneshot and night in the woods songs (the other 2 are a given). Very cultured.
One of my childhood shows
YOOOO GRAVITY FALLS VIDEO ESSAY LETS GOOOO
pog!
edit: i love all of your content, you analyze really good!
edit2: i just realized that im early
i llooovveeddd gravity falls when i was a kid! great video :D
Love the music choice big one shot fan also amazing analysis
This is very well done!!
This video is amazing!
Time to cry again
dang dude, it’s weird to think about all the themes that went over my head as a kid
I am so happy and lucky I got to grow up with this show ❤
hey, great essay!
Thanks so much!
“Being a kid and growing up, it’s hard and nobody understands.” -Eridan Ampora, Homestuck Act 5 Act 1
KURKARL UPLOAD!!! WHAT A GREAT DAY THIS IS
I missed Gravity Falls man...
I grew up with gravity falls.
I don’t know why my mom and dad let a 4 year old watch it. It’s there favorite show though.
Dude, your videos are incredible. That anecdote at the end where you open up about how the show affected you personally... Man that hit hard. I was going through the exact same feelings of dread around this time last year, when I was in your shoes and preparing to enter my final year of highschool, and hearing you echo those same concerns... Shit man.
Your videos are really interesting, I look forward to anytime the algorithm sees fit to actually notify me of your uploads!
ALSO man your music tastes- great choices of VGM for background tracks, the particular songs you used from Oneshot, Celeste, and Undertale just fit the vibe immaculately, plus I am a whore for Nightmargin and Lena Raine lmao
Oh man, thanks so much! It means a lot to hear other people have felt the same things I have, haha. This comment means a lot, ty!
Thank you on the music taste - I absolutely love Nightmargin as well and the other OSTs, it's great to see people appreciate them :D
i never understood why mabel couldnt stay in gravity falls to
I hear Celeste music, this is a banger
Now this, this made me want to watch gravity falls-
I miss Gravety falls sooooo much😢
KURKARL UPLOAD WOOOOOOOOOOOO
I love the video but please please dial down on the adverts :,(
LFG NEW KURKARL VIDEO ESSAY
but yeah, that gifted in elementary school bit hit HARD. amazing video as always :')
have you read the comics?
pls try making a vid on the comics cuz i loved them
WAKE UP BABE NEW KURKARL JUST DROPPED
KURKARL
Generic praiseful comment!
Generic thankful response :D
HEY KURKARL
:,)