Fatherhood

[poliphilo]

What's with this this father-son thing that Hollywood keeps shoving
at us?

Spielberg can't leave it alone. Catch Me If You Can was sharp and funny so long as Leo was sticking it to the Man, but then we found out that his delinquency was down to the lack of a father figure and all it needed to reform him was for Tom Hanks to offer him unquestioning love.

Yesterday I was watching Finding Nemo. Great film in its way, but Albert Brooks's fussy lttle everyman of a soccer-dad made me feel queasy. If Ellen DeGeneres hadn't happened along I might well have walked out.

It's like the nineteenth century cult of motherhood. It gives off a sickly smell. I think there's something rotten that's being covered up.

Actually, I know perfectly well what it is. A very high proportion of dads who walk out of a marriage lose contact with their kids within two or three years. And a high proportion of those who stay behind are bullies, brutes and abusers. Of course there are good dads, but there are an awful lot of absolute shites as well.

Do families need fathers?

We daren't say "no" because if we did it would hurt the feelings of men. And that would be tricky because it's men who run the world. So we tell ourselves these cute little stories to keep ourselves from thinking too much about the facts.

There was once a little fishy and his wife got eaten by a barracuda so he had to look after his baby son all by himself and he loved his little son so much that he got a weeny bit over-protective; and then one fine day...

Comments

[morrison-maiden.livejournal.com]

I think that fathers are important, but honestly, I think that some children don't have problems getting on without one. I think that in the early part of the century, it seemed that a lot of children grew up with one parent, as the result of a sudden death, or even raised by an older sibling. I think now, many people assume that fathers are totally necessary, but I don't know. My parents are still together, but my father has spent much of his time away from home. I miss him when he's away, but I don't think it really hindered my growing up :\

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

My father was usually there- but living in his own, closed off little world.

That's right about the early 1900s. You read children's books of that period and the parents (if they exist at all) are well in the background and the kids (there are often lots of them) sort of bring one another up.