The dark side of the Moomins

I'm not sure how tongue in cheek this was, but I assume it's serious. Either way, it's a fun and smart read.

The article spots well the dark side of the moomins, but in my opinion goes too deep into it. My disagreements boil down to this: "One of the oddest aspects of the Moomin phenomenon is how these complex tales of apocalypse, breakdown and disfunction have been consistently misread as cutesy celebrations of domestic life." Yes, all these things exist, but the point to me has always been that they are cutesy despite that! The stories paint a very typical family dynamic (at least of the time, at least in a Finnish swedish speaking family like Tove's), throws it into weirdest situations, and they all survive together thanks to, and despite, their dysfunctions. And Moominmamma is the most wholesome character ever, period.

Spot on. I think the author did not think through their argument: ""One of the oddest aspects of the Moomin phenomenon is how these complex tales of apocalypse, breakdown and disfunction have been consistently misread as cutesy celebrations of domestic life.""

But that's exactly what makes domestic life worth celebrating - at best it sustains you through disaster and hardship. What better way to celebrate it than to show it's strength?

Is it really a celebration of family life when Moominpappa uproots the whole family because of his midlife crisis and sends Moominmamma into depression?

They come through it wiser and more in touch with themselves.

A family is a place where you should be able to also be something else than the ideal version of yourself that you’d like to show the rest of the world, something less perfect and more work-in-progress. Moomins lean heavily on showing how that actually makes their family stronger.