Tag: the simpsons

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“That boy ain’t right.”

There’s more to abuse than hitting.

tbh, I was kinda waiting for someone to point this out and yes, you’re absolutely right. Abuse doesn’t have to be physical, it can be emotional and/or verbal.

This comic came about because I‘d read several commentaries comparing Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin, specifically in regards to how they treat their daughters.

Almost everyone I know who takes the time to think critically about The Simpsons or Family Guy hones in on the fact that Peter physically and emotionally abuses Meg, whereas Homer is incompetent, neglectful, and absolutely does not understand Lisa – but he loves her and he tries.

In the commentary about how Peter and Homer treat their daughters, I didn’t really see anyone bring up the physical/emotional abuse of their sons.

To lay it out there – I loathe Family Guy. Fucking hate it.

I grew up watching The Simpsons and can have entire conversations purely through quoting the show. But as much as I love The Simpsons, I think the overall cultural attitude to corporal punishment (physical abuse) has changed enough that it’s time to retire the running “joke” of Homer choking Bart. It may have been a culturally acceptable joke ten years ago, but more and more research is showing seriously negative outcomes for kids that have experienced any form of physical punishment. We need to stop normalizing it.

As for King of the Hill, Hank and Peggy are hardly perfect parents and both have a tendency towards stifling Bobby’s more flamboyant and/or “feminine” behavior. But they both love Bobby; they have both, at different times during the show, been able to connect to Bobby through his various interests. While not perfect, they are a much healthier depiction of a family.

As a queer transgender dude who grew up in Texas and is totally unsuited for Southern concepts of masculinity, I have a real soft spot for King of the Hill and for Bobby. It’s a far more real and complex depiction of family, compared to the pointless cruelty of Family Guy or the lesser cruelties of The Simpsons.

“That Boy Ain’t Right” Hank said this a lot, but if I remember correctly, he’s never said this to Bobby’s face. He doesn’t understand him sometimes, but he’s never treated him like Homer and Peter have.

Another thing on Hank. A big part of the show is Hank learning to be a good father while dealing with his experiences with his own shitty, racist, abusive father. If Hank has a scene where he is extremely uncomfortable, it’s almost entirely with showing emotions. When someone is crying or upset around him (Peggy, Luanne, Bobby, John Redcorn, Bill, etc) he shuts down because that’s what his father molded him into.

And by the end of the series you see him behave differently. He learns to be openly romantic with his wife (even having sex on a freaking train), he deals with his father’s issues, HE DRESSED IN DRAG IN FRONT OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD FOR BILL, and most importantly he learns that his son will always be “different” and gets over his own unease so that Bobby can be happy. Hank’s a good dad on the pure measure that he tries and that’s damn more than Peter or even Homer.

But Bob Belcher will always be #1 dad anyways.

I’m glad I searched the notes long enough to find this addition since it’s great and covers all the issues I failed to word myself because I just can’t words sometimes.

Thank you @potbellies for mentioning Bob Belcher. He is #1 dad for sure.

Bob will occasionally jokingly mention that his kids are useless/horrible, but he has never abused them – mentally, emotionally, or physically,- at any point. There have been entire episode plotlines that focused on him bonding with Gene, Louise, and Tina. He constantly and consistently supports them and shows that he loves them unconditionally.

In “Sheesh! Cab, Bob?”, Bob goes so far as to shave his mustache so Jimmy Jr., the boy Tina has a crush on, will be allowed to come to her birthday party. In “The Equestranauts”, Bob reluctantly agrees to learn about one of Tina’s favorite shows and dress up as the show’s parody of a brony to go to a convention so he can take back Tina’s horse figure that she was conned out of by a gross jerk. He has also been shown to resent the idea that Tina is growing up.

In “Carpe Museum”, he accompanies the kids on a field trip and, although he disapproves of Louise’s behavior at first, he eventually has a good time with her and a classmate when they stray from the group (and get into trouble, as Louise usually does). Later, he feels immensely proud because she admits she’s thought about taking over the family business when she grows up.

One of the best examples happens in “The Laser-inth”, when Bob takes Gene to a laser light rock show because he used to love going to those shows as a kid and wants to share that with his son. Partway into the show, Gene gets overwhelmed by the flashing lights and loud music, breaking down in tears. Instead of forcing Gene to sit through the show, Bob immediately removes Gene from the situation, even though he would have preferred to stay. He put his son’s needs before his own, and not once does he make fun of Gene for his breakdown. They sit in Bob’s car and Bob turns on a CD of the band at low volume and leans his and Gene’s seats back so they can have their own smaller version of a show. Eventually, Gene decides he wants to go back to see the end of the real show, so they sneak back in and Bob makes Gene a pair of earplugs so the music from the show won’t be so overstimulating.

These are just a few examples, but this kind of stuff happens all the time on Bob’s Burgers. Bob is an excellent father and loving husband who deserves the most praise out of all these animated dads.