08.18
Picture yourself like this: You’re a new kid in school. The unwanted misfit of the class. No one there really likes you because you don’t act like anyone else, while your teacher spouts nonsense meaning nothing to your ears. The rest of the world is happy, naive, and wants you to smile no matter what you feel. Meanwhile, the higher-ups you’re trying to impress? They only see you as a never-ending nuisance. A pest trying too hard to impress and too little to better themselves. But that doesn’t reach your mind. You’re the train who never stops. And one day, you’ll please your superiors and become the toast of the town, whether they like it or not.
It’s hard not to see Zim’s life mirror his show’s relationship with Nickelodeon. The little black sheep of Nicktoons that never went away even after a decade of cancellation, until someone at Nick finally threw a bone and gave Jhonen Vasquez another chance. Of course, Zim as a character never had a cult following pushing him on in-universe. Even before Enter the Florpus was announced, Invader Zim is still as much of a conversation piece as it was fifteen years ago, sometimes with a louder fandom than Nick shows that were or are still active at the time. Yes, it led to the series becoming derided as a “lol so randumb” series aimed at Hot Topic shoppers, but that’s an over-generalization of the show. Sure, you can focus on all the GIR parts and view the show as nothing but meaningless chatter. But cartoons like that don’t get revivals after fifteen years. They don’t get their own conventions or their voice actors still reciting old lines to this day.
Because Invader Zim is more than just Dib trying to reveal Zim’s true nature, Gaz getting mad at Dib for interrupting her games, or GIR doing something stupid. There are at least a couple major themes the show brings up, and the movie capitalizes on. The problems of consumerism and skepticism. Zim’s had a lot of fun mocking consumerist culture. The idea kids have to sell chocolate bars and help major corporation sell their candy, or pizzerias with such fattening excuses for good even their mascot becomes a dying wreck. Even from the first episode, we’re presented with an ice cream truck telling its patrons their existence is meaningless without ice cream. And to Zim’s Irken eyes, these goofy children’s characters and brand deals look like demons from his worst nightmares. The Earth’s already been conquered, not by aliens, but by corporations. It’s easier to make a species submit when you give them snacks and goodies in return. As the episode Tak the Hideous New Girl mentions, there’s no real difference between a corporate venture and world conquest.
Then there’s the problem of skepticism. Being a skeptic isn’t bad by itself. It’s good to question things and doubt the theories you’ve been given. But when there’s an absolute issue at hand, and you’re still thinking it’s all fake despite the evidence surrounding you, then you have a problem. While skepticism can be used to question traditional ideas and the old guard, it can also be used to discredit new ideas and make futurists sound like quacks. Despite all the indications Zim is an alien or at least malicious, nobody but Dib cares. And when Dib tries to present his findings to everyone, they laugh in his face and think he’s crazy. Obviously, Dib isn’t the best at expressing his message, and it’s often his instigating that proves to be his downfall, but even so, everyone else doubts his word. There might be a hundred instances of Zim being an alien, but there’s not a hundred and one, so all the kids in Skool sit happily and ignore the green kid next to them. That can be easily painted as more of the show’s cynicism, but skepticism has been used as a shield in real life. Many people don’t want to admit or believe things like their country conquering other countries, the company they’re working for deforesting wildlife, or even someone they know being a serial pervert because that’s not their problem at the moment. It’s not affecting them right now, so why bother sacrificing the comfort of a normal life. Confronting said issue would only lead to another Pandora’s Box of anxieties and fears many people just aren’t comfortable exploring, so they would rather sit by and pretend nothing’s happening. Play games and party all night, because the monster outside your door hasn’t knocked yet.
And that’s where Enter the Florpus unwraps its plot. After countless failed plans, Zim uses the power of brand loyalty and marketing tactics heavily reminiscent of Apple to conquer the world. While no matter what Dib can do, his father just won’t believe in aliens even when stuck in a space prison. Zim embraces the evil of consumerism, while Dib struggles to fight the evil of skepticism. The comforting brand logo telling you everything’s going to be all right wants to end your world, but you don’t want to get out of your chair because the kid telling you the world will end sounds like a nutjob. It’s only when confronting these societal problems Zim finally gets what he wanted all along, and Dib at last gets his family’s love. But of course, this only happens because Dib lets his neurosis get the better of him. Beyond his conspiracy theories and freelance investigations, Dib wants to be loved. And that need for affection is what makes him let his guard down and give Zim the upper hand. The endless cat and mouse game almost nobody else cared about for most of the show is out in the open, and both players get to embrace what their inner desires. Zim gets to play alien conqueror. Dib gets to be Earth’s savior.
A difference to what the previous Nickelodeon revival did. Rocko’s Modern Life: Static Cling also played with the troubles of big corporations, but those issues were too much in the background to affect the story. Instead, it’s all a big message about accepting change. But that’s the thing. In Static Cling, Rocko watches the universe change around him. But in Enter the Florpus, Dib and Zim are agents of change and actively warp their world. While Rocko’s taught to accept change in a life that’s advanced past him, Dib and Zim push it forward and make the world fit them instead of try to make themselves fit in their world. That’s not to say that’s a better message. There are plenty of conspiracy theorists in the world like Dib who absolutely shouldn’t try to change the world in their own image. But it’s a more interesting idea than just going with the flow.
That’s what makes Enter the Florpus the most entertaining of the revivals we’ve gotten from Nickelodeon lately. Not just an encapsulation of the show’s themes, but just all that payoff. Characters you wanted to see for years get their just desserts suffer the consequences. Familial bonds finally get strengthen. Characters who spent years in the dumps finally have a victory under their notch. There’s going to be some fans who wonder where was Tak, the Resisty, or some other character who showed up once but has a huge following in fanfic, but for once, Invader Zim’s wrapped up in a bow.