How Spy X Family Flips the "Found Family" Trope

[@Zukoiu]

I would say that I agree. Spy x Family works perfect BECAUSE it represents the traditional family into such a wholesome way. Media has vilified the traditional family for years now, just like you mentioned in the beginning, but the majority of people can accept the idea of traditional family if shown the positives. Everything has a positive and negative, including a family, but Spy x Family sends a very important message. A family is overwhelmingly positive when you WORK towards it, as opposed to just expect things to fit in perfectly for no reason. I feel like a great deal of families nowdays ( not all ) work more like Desmond's than Anya's.

[@camillesharem]

I agree, what ruins the family unit these days is trying to project an image rather than focusing on the personal relationships that no one else ever sees. Families are hard to maintain. While I have no kids of my own, I've been there for two of my sisters with all their marital and family struggles, and it took a lot for them to keep things together. But both of them say and genuinely mean it that the effort was worth it. And as a result, they are some of the coolest, most adventurous, and most thoughtful women I know. (humble bragging for my siblings here!) At the end of the day, if a family is what you want, then you have to work to maintain it. It's not about the projected image, but the love you want to have with others.

[@Kureemy]

My dad loves this anime. He said that he relates to when Loid would try to help Anya study because he said that he always had a hard time trying to help me study, because my reaction would be just like Anya’s, and there were times when I’d run and cry to my room.

[@camillesharem]

Your dad is a good man for sticking it out. My mom was more the Loid figure in the house, while my dad was more like Yor. Though his cooking is phenomenal! No one ever died on his watch!

[@markvicferrer]

And Frankie. He's such a good uncle/babysitter for Anya.

[@camillesharem]

Frankie for the freaking win!

[@emcee.escher]

This is a really interesting essay! Personally, I think that many found family stories today have this slightly 'vindictive' attitude is because many of those found families are marketed to/enjoyed by queer people, who by and large (especially in less accepting states and countries) tend to experience familial rejection for something they don't have control over. This sort of vindictive attitude towards the 'old family' therefore is pretty healing to the queer people who went on to find found family elsewhere. I can see why it isn't everyone's cup of tea, and a diversification of the found family certainly should exist (and it's one of the reasons I love SpyxFamily myself!) but it may provide reason as to why so many mainstream found families are like that.

[@camillesharem]

Thanks for your comment and perspective. Many LGBTQ individuals find themselves looking for a family and building that relationship around those who accept them, which just goes to underscore your point. Found families are fun to write and explore, but they can also become a very lazy trope, which is the trend that I've been seeing lately. I don't even think I'd call exactly vindictive, though there are some stories out there like that. But the laziness is what bothers me and the excuse that writing a traditional family is a waste of time. Which is silly, because ever since the 90s, it's been in vogue to write broken and found families. And that's why I think Spy Family feels way more fresh than it probably should, because it goes against the current storytelling grain. At least where familial relationships are concerned.

[@hexadecimouse_]

spyxfamily worked incredibly well for me due to, like you discussed in the previous video, the historical themes, as well as the interconnecting theme of creating a facade for oneself in order to function "properly" in society; it works so well in the context of the narrative with concepts such as the expectations for women and the one-size-fits-all education system highlighted at eden college. even the silly little comments about being elegant work to emphasize the societal pressure to conform in their absurdity. it's also a pretty good metaphor for neurodivergent masking, whether or not it was originally intended. it's all so ridiculously good because it also contrasts the desmond family and the forger family in the way that one pushes the pursuit of appearances in an unhealthy manner and that the other is more intrinsically motivated by affection and care. tatsuya endo gonna make me explode fr fr

[@camillesharem]

I hadn't even thought of that last bit, but you're absolutely right! The contrast between the Desmonds and the Forgers is so stark! On side you have a family that everyone looks up to but is so messed up and doesn't even try to fix itself, and on the other you have the Forgers putting in the work and struggle to hold together the small, dysfunctional thing they've got going. And that is what makes them a healthy family unit in comparison to the poor life Damian has to deal with.

[@johanstenfelt1206]

Hm, fair and valid points and opinions, i can fully see where you’re coming from and can agree. Personally, I am very bad with Favorites, so I don’t know what my favorite moment is, at least in regards to the Forger Family anyway. Regardless, I will highly look forward to see how the Anime handles these upcoming Arcs, it’s going to be very interesting. Speaking of which, any thoughts on the upcoming Movie?

[@camillesharem]

I think the movie will be filler fluff based on a scraped idea from the mangaka. That'd be my best with the very limited information I have on it.

[@johanstenfelt1206]

@@camillesharem seems most likely, are you looking forward to it?

[@camillesharem]

@@johanstenfelt1206 Oh, absolutely!

[@johanstenfelt1206]

@@camillesharem I see.

[@nebularsparks9415]

people don't want to see spy x family as a traditional family because of the connotations associated with it. in our modern sphere, terms like "family values" are less about actual families, and more about enforcing a conservative status quo. the reality of it is, the majority of people did not grow up in a nuclear family, and even less in nuclear families that are actually as happy as the one in spy x family. it is much more digestible to frame positive families as a choice instead of something you were born into, because a lot of people don't have the option to just "work on" their relationships with their families. more and more these days people are understanding that they do not have to tolerate abuse, negativity, and toxicity just because someone is a family member. found families require just as much communication, compromise, and respect as a traditional family does. any healthy relationship does, but found families exemplify that fact that you DO choose the people you surround yourself with, and that cultivating those relationships can be a lot more beneficial than allowing yourself to be dragged down by people you may feel obligated to. i also heavily disagree with some of the points about the differences between found families and traditional families. for some people, they absolutely do need and depend on their found family, whether that be friends, mentors, etc. a traditional family is not the only structure in which you'd feel an intense longing and desire to be around those people when they're not there. found families also drive growth and improvement, and i would argue more than traditional families do. i see traditional families promoting stagnation, the sentiment of "well we're family so i can be however i want and you should accept it." found families accept you the way you are, while encouraging you and supporting you to be a better person. also extremely not a fan of the implication that found families are "relationships of convenience," although i might just be interpreting the way that was worded incorrectly. 16:36 if i am wrong about that part, i would gladly take a correction. imo, found families can be just as, if not more important and meaningful, than a traditional family. at the end of the day, spy x family IS a comedy anime/manga. it is purposely parodying the traditional family in a nontraditional sense. i think both interpretations, the traditional family and the found family messages, work and were intended. every type of family deserves to be validated and represented, blood or otherwise.

[@camillesharem]

I'd push back a little on this. Not all families are unbroken is probably the better way to put it. But the majority of those families have found ways to make a happy and healthy household with loving relationships. Having taught public education and getting to meet all these families and being confronted with so many statistics and so on and so forth, I was shocked to find many, many more loving and complete families than I had expected. And that was in a low income, socio-economically stunted area with all the minorities and stereotypes you could throw salad at. At the heart of it all, and what others here have pointed out, is that any relationship requires work. For those who left broken and abusive families and had to form a family unit of their own and worked for it, that is healthy and good. Many others have worked together to build a healthy family related by blood. But the point is the same. The real problem is the lazy portrayal of found families as quick and easy with so little effort put in on the part of the characters and the overwhelmingly negative portrayal of traditional families dating back to the early 90s. Both are incorrect. And in current fandom and popular culture, there is a rising tide of voices pointing out these fallacies championed in fiction. True, real life is a lot harder and murkier than a romcom, family adventure anime, but I think it's very valuable to point out when a story delivers an excellent and relatable message of familial relationships. And that is something we haven't really seen popularized in a long time!

[@johanstenfelt1206]

By the way, I have been thinking, what if there were a Major Antagonist Character (sort of similar to Fiona and Yuri, just way more antagonistic and capable, while also being pretty much the most calm and collected as well as Emotionally distant (of his own emotions anyway) Character in Series) who were an associate (if not the Chief himself) to the Organization that Anya escaped from and there by would know everything that Anya tries to hide? (Side-Note: I have imagined this Character to practically be Anya’s Opposite in pretty much every way, from Anya being Female while he is Male, Anya being a Child while he is a Adult, Anya might just being slightly above average for a her age (when considering she might be younger than her peers) while he has an intelligence rivaling (if not surpassing) Twilight, Anya not being very athletic while he has capabilities rivaling (if not surpassing) the Thorn Princess, Anya being rather simple to some degree while he can be pretty complicated and unpredictable, Anya can be pretty reckless and not think things through well enough while he can be very careful and thorough, Anya seems to be pretty loyal and seems to have a pretty good sense of morality while he has no side and pretty much just does things because he has nothing better to do(while still being morally aware at least), Anya being pretty Black & White while he can be as Gray as they come, heck even with Anya being a Mind-Reader while he (through his involvement with the Organization to some degree) is a Emotion-Reader, Honestly, I don’t know if the inclusion of a Character like would be interesting or a good idea or not, but what do you think?) Also, speaking of the Organization, I have been wondering this for a while now, but how did Anya manage to escape in the first place? Especially when considering what we’ve seen from her throughout this entire Series?

[@camillesharem]

From what we can gather based on scant clues, the organization that created Anya only had modest successes in creating telepathic subjects. I think the idea was to create spies and eventually upgrade that ability to specialized assassins. So it is reasonable that there is a kid out there in Ostania who was groomed to become a monster. We'll just have to see. But the chances are that they're not anywhere near the same physical and tactical ability as Yor or Twilight, who are at the peak. Instead, it would be the mind reading ability that gives the kid an edge. And that is the key to however Anya escaped. With her powers, she can do a lot! All it would take was one night or day when the scientists got sloppy and a telepath could easy figure a way out. She's not exceptionally bright or strong, but all she needs is information. The series has shown time and again how with that extra advantage of reading minds, Anya can do quite a bit! Now as for a BIG BAD threat to come out of the Ostanian government, it could happen. But I think the mangaka is keeping the story a little more rooted in the realities of the Cold War and the fringes of what the main villains in James Bond and the Man from UNCLE were capable of. That means that people like Agent Wheeler and the head assassins of the Garden are likely to be the strongest and most uncanny any villain gets. Even if there is a kid running around with a combination of Anya and Bond's powers. And if we do run into such a villain, that will be endgame material. At least, that's what I'm thinking.

[@johanstenfelt1206]

@@camillesharem hm, fair, all around. though just saying, like i said before, I thought of this Character as a Adult and an Emotion-Reader rather than a Mind-Reader, Also, I thought of this Character as someone would be introduced at some point and would just lurk around the area, watching from the sidelines, until he decides to do something himself, I imagined him to be a sort of rival Character that our Characters would encounter from time to time, with said encounters differ from hostile and chill depending on the location and situation, mostly chill on his part, because he is a overall chill guy most of the time, regardless of the situation, I also imagined him to someone who has been around for awhile, ever since the last War and has a lot of influence, enough to know everything about Loid, Yor and Yuri and their respective organizations, But I also imagined him to the kind of Character that, while being antagonistic, can also have a point, with him occasionally warning Twilight and Thorn Princess and heck, even Yuri, about being too trusting of any kind of Organization and questions them it can truly be sure that their respective Organizations won’t just lose sight of their reason for being around and become corrupted from within. But yeah, like I also said before, I have no idea how having a Character like this in the Series would actually be like so, everything you said in your reply was pretty much fair and valid. Though, that being said, can we really be sure that the Organization (where Anya’s from) is from just Ostania?

[@camillesharem]

@@johanstenfelt1206 I don't think that such an adult character will exist in the story. The programs to create theoretical super soldiers would have likely been inspired during the war and put into practice much later, just like what did happen in the Cold War. People talk about super soldiers in WW2, but that wasn't really a thing until after the war when the US and Soviet Union bean learning what the Nazis had all been experimenting with BUT never got off the ground. Furthermore, a character like this needs to to serve the story by challenging the Forger Family dynamic, not their skill set. So, you could have a lot of fun writing this fanfic character yourself and seeing what could happen, not just in terms of action, but what a super soldier could do to challenge the Forgers on afar more personal and familial level.

[@johanstenfelt1206]

@@camillesharem once again, fair, it’s very unlikely for someone like that to appear. Still, it’s going to be interesting where things goes regardless. Though, I do wonder, if Anya’s current Abilities is really all that she has? Especially, when we know so little about her time at the Organization.

[@Stormkrow280]

For my experience I think a lot of the vilification of traditional family comes from sayings such as “you can pick your friends but you can’t pick your family” or “blood is thicker than water” or others like that that implies the idea that you have to stay with your biological family regardless of how they treat you as a person because “well what are you going to do right?” Found family isn’t just about validation, it’s about finding people who care about you as a person first rather than based on what is essentially a meaningless connection. Also spy x family does invert tradition roles, at least a little. Loyd is a great chef while Yor’s cooking would put someone into either the hospital or the morgue, on the other hand Yor is arguably more physically dangerous than Loyd is though in this case being a good spy would mean being able to accomplish one’s mission without being detected and with as few casualties as possible while being an assassin is all about putting people six feet under.

[@Rosefire]

From the start, I saw Yor could defend herself against physical threats but not the verbal barbs when her peers ridiculed and disrespected her. Loid was her shining knight, who intervened and treated Yor with gallantry and kindness. This gave her a needed boost of self confidence in her new role in life as a mother and wife. I think the show wants them to gradually fall in love but let that love be earned through their trust and respect for each other. Loid has faked romantic relationships before, but his spy/honey trap techniques don't work with Yor. She's never been in an intimate relationship before and seems to pull back in alarm whenever they start to get physically close. (Then there's also the alcohol and violence that follows) But when Loid lets down his guard around Yor and starts to open up to her, such as speaking about his mother, then they become more intimate emotionally.

[@queenicedcoffee4217]

Please review buddy daddies. Some say it's better than spy family.

[@camillesharem]

That's what I've heard. I'll have to watch it when I get the chance.