Hazbin Hotel

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I really wanted to like this show.

I'm a furry, I like musical theater, I like irreverent humor, I'm a fan of VivziePop's earlier work like her YouTube videos and her webcomic "Zoophobia." It seems like this should be right up my alley.

To be fair, I only watched the pilot (which is canon) and the first episode. I don't have Amazon Prime. I think the problem is that modern streaming shows prioritize overarching narratives over episodic storytelling. I've been told by other people that it's shocking I would make *any* sort of judgment about a show without watching at least the entire season.

I was expecting this to be a no-holds-barred, equal-opportunity-offender shock comedy in the style of "South Park" or "Family Guy." Episode One opens with a genocide that is played 100% straight. Then we transition into a song number where the extreme violence in Hell is played for laughs. So already, I've got tonal whiplash.

Rather than focusing on the titular hotel and how the characters interact, the focus is on Princess Charlie meeting the villain, Adam, "the first man!" I don't find Adam funny, interesting or threatening. If the idea is supposed to be a kind of role-reversal with Charlie as a virtuous demon, I don't get why profanity-spewing, pointy-toothed angel Adam looks and acts so much like the denizens of Hell.

This to me is kind of like of we spent the first episode of "Cheers" barely seeing the bar or Sam and Diane interacting and instead focused on Sam meeting up with his rival Gary from Gary's Olde Town Tavern, who won't become important until much later.

I get the appeal of the show. I just feel I'm out of touch with current entertainment in general.

Again, it's interesting to see some forces of Heaven being on the lawful evil side of things instead pure lawful good. The powers above are just as if not more corrupt than the powers below. It's established no one knows how to get into heaven. There's no final judgement, just an instant automatic sorting.

Well we got 3 more seasons coming, to explore their view of Heaven and Hell and morality here

Adam is.... a narcissistic type of personality.
This comes from me having spent the last 6 months doing roleplay on tumblr. I don't RP Adam, but I've written with a couple people who've explored his character.

Essentially, he likely developed this personality as a result of his life and traumas. Narcissistic personality disorder is borne of trauma, it's a coping mechanism. An inflated sense of self, in direct contrast to the reality that you actually hate yourself.

The character I roleplay - Lucifer - is the Sin of Pride. (As established in Helluva Boss canon, which takes place in the same universe as Hazbin Hotel. But since Hazbin Hotel is owned by Amazon and Helluva Boss is not, Lucifer and the other Hazbin characters can't easily be shown in Helluva Boss.)

Lucifer, I've come to believe, developed the Sin of Pride not only because of the Christian/Biblical lore, but also as a direct contrast to heavy oppression.
Pride is often a response to oppression - and is only really a vice when in excess. When people push you down, the natural response in many cases is to take pride in the very thing they hate you for.