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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.
Worth a reblog just for the commentary.
lovingdread 