- Location
- England, unfortunately.
- Pronouns
- She/They
Honestly this got me thinking about some stuff regarding Porky as well.
Like... It's important to remember that in the japanese release, Porky's family hitting him is something that's outright part of the text, although done via sound cues rather than shown onscreen - given one of Earthbounds central themes of Love, The key difference between Ness and Porky is that Ness was raised in a house that had love, and Porky without it. There's also how even when he's become an immortal dictator, he still keeps a yoyo that seemingly references Ness. And of course, even at his vilest, he still acts like a kid, doing things because they're 'cool'.
Mother is a franchise about growing up, amongst other things. It's why Giygas is the final villain of Earthbound, all the terror and evil of the adult world thrust in front of you, a child, in a way that you don't yet have the ability to even comprehend, to the point where it seems all consuming. But... you've got to face that at some point. Porky is an example of a person stuck being a kid - I'd say there's not actually a lot of malice in his actions, which like... I think you can also interpret as being what happens when you don't face that darkness, with how he sides with Giygas instead of confronting him. Staying as a kid because you're too scared by all of that to be able to face it, and would rather be stuck in that perpetual state of seeking 'fun', even if that fun comes at the expense of other people. Honestly, with that in mind, I think that Earthbound also treats Porky's arc as something of a tradgedy.
I think that one of the biggest changes here then is that Porky is a teenager, like us. The pain of the adult world isn't some distant thing in the future anymore, it's something that you increasingly are starting to live through. You can't just ignore it to focus on what's fun so easily anymore. That, combined with us being able to reach out to him earlier means that it's also easier for him to have the ability to actually face that instead of retreating into his childish wants.
EDIT: Also, tying further into things regarding the idea of Ness being raised with Love and porky without that I mentioned earlier - C.D., either intentionally or otherwise, ends up striking a kind of middle ground. Recerd, unlike Ness' mother, is distant. She's a single mother working away for weeks at a time, who barely ever sees her children and who ultimately feels overburdened by the responsibilities of her job and of looking after them. Responsibilities that she feels were thrust onto her, and to some degree resents. C.D. was definitely as a result raised with a lot less love than Ness ever was.
And yet... she did still raise C.D. with love. The scene with the plushy is a core memory for C.D, one that clearly is a big part of her motivation to protect the people she cares for. Recerd might resent aspects of her situation, but she also feels that those complicated feelings make her a bad parent. Failing to live up to those perfect ideals of what a Mother is are what ultimately causes her to leave, because she feels like she's a burden for the people that she loves and that it would be better if she wasn't around to fail them. C.D. being someone who is then deeply imperfect, but also with a strong desire to try to be better and to help people, fits a lot with the complicated upbringing she's had.
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