Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Pepsi Screening
Pepsi Screening
Bryson Atud
EDU 220
PEPSI Screening
Helga Pataki
PEPSI Screening: Helga Pataki
One of my favorite television shows that I watched growing up was a show called Hey
Arnold. Aired on the Nickelodeon Channel back in 1996, Hey Arnold was about the everyday
life of a fourth grader named Arnold as well as his friends and family. What makes Hey Arnold
special is how the show displays all the eccentric characters and what they go through, with
Arnold coming in and giving them life advice which strengthens the character. The show
displays amazing character development that most animated (and even live shows) fail to do at
times; however, despite this, most of the characters in Hey Arnold are pretty one sided when it
comes to personality, including Arnold himself. There is one character, however, who is very
complex, who displays multiple personalities, and who develops throughout the course of the
show. She is one of my favorite characters in the show and resembles what some children are
experiencing in their own household. As the female lead of the show, Helga Geraldine Pataki is
one of the most intriguing character that the show offers and is one of my favorite characters.
Being nine years old in the fourth grade like Arnold at their school, P.S. 118, Helga embodies
what most girls her age go through growing up. One characteristic about Helga, however, is she
acts like a bully to the children at school, most she mostly picks on Arnold. Helga has a secret
crush on Arnold, so constantly bullying him is a way to both hide her affections towards Arnold
and to get close to him. There is a lot of different factors about Helga Pataki that makes her an
interesting character to watch, which is why I chose her for my PEPSI screening.
As mentioned before, Helga is nine years old and is in the fourth grade. While her weight
and height is not determined in the show, Helga has a slender appearance, so she is lightweight,
possibly around 90-100 pounds. She appears to be taller than most of her peers. On average,
fourth graders are around 4 feet, so being one of the tallest kids in the fourth grade, it is safe to
assume shes about 5 feet. It is quite hard to determine Helgas physical development based from
PEPSI Screening: Helga Pataki
her parents genetics as the show displays her parents with different personalities and physical
attributes. In Hey Arnold, Helga is described as a tomboy, a girl who embrace their masculine
side, often coming late or never to traditional feminity. (Showfety 2008) Because of this,
Helga often acts like shes one of the guys, despite being seen wearing a pink dress and pigtails.
At her age, Helga loves playing sports, particularly football with the boys. According to an
article by Brooke De Lench entitled Sports Benefit Girls in Many Way, Lench stated that
sports teach girls commitment, respect for others, how to relax, concentrate under stress, set and
achieve goals, accept responsibility and failure and be gracious winners. (Lench) While the
show doesnt quite show the effects of Helga after playing football, some episodes do show
Helga being an achiever in her academics. Also, sports is another way for Helga to keep her
mind from personal issues, such as her home life with her family. Helga is physically tough
against others outside of sports as well. While she is not tough against bigger kids, Helga is able
to beat up people, particularly against fourth grade student Brainy, who has a crush on Helga.
This type of characteristic is what classifies Helga as a bully at her school. Helga is known to be
very antagonistic towards everyone, especially Arnold, whom she bullies the most. Nobody
really knows why she bullies people, not even Helga herself. Most bullying in schools comes
from young girls, and there is a reason why. Susan Davis article on the WebMD website entitled
Mean Girls: Why Girls Bully and How to Stop Them, she writes, the topic of girl bullying is
not new. Dozens of lay books and scholarly journals have explored the ways relational
aggression tactics such as exclusion, rumor mongering, and Internet harassment can damage
girls self-esteem. (Davis) She also writes how girls are impacted to bullying, stating that some
characteristics of a girl bully are jealousy, feelings of superiority, poor impulse control, and lack
of empathy. (Davis) Helgas backstory was not fully explored until later in the series, but most
PEPSI Screening: Helga Pataki
of these qualities, such as jealousy and low self-esteem are what makes Helga the bully that
everyone sees.
Helgas emotional development is quite intriguing, which is why she always steals the
show. She is a snobby, sarcastic, and a bossy girl who lacks any feminine qualities. However,
Helga does contain hidden emotions that nobody has ever seen. For one, she is very affectionate
and caring towards people that she loves, including her crush Arnold. But this personality is
never revealed to the public; instead, she shows her cold-sided personality to everyone, causing
everyone to either fear her or be disgusted with her. She bullies Arnold the most, but after
insulting the young man, she goes someplace private to release her true feelings for him,
expressing her love for him and regretting ever acting cold to him. This type of trait in which she
displays both these vastly different personalities would diagnosed Helga with Bipolar Disorder.
A bipolar disorder is a mental illness marked by extreme shifts in mood ranging from mania to
depression. (Legg 2016) Timothy J. Legg of Healthline.com also writes in his Bipolar Disorder
article that people with bipolar disorder may have trouble managing everyday life tasks, at
school or work, or maintaining relationships. (Legg 2016). This is very true as Arnold is the
only person that she thinks about. She can never concentrate in class because shes thinking of
Arnold, she writes poems about him, she carries a locket with a picture with him, and she even
created a shrine of Arnold hidden in her closet (she makes this with fruits). Helgas affections
towards Arnold is more than just a simple crush, its almost an obsession. Its safe to say that
Helga most likely has Borderline Personality Disorder. Symptoms for BPD includes recurring
impulsivity, emotional instability, and chronic feelings of emptiness. (Bressert) It appears that
Helga cant quite live without Arnold because he is the person that keeps her emotions in check.
PEPSI Screening: Helga Pataki
There was an episode in the show where she seeks help from a psychic to help her keep her mind
off Arnold; however, this proves to fail as it makes Helga emotionless. In some ways, bullying
Arnold seems like a good thing because it helps Helga get close to Arnold and helps her connect
One of my favorite episodes in Hey Arnold is called Helga on the Couch. This episode
was considered as one of the best episodes on the show because it sheds a lot of light on Helgas
character unlike any other character. In the episode, a psychologist named Dr. Bliss arrives to
P.S. 118 and takes an interest in Helga. She offers Helga to meet with her to talk more about her.
This episode essentially sets up Helgas philosophical, and moral development, explaining why
Helga became who she is based off life experiences, and the things she has done right or wrong.
Life growing up in the Pataki household was difficult for Helga as she was neglected by her
parents. Her father, Robert Bob Pataki is a pager salesman, but his job prevents him from
spending time with Helga. Helga does somewhat have a close relationship with her mother,
Miriam Pataki, as she is a stay at home mom providing for the family. Miriam, however, is
neglectful to her daughter as well as she appears to be an alcoholic and is mostly seen sleeping
and acting confused (since this is a childrens show, the creators uses smoothies as a metaphor
for alcohol. Miriam would make smoothies at times when she needs to drink). Parents that are
neglectful have little emotional involvement with their kids. While they provide for basic needs
like food and shelter, they are uninvolved in their childrens lives. The degree of involvement
may vary considerably. (Cherry 2016) Helgas parents arent completely neglectful as they do
involve themselves in her life, such as Bob supporting Helga in the spelling bee and being her
partner during the Parents Day events. Regardless, her parents still do ignore Helgas needs and
wants; such as in one episode, Helga tries her hardest to create a perfect Thanksgiving for her
PEPSI Screening: Helga Pataki
family, but they completely ignore her and concentrate more on their own needs. Helga also has
an older sister, name Olga Pataki, who is in her early twenties and goes to college out of state.
Like Helga, Olga is an overachiever. She has straight As, loves playing the piano, and is very
involved in many charitable type programs, like the Big Sister Program, where she acts like a
sibling to a lonely child. Olgas achievements foreshadow Helgas, and their parents takes notice
of Olga more and favoring her over Helga, causing Helga to be jealous of her big sister. Jealousy
is very common in children, but it can lead to dangerous effects. Jacqueline Curtis of Money
Crashers covers child jealousy in her article How to Help Your Kids Overcome & Deal with
Jealousy 4 Causes. She states, a jealous child cant escape the constant presence of a sibling
who seems more accomplished, cooler, or smarter, or who is more attention-seeking. Envy left
unaddressed can fester and taint an otherwise healthy sibling relationship. (Curtis) She also
writes, Sibling jealousy is completely normal, but parents can add fuel to the fire by using
improper language or discipline. (Curtis) The effects of jealousy can cause a child to have
lowered self-esteem, aggression toward other kids, a feeling of helplessness, bullying, and
isolation. (Curtis) This right here is the root to Helgas personality. All these qualities are what
creates Helgas character in the show. It was her parents love for Olga that causes Helga to be
aggressive towards others. Near the end of the episode, Helga on the Couch, Helga explains
that when she was in pre-school, her parents ignored her when she needed to go to school and
instead focused on Olga. This lead Helga to walk to school alone in the rain, which is very
dangerous for a young child, getting wet in the rain, getting her lunch stolen by a dog. It was one
of the most eye opening and heartbreaking moments for a parent. Helga may have lack of
attention from her parents, but there was one person who did give her the attention that she so
long craves for. When Helga finally arrives to preschool, somebody covered her with an
PEPSI Screening: Helga Pataki
umbrella from the rain and complimented her outfit. During lunch, one of the kids stole her
crackers and this young boy gave her his crackers. This young boy was none other than Arnold.
This kind gesture caused Helga to fall for Arnold, but when the kids laughed at her for having a
crush on another kid, this triggered Helga to become aggressive to the other kids, including
Arnold. However, she still has feelings for him and hides in places to profess her love for him in
about the object of your affection. (Sarkis 2012). However, Helga fears rejection, which is why
she has yet to reveal her feelings for Arnold, fearing that Arnold might not share the same
feelings for her. Stephanie Sarkis on her article Limerence: In Love, Obsessed, or Both?, she
states that the cruel side of fate is that your affection may not be felt by the other party. You
may tell yourself, He/she hasnt called because they are so busy. While this may hold true for a
couple days, if you havent heard back from your intended beloved for a week or two, its time to
reevaluate the situation. (Sarkis 2012). Aside from this, Helga does respect Arnold, loving how
he helps other kids and even seeks help from him in rough situations. Arnold is the most
important person in Helgas life as he basically helps develop her own moral standings. It was
Arnold who would teach Helga the rights and wrongs; such as in one episode when she, Arnold,
and their friends left a restaurant without paying. This was because Helga had a coupon for a free
dinner for four that was meant for a different restaurant. Arnold assures her she must apologize
to the owner for the inconvenience, in which she does, despite the consequences, but Arnold
calls her a classy lady for that. This in turns helps Helga to help Arnold as well, but without his
knowledge. One example of this is during the Christmas episode. Arnold tries to help Mr.
Hyunh, one of his friends that lives in the boarding house with him, to locate his daughter, whom
he never seen since their life in Vietnam. Arnold seeks help from a gentleman at a government
PEPSI Screening: Helga Pataki
office to locate Mr. Hyunhs daughter. The man makes a deal with Arnold, if he can do his
Christmas shopping, then hell help locate his friends daughter. Arnold fails to finish the
Christmas shopping, as the one item the man needed, a pair of snow boots, was sold out. Luckily
for Helga, her mother got her the snow boots for Christmas, which puts her to the ultimate test,
to help Arnold and help make him happy on Christmas, or be selfish. She made a tough decision,
and decided, from the bottom of her heart, to give the snow boots to the gentlemen at the
government office and they managed to find Mr. Hyunhs daughter. Although Arnold never
knew it was Helga who help reunite Mr. Hyunhs daughter, this type generosity displays that
Helga is a kind person inside than she appears outside. No matter how guilty she feels, whether
its cheating on a test, or humiliating another student, Helga will always do the right thing, and it
turn, it will make her a stronger person. Michelle Sowey of The Guardian states in her article,
Teaching Philosophy to Children? Its a Great Idea, she states that its important to teach
life, we could offer them irreplaceable gifts, an awareness of lifes moral, aesthetic and political
dimensions; the capacity to articulate thoughts clearly and evaluate them honestly; and the
psychiatrist, Dr. Bliss, informs Helga that she does not have to tell Arnold right away her
feelings about him; instead, she can tell Arnold when she is ready. As for her philosophical
development, Dr. Bliss seems to accept the way Helga lives her life, but pleads her to be easy on
For somebody who is very headstrong and aggressive, Helgas social life is pretty
average. Helga does communicate with others, even if she doesnt get along with certain people,
and she always displays good sportsmanship when playing sports with the other kids. Referring
PEPSI Screening: Helga Pataki
to Brooke De Lenchs article, she gives more insight on how sports gives a girl a better social
life, stating that girls who play sports are more socially well-adjusted than girls who dont: entry
into an achievement-based social network, greater popularity among peers, and more community
involvement as adults. (Lench) She may not be the most popular girl in school, but the kids
allow Helga in their team as she is a very good player, despite being a girl. Helga has one best
friend, Phoebe Heyerdahl, who at times acts like Helgas secretary. Helga trusts Phoebe more
than anyone at P.S. 118, with Phoebe helping her in bizarre situations, such as when Helga has
sleepwalking troubles and Phoebe was tasked to watch her. Helga even trusts Phoebe with her
biggest secret, which is her crush on Arnold. Helga also displays great leadership among the kid.
One great example of this is when Helga was tasked to direct a play about healthy foods.
However, Helgas attitude made a lot of the kids not wanting to participate, including Arnold and
his friend Gerald, in which both almost ditched the play completely. Another example is when
she was part of a jury when one of the students is guilty of pulling the fire alarm. Helga oversaw
the jury, but instead of taking the innocent until proven guilty phase, she immediately
convicted the plaintiff guilty without considering the evidence and the scenario of the crime until
Arnold stepped in, making her a bit ignorant. In an article by Jared Zane Kessie entitled
Leadership Qualities: Teaching Kids to be Leaders, he states that a good leader will have
many qualities (Kessie 2016) and some of the qualities he displays are communication,
confidence, integrity, work ethic, and humble & teachable (Kessie 2016). Helga displays two
out of the five qualities, failing with integrity, work ethic, and humble & teachable. But these
qualities would come into play in later episodes, like how she purposely lose the spelling bee
after learning her father bribed Arnold to lose the competition, when she worked with the others
to help save their teacher who almost fell off the roof when trying to get home during a massive
PEPSI Screening: Helga Pataki
flood, and when she teaches Arnold that most people are not who they are inside than they do on
the outside in Valentines Day, when she disguises herself as Arnolds French pen pal.
Helga is a very intelligent girl. In one of the episodes entitled The Aptitude Test, Helga
received a perfect score on the test, and was the first to get it since her very own sister, Olga. But
what is an aptitude test and what does it determine? Dawn Rosenberg McKay of The Balance
explains that when a career description lists an aptitude among the qualifications one needs to
through life experience, study or training. (McKay 2016) Helga is a very talented girl, having
the ability to write beautiful poems at a young age. Although most of her poems are about
Arnold, the fact she is about to creatively write poetry shows the type of skill set she has for the
future, a god given talent. However, Helga isnt necessarily as smart as see seems, receiving
average scores. There are moments where she failed math tests due to lack of motivation or
focus. However, thanks to her poetic nature, Helga excels well in literature. She remembers the
lines to Romeo & Juliet in one night when she was given the role of Juliet the last minute as well
as being praised by her teacher, Mr. Simmons for her literary work (even though Mr. Simmons
doesnt reveal her name in class due to Helga not wanting to be embarrassed in the class). Judith
Keinfelds article, Student Performance: Males versus Females states the research on gender
interaction in the classroom does not feature studies conducted in literature classes or in foreign
language classes, areas of female strength. In these classrooms, girls may well participate more
than boys. (Keinfeld) Where boys are more academically excelling in math and science, girls
excel well in literature, and Helgas lack in mathematical knowledge and her excelling in
Television shows are not meant for entertainment, but they reveal real life situations and
how they are handled. They create characters who are based off someones personal life or
embodies the typical life of a child or an adult. Helga Pataki is the embodiment of what most
children are going through in their lives. She grew up neglected by her parents and being
overshadowed by her older sister; with that lack of attention, it creates a jealous persona and
causes her to bully others. She very aggressive to the other kids as she does not want to be
judged or made fun of, and emotionally, shes very angry. However, if it wasnt for Arnold, most
of the positive qualities in Helga would disappear. She does the right thing in the end when she
makes bad decisions, shes very kind to the people she loves, she goes above and beyond to
make someone she loves happy, and furthermore, shes a caring person. Regardless of the
neglect, her family still cares for her, such as when she left during Thanksgiving, they did what
they could to get her back home safely. Helga is a relatable character to the youth, which is why
References
Bressert, Steve. Borderline Personality Disorder Symptoms. Retrieved March 20, 2017 from
https://psychcentral.com/disorders/borderline-personality-disorder-symptoms/
Cherry, Kendra. (2016, June 7) Physical Developmental Milestones. Retrieved March 20,
Cherry, Kendra. (2016, May 9) What Is Uninvolved Parenting? Retrieved March 20, 2017
from https://www.verywell.com/what-is-uninvolved-parenting-2794958
Curtis, Jacqueline. How to Help Your Kids Overcome & Deal with Jealousy 4 Causes.
with-jealousy/
Davis, Susan. Mean Girls: Why Girls Bully and How to Stop Them. Retrieved March 20,
to-stop-them#1
De Lench, Brooke. Sports Benefit Girls in Many Ways. Retrieved March 20, 2017 from
http://www.momsteam.com/successful-parenting/sports-benefit-girls-in-many-ways
Kessie, Jared Zane. (2016, April 20) Leadership Qualities: Teaching Kids to be Leaders.
Teaching-Kids-to-be-Leaders
Kleinfeld, Judith. Student Performance: Males Versus Females. Retrieved March 20, 2017
from http://www.judithkleinfeld.com/ar_studentperformance.html
Legg, Timothy J. (2016, September 27) Bipolar Disorder. Retrieved March 20, 2017 from
http://www.healthline.com/health/bipolar-disorder
PEPSI Screening: Helga Pataki
McKay, Dawn Rosenberg. (2016, September 24) What is Aptitude? Retrieved March 20,
Sarkis, Stephanie, Ph.D. (2012, September 14) Limerence: In Love, Obsessed, or Both?
everywhere/201209/limerence-in-love-obsessed-or-both
Showfety, Sarah. (2008, September 1) Field Guide to the Tomboy: High Heels and Pink? No
https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200809/field-guide-the-tomboy-high-heels-and-
pink-no-way
Sowey, Michelle. Teaching Philosophy to Children? Its a Great Idea. Retrieved March 20,
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