Growing Up in Arlen

As someone who lives in the exact spot on the map that Arlen, Texas would sit in if it were a real town, no work of fiction creates a caricature of my culture as well as the grandfather of all adult cartoons, ‘King of the Hill’. Forget ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’ and the rest of the cowboy shit; contrary to popular belief, anyone seen wearing a ten gallon hat and spurs in East Texas is a poser and a fraud. We don’t have to dodge tumbleweeds and herd cattle here, as we live in as much of a humid, green hellscape as those poor souls inhabiting the swamps of Florida and Louisiana- I even found a nine and a half foot alligator in a pond behind my house one time in highschool. This satirical depiction of the way of life of my people, and the nostalgia it brings because of all the times I watched it on the couch with my dad as a child, makes ‘King of the Hill’ the ultimate comfort show when I find myself having a bad day.

I see my parents in Hank and Peggy Hill. Their cautious, conservative attitude about which forces they allow to influence Bobby as he comes of age is eerily similar to the way my own parents sheltered me from certain things, such as ‘Harry Potter,’ which my mother declared depicted witchcraft and was therefore evil. I wasn’t allowed to watch ‘Ed, Edd n Eddy’ on Cartoon Network, but I was watching my dad skin deer and dip snuff before I could walk. This curious duality to the way Southern culture shelters children in some aspects of life and throws them into the fire in others is as evident in the show as it was in my own upbringing in the East Texas town of Longview, where Matthew McConaughey famously attended prom and graduated high school. I’d bet that Hank Hill reminds him of his father a little bit, too.

But the show ran for over thirteen years, and appealed to people all over the world, not just those born and raised in East Texas. Its depiction of life behind the pine curtain is apparently just as comforting to sun-tanned Californians and Yankee snowbirds as it is to me. This is because watching the day to day lives of the residents of Rainey Street play out apparently strikes a chord with anyone who grew up in middle class suburbia. Throughout its thirteen seasons, the plot of the show covers all manner of real life issues, from Bobby being bullied at school to Hank and Peggy struggling to make ends meet in a tumultuous American economy. However, despite the difficulties they endure, at the end of each episode all the characters remain more or less intact, and their relationships with each other are always strengthened by the challenges they face together. Every character is a totally unique personality, with their own dreams, desires, strengths, and weaknesses. They rely on one another for support as they go about their little lives selling propane, exterminating pests, or reporting the news to the citizens of Arlen. The strong social web depicted in the show is something that has been somewhat weakened by the ever-increasing role of technology and the internet in our society since the show went off the air, and reminds us of times that were just a little bit simpler.

Modern day masterpieces such as ‘Rick and Morty’ and ‘Futurama’ stand upon the shoulders of ‘King of the Hill,’ as it broadened the scope of what a cartoon could be. My parents have always reminisced about waking up early to catch the Saturday morning cartoons, but the adventures of Hank, Dale, Bill and Boomhauer made animated television entertaining to adults too. There is a beautiful innocence about the way they interact with each other and the world around them that endears them to anyone watching. The show was funny without having to resort to profanity or vulgarity, which is why I was allowed to watch it from an early age despite its target audience being those over the age of 18. I enjoy raunchy comedies such as ‘Family Guy’ as much as anyone else, but the distinct blend of innocence and adult humor is what truly makes ‘King of the Hill’ special to me and millions of others, and why I always choose to revisit Arlen when the East Texas sun above my head is covered by clouds.