Story 4: Nickelodeon's "Doug" Makes Man Mentally Ill

A magazine article from the future.

Nickelodeon’s “Doug” Makes Man Mentally Ill

April 17, 2024

     Yesterday afternoon, 35 year-old Gerald Flenderson was hospitalized in New Jacobson’s Hospital for the Mentally Unfit on several accounts of breaking and entering as well as stalking. Flenderson had allegedly been stalking his friend and neighbor, 33 year-old Tiffany Holiday, for several months after a first date. Holiday states that after the date, “… (he) kept walking past my house during the day, waiting for me to leave for work or to go shopping or something. When I would come out, he would nervously approach me and talk, as usual, but he kept pressing for another date even after I told him we should just stay friends.” Holiday did not press charges in respect for her friend, whom she knew had social problems since he moved next door. “I was hoping that this would all blow over, but he kept it up. Last night was the final straw; I had to get him some professional help.”

     At approximately 11:30 PM the previous night, Flenderson had broken into Holiday’s bedroom and woken her, claiming that a “prowler” was lurking in the neighborhood and had intended on robbing her home. A police report claims the suspect Flenderson had identified was another man Holiday had recently met and regularly talked with. When questioned, this man (who wishes to remain anonymous), denied all accusations and was confused as to what Flenderson had against him.

     To make matters worse, Flenderson had assumed another identity, “Quailman,” when breaking into Holiday’s second story window. “He refused to admit it was him,” Holiday recalled. “He just kept saying he was ‘Quailman, my secret protector.’” He wore a pair of briefs over his pants and a belt tied around his forehead. Other than a giant “Q” crudely painted on his shirt, there was no real effort to disguise himself any further.

     As many of you may recall, “Quailman,” was one of the many alter egos portrayed by the title character of Nickelodeon’s cartoon series “Doug.” Since the banishment of cartoons in North America in 2014, the incident struck quite a chord with both Holiday and her new friend, who both grew up on 90’s cartoons. “It was disturbing, but also very sad,” Holiday stated. “The more I think about it, the more (Flenderson) seemed like Doug. I thought the influence by cartoons was over but I guess some people still cling to the past.”

     For those that need refreshing, cartoons had been banned shortly after the “Brony Wars” of 2013, where several fans of the series “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,” had accidentally killed three people over an argument about who the best pony was. A heavy analysis of how cartoons affect both young and old was performed, and President Bieber, America’s youngest leader, declared cartoons illegal in the United States.

     Many were outraged and claimed that if simpler cartoons from the “animation renaissance” of the 1980’s-90’s were created, the tragic incident would have never happened. Cartoons like “Doug” were often used to support the idea of a family-friendly program with good morals, but the recent case of Flenderson have caused some to reconsider.

     “‘Doug’ was a great show,” one neighbor mentioned after the incident. “It was quirky, weird, but at the same time safe. Doug was a very relatable character and I think we all felt a sense of belonging when we watched the show. But when I look back at it now, as an adult, I can see how it might screw someone up. (Doug) always overanalyzed everything. He dwelled way too long on things that people shouldn’t even have to think twice about. Almost everything always worked out for him, too, so it wasn’t particularly realistic. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing in a cartoon, but for a show like Doug, which had such a relatable character and lifestyle, it had the potential to be quite misleading, For someone like (Flenderson), I can see how “Doug” may have been a misguiding show to watch as a kid.”

     We had the opportunity to speak with the head of entertainment influence analysis at the hospital to try understanding Flenderson’s motivations more clearly.

     “(Flenderson) believes he is Doug, which does not surprise me at all,” Prof. Raffele admits. “Doug was essentially the embodiment of every average kid, full of daydreams, fantasies, and concerns that anyone could have related to. Flenderson, who grew up believing that the world behaved according to television shows like these, easily programmed his mind into a set way of thinking at an early age. That way just happened to be the way Doug thinks, which is easy because he was already so relatable.” Raffele goes on to discuss the show’s influence in greater detail: “Flenderson had feelings for Holiday, which he pursued but did not succeed in gaining back. She was safe because she lived next door and had been friends for years, so he thought that if he just kept trying, she would fall for him as well. The Doug factor comes into play by letting an overactive imagination take over and make a poor decision. Flenderson believed that if he assumed another identity and ‘saved’ her from trouble, he would win her over, like Doug did. Which is absurd. How could she fall for him if he was pretending to be someone else? She would fall for the alter ego, if anything.”

     According to Raffele, this was not the first “Doug” related patient he’s treated. “Many socially challenged people from the same era exhibit the qualities Doug does. They keep the childish fears and behaviors over the years because the show taught them that it was expected of them to act as such. Take the episode where Doug gets a haircut, for example: He spends the entire episode coming up with all of the horrible things that might happen if he gets a bad haircut. He wishes he could see the barber he went to as a kid so he knows he can get a good haircut. In the end, when he finally stops whining and goes for his haircut, he just sees his old barber. What lesson does that teach? Procrastinate and make up reasons why you shouldn’t do something, stick with the same habit from our youth for the rest of our lives, and then everything works out? We’ve had people in here that refused to call in sick to work because they were afraid they’d be fired, so they waited until someone came home so they could get someone else to call in for them. We’ve had people that gave themselves anxiety attacks because they thought they wouldn’t like another person’s cooking when visiting for dinner. We’ve found drawings made by patients that depict people they don’t like as super villains, and themselves as super heroes, much like this recent ‘Quailman’ incident.”

     Views on the degree that cartoons affect children are still split to this day, but cases like Flenderson’s may eventually prove that all may be harmful, even ones that intended a safe, innocent plot. Raffele is currently writing his latest book, “Animated Stunts,” in which he explores various 90’s cartoons and how the memories of safely watching them lured people from that era into a state of regression during their college years, which were unnecessarily extended due to the poor guidance of teachers and counselors, constant changing of majors, and the lack of motivation to enter the dead job market during the recession of 2008-2017. Raffele hopes to explore the subconscious desires of those students who wished to remain in the safety of a college campus while reliving their childhoods before entering the real world.

Author's Note

All in good fun. : )