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Re: The Wonder Years
When I got home tonight, I watched the last few episodes of season five. I might watch a couple episodes of the final season before going to bed, but I now realize what this show is really about. It hit me over the head in the middle of this particular season, and couldn't believe I didn't realize it until now. Decided to wait until I finished this season to comment on it.
Some of you will think I'm crazy. Hell, a few of you already think I'm insane.:haha: Some of you younger folks here probably wouldn't understand this or see it from this point, but if you are in your late 20's or older and a fan of this show, you should download this series on a torrent and I believe you will come to the same conclusions that I did. When I was in junior high, I watched the first couple seasons, and as life moved on, I only watched a few of the episodes in the early/mid 90's. So its easily understandable that in my youth and the fact I did not watch this show religiously, I was not able to grasp the overall story.
So here goes.........
Kevin Arnold is gay. Yeah, I said it. If there was a wonder years forum somewhere and I said this, I would be banned immediately. However, its time for this to be put on the table. I have never heard this interpretation of the series before, but I would imagine at least a few people out there are able to grasp what is going on here.
I'm not saying this show is gay love fest. Its not. The themes of closeness of family, sibling rivalry, the loss of innocence,etc. are all still intact. But there is an underlying theme to this story, and the fact that the original writers pulled out after season 2, its amazing that this theme stayed with the show throughout. Maybe the later writers understood what direction the creator was going with Kevin's life, so kept it going in the same direction.
Here's the thing. Winnie does not love Kevin. She likes him as a friend. She tells him this throughout the series. Yes they do hold hands occasionally and also kissed a few times, but that only happened during moments when Winnie wasn't dating anybody else. While Winnie had friends that were girls, it is obvious that she considered Kevin her very best friend through life, so its understandable that she will feel a bit more closer to him when she breaks up with one of her boyfriends.
Now regarding Kevin and his feelings for Winnie, it has become painfully obvious that he considers her a "safe" choice for a "girlfriend". They grew up together. He always has Winnie to fall back on. Even when she is dating other guys, he still hangs around with her(when she isn't mad at him). Its obvious he has zero control in this so called relationship. When anyone happens to ask him about a girlfriend, he can conveniently pull Winnie's name out of his hat and no one questions it. They are regarded as a couple to his friends and other kids at his school even though they are not an actual couple.
During all this, Kevin meets MANY other girls. Most make the first move and show interest in him. What does he do? Everything in his power to sabotage any chance of ever actually having a relationship with any of these girls. Does he kiss a couple of them? Sure. But sabotage is always inevitable. He ruins things before they can ever progress to the next step. The few times he ever even considers "going all the way" is with Winnie, and of course she will not do it. To her, they are friends.
There are two key moments in season five that "seal the deal". Other things happen earlier of course, but these two things establish concrete proof on the path of Kevin's life.
The first one is when Kevin gets to go out with the hot foreign exchange student. Winnie goes out with someone in Kevin's class, so they double date. Winnie is not too impressed with her date, and in typical Kevin fashion, he loses interest as well and the Swedish chick winds up dancing with Winnie's date. So Kevin and Winnie leave the dance, and drive to the place where teens make out. They talk about a bit about their past, and when Kevin leans in to kiss Winnie on the mouth, and Winnie turns her head and he ends up kissing her on the eye. This in a nutshell tells Winnie's true feelings about Kevin regardless oh how many kisses or hand holding was done in the past. He took her to this make out point knowing what the outcome would be.
The second key moment is when Kevin drives out to that small town by the lake where his family had vacationed a few years earlier to meet a girl he knew there. She sent him a letter/christmas card, and in typical Kevin fashion, never answered it. Yet here he goes on a journey to find this "true love" of his life. When he gets there, he finds her but she is not interested. She has a boyfriend. She even asks him why he never wrote back to her, but he doesn't have an answer. When he leaves. she says to write to him next Christmas. He never does.
This is his pattern since junior high. He appears to go out with girls yet nothing ever happens and he breaks it off before things even have a chance to get serious. Even total geek Paul goes out with girls, and in one instance has sex with one of them, yet this pisses Kevin off.
I still have to watch the final season, but I expect more of the same. I know how the series ends, and how Winnie and Kevin do not wind up happily ever after. I also know they sleep together in the barn, and it is left open to the viewer to decide if they had sex or not.
I can tell you right now they did not. I also realize that in the final minutes of the series Kevin says he later got married and had a child. This is reasonable of course, as gay men do get married and try to cope with their lives.
Basically what I'm saying is The Wonder Years is about an innocent kid living in the turbulent late 60's/early 70's going through the confusing teen years and trying to cope with his feelings of homosexuality. He tries to present his masculinity, yet shies away from it at crucial points. I realize the upfront issue of homosexuality is never dealt with in this series, but it is implied.
Would be interesting to see what direction this series had went if it hadn't been abruptly canceled. They had to wrap up the show because they knew it was the last season. There was no chance of them going in a bold direction like that.
I have nothing against gays, but I do think the final episode should have been Kevin coming out of the closet to his dad and Winnie comforting him while dealing with the aftermath. This would have been controversial no doubt, and likely would have pissed off MANY of the loyal viewers, but the show was going in this direction anyways.
Re: The Wonder Years
I used to love watching that show when I was growing up.
I agree James, I always found it very emotional to watch - even back when I was a kid watching it. The writers seemed to have a real knack of stirring up emotions in the viewer.
On a lighter note - i loved the brother Wayne - he was so damn funny. I also liked the episodes where Becky Slater had it in for Kevin all the time - psycho!
I also liked one of the earlier episodes where Kevin had to go over to the house of a girl in his class (I think it was Madelaine) and they were baking a cake or something together. She comes onto Kevin big time - like licking the frosting off his fingers really seductively etc. But he bascially shits himself.
I remember thinking when I first saw that episode that chick was hot!!! (I can safely say that because I was a kid at the time). Although she seemed way older than Kevin - both emotionally and physically!
As for Winnie Cooper I always thought she was really tidy!!!! My mates and I all used to think so. I might have to show em those pics you posted James for an old laugh.
Top pics by the way 
Shame if there is never a DVD release - I had always thought that I would like to watch the entire series from start to finish - since some of the later seasons I only saw episodes intermittently. I might have to find torrents of it then. If I do I'll keep your "gay" theory in mind and see if I get the same impression.
Re: The Wonder Years
I finished the series last night. I sent you the link to the torrent site where you can get every season. Each episode is commercial free, so it doesn't take very long to get through each season.
I REALLY hate how the final season was rushed, specifically the last few episodes. It feels really forced, and this incredible show deserved a better final season. You'll see what I mean when you watch it. Not nearly enough time is given to Jack leaving NORCOM and starting his own furniture business. It was a big financial risk for the family, and should have been dealt with more thoroughly. They quickly kill this storyline by making it an immediate success(very unrealistic).
In reality, this series was supposed to have one more season. While each script wasn't ready, they had a basic outline for it. The show should have never been canceled, even if ratings had dropped a bit. The series is one of the only real gems from late 80's/early 90's television. Actor Dan Lauria had a grudge for many years over how the show was canceled.
I remember the episode where Kevin is cooking with that chick. I think it was season 2 or 3. Yeah, he got the hell out of dodge.
I didn't really like Wayne in the series, although maybe its because I have trouble relating since I am an only child. I didn't like the sister either. I always thought she was the most meaningless character in the show, although I guess the family needed a rebellious kid in the late 60's, and she fit that bill to a tee.
One thing I don't like about Wayne is how he changes in the final season and starts acting more mature when his friend comes back from Vietnam and also when he starts dating his co worker who has a baby. Then when he splits with her, he goes back to immature Wayne teasing Kevin. Not realistic at all, but this was clearly the case of rushed writing to wrap up the series.
Another thing that was rushed was Norma going to college, you never hear it mentioned again, and then BAM!- in the final season she graduates from college. A completely wasted storyline. A housewife going to college in the late 60's deserved a few episodes of its own. This would clearly change the dynamics a bit in that house, but its ignored.
As much as I do like the Kevin/Winnie storyline and I understand its the backbone of the series, I believe too much time was spent on it while they let other storylines completely disappear. Even Helen Keller's ghost can see by season 2 that Kevin and Winnie are not gonna live happily ever after, so always keeping things revolving around the two does bring the quality of the series down a bit. There are only a handful of episodes that do not include Kevin's apparent infatuation with Winnie.
The infatuation with Winnie is one of the underlying themes of homosexuality regarding Kevin. Its easier(not that I know from experience, but by reading psychology books) for a teenager to put his true feelings in the "closet" by focusing his attention on one specific girl even if her feelings are not the same as his. Hence the sabotaging of other relationships that come along without Winnie in the equation. A teenager would play the field even if they are in love with a girl who doesn't feel the same but hope to rekindle the romance later on. Kevin never does. His universe is supposed to revolve around Winnie from 6th grade to 11th grade, and as you and every other male on this forum knows, that is just not believable.
I think at least one full season should have been devoted to non- Winnie aspects of Kevin's life. But doing so would have likely brought out the homosexual undertones, so they played it safe.
I would love to interview the creator and a few writers of this show.
