They Suck: Worst TV Parents

[Affogato]

On 12/7/2019 at 9:37 PM, Calvada said:

Veronica Mars - Big Dick Casablancas, Jake Kane, Celeste Kane, Woody Goodman, and Aaron Echolls were the worst in so many different ways.  Thank goodness Veronica had Keith, an all-time good dad.

Sometimes I think no one watched the show. 
 

Veronica’s mother was alcoholic and codependent. Keith was neglectful and enabling. It is fairly obvious that Veronica parented Liane from a young age (and kept the family together by covering up Lianes drinking) and when Keith had her Keith farmed his parental duties out to his deputies, who taught her felonies and poker. When Liane vamoosed and Keith lost his job he continued to be absent and Mars Investigations would not have gotten off the ground except that Veronica set it up and worked it. Which she did so he would have a reason to stay home and parent her.
 

Veronica is telling the story and in her story he is the good parent, dammit, but that doesn’t mean he actually is a good parent. Her codependent need and years of neglect inform the ay she tries to make him look. She is as traumatized as Logan, she just reacts differently. 
 

note that I like Keith and he is a lot like Veronica, but without the trauma, I think  I think the show is about how people get trapped by or escape the sins of their parents.

Wallace is probably a good parent and teacher. 
 

 

Edited June 10 by Affogato

[Affogato]

On 2/20/2020 at 2:24 PM, proserpina65 said:

But I wouldn't necessarily want to watch that on tv, not if it resulted in a character like Marie.  And I wouldn't have wanted her for a mother or grandmother when I was a child.

No it is classic narcissist. Raymond was her golden child and her other son her scapegoat, but both felt her toxicity. As did everyone. A terrible woman, really. 

[kathyk2]

Mulder's parents from the X-Files are the worst. His Mom  cheats on her husband with the Cigarette Smoking Man. His Dad allows Samantha to be taken by aliens. He allows Fox to feel guilty for something that wasn't his fault. The Cigarette smoking man is evil for allowing his son Jeffrey to be tortured.

[Dimity]

14 hours ago, Affogato said:

No it is classic narcissist. Raymond was her golden child and her other son her scapegoat, but both felt her toxicity. As did everyone. A terrible woman, really. 

I know Marie gets a lot of flak, and deservedly so, for her uneven mothering with Ray and Robert but honestly, Frank was a pretty terrible father too.  I know a lot of this was playing for laughs but if Marie was portrayed as either smothering or neglectful (depending on which son we're talking about) Frank was portrayed as generally indifferent and, often downright cruel, to both sons.

[Ohiopirate02]

56 minutes ago, Dimity said:

I know Marie gets a lot of flak, and deservedly so, for her uneven mothering with Ray and Robert but honestly, Frank was a pretty terrible father too.  I know a lot of this was playing for laughs but if Marie was portrayed as either smothering or neglectful (depending on which son we're talking about) Frank was portrayed as generally indifferent and, often downright cruel, to both sons.

Frank also just let Marie do whatever the hell she wanted without thinking about their sons.  From lying about Robert's birthday to cover up their premarital sex to allowing Marie to keep Raymond in preschool for an extra year because she was not ready to send him off to kindergarten just yet.  

[Dimity]

3 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

Frank also just let Marie do whatever the hell she wanted without thinking about their sons. 

In some ways I see this more as a nod to what some fathers were like in the 60s and 70s, where raising kids was Mom's job.  He didn't interfere because he either didn't care or because he figured it was up to her, oh, and he didn't care.

I remember there were a few episodes where we meet people Frank knew who didn't realize he had sons.  Some because Frank specifically said he had daughters and others because he never told them he had any kids at all.  I guess the writers thought this was funny but I wonder what it was supposed to say about Frank.

[Ohiopirate02]

34 minutes ago, Dimity said:

In some ways I see this more as a nod to what some fathers were like in the 60s and 70s, where raising kids was Mom's job.  He didn't interfere because he either didn't care or because he figured it was up to her, oh, and he didn't care.

I remember there were a few episodes where we meet people Frank knew who didn't realize he had sons.  Some because Frank specifically said he had daughters and others because he never told them he had any kids at all.  I guess the writers thought this was funny but I wonder what it was supposed to say about Frank.

So much of Frank and Marie's bad parenting was played for a laugh.  I still can't get over the ways Robert tortured Ray without any reprecussions.  I know it was some "boys will be boys" bullshit, but Robert set out to seriously injure Ray on more than one occasion.  Marie kicks Frank out of the house (for good reason), Robert figures out the only way to fix his parents' broken marriage is to tamper with Ray's bike resulting in Ray breaking his arm.  I also recall a conversation between the brothers where Ray was listing all the places he almost drowned and all but one was due to Robert.