Alfred's Playhouse: The Consequence of Trauma (An analysis)

This was originally a post I made in 2023 after looking into the series for myself. Here I will post my original thoughts I had typed, then add onto what I think presently. As a disclaimer, for those who are unfamiliar with Alfred's Playhouse — It is an extremely graphic animation series featured on Newgrounds back in the day which revolves around a dog named Alfred struggling with sexual trauma, violent urges, and self harm. The series is hard for me to swallow, and I'm extremely familiar with dark content. The art pictured above is my own, though I'm not sure if it will actually show up.

Original text posted to tumblr on October 15th, 2023:

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so, I watched an analysis of Alfred's Playhouse recently, followed by a few episodes of the content in question, and since then, it's been sort of lingering in my mind like a dark cloud and I really wanted to get my thoughts out into text.

Apparently, there's been a bunch of hype on platforms like tiktok about Alfred, which can be understood for several different reasons, most notable of which (as I've seen according to YouTube comments) being that it brings comfort to the disturbed and traumatized. This is for good reason. It IS a vent series, and it does not hold any punches. Knowing the context and history in which this series is derived is extremely important for this reason. It almost directly documents the descent of a very young creator and their unfortunate downfall through sexual trauma, self harm, and eventual falling in with the wrong (fascist) crowd. Knowing this, it unsettles me deeply that people are making sonas based off of this series. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not here to gatekeep anyone and tell you what you can or can't do. I think the art style is very appealing in a certain way, and it has value that can perhaps be replicated into a different context that doesn't disrespect the creator's trauma, or can be detached entirely. I don't know. I don't plan on trying. Just something that seems less disrespectful.

Because, in my opinion, that's a core issue here. Though I do NOT agree with the creator's poor choices and do not agree with their ideology, I also do not think that it's fair to treat a traumatic piece as if it's a happy-hearted fandom. It just feels disingenuous and downplays the purpose of the piece as a whole. It is not fully fiction. It is trauma masked by animation, whether there are moments played up for laughs or not. 

Idk. It's been on my mind a lot since I watched the series. I needed to talk about it somewhere.

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Now that it's been a couple of years, I'll say that I still agree with my original statements on this piece. I think it's very disrespectful to create a "fandom" centered around it, in all honesty — In its totality, Alfred's Playhouse is a grim warning given the context about its creator. A message about letting yourself be consumed into things you once joked about. Originally, it seemed, they were only joking about the ideals of nazism, and as the era would suggest, using that edge to accompany their venting. Then, neo-nazis entered the frame and they felt worthy in their company. They fell in with that same crowd. It's a testament to the idea of trauma, and what can happen if it goes untreated. I think we are fortunate to have a chance to see such a message, as grisly as it is, but our response to it should still be respectful.

It's incredibly unfortunate what the creator went through, but it still does not excuse their actions. I stand by that statement rigidly.