Shower Thought: Fathers really are invisible on TV and in Movies.

ShoutoutsToSimple · 2021-10-08T12:12:08+00:00

Another related trope which drives me crazy is the idea that a woman should get to decide whether or not to tell the father she's pregnant. I feel like this comes up all the time on TV, and it's always treated like a completely normal thing.

A woman becomes pregnant by a man who doesn't see her all the time. Maybe it was a one-night stand. Maybe it was an occasional acquaintance. One way or another, it's a situation where, if the woman doesn't actively seek the man out in order to tell him she is pregnant, he won't know on his own. Meaning it can't be one of her best friends (because he would know with or without her telling him).

And from this set-up, you have the semi-dramatic episode or arc where the woman has to decide if she's even going to tell him, to invite him to be a part of....his own fucking child's life.

I have never seen this portrayed in such a way that the show is criticizing the woman for being selfish by even considering keeping the father out of his own child's life. Every time, you're meant to empathize with the woman's tough position, her difficult choice between being a single mother and bearing the burden all on her own, vs. having to deal with the logistics of sharing responsibilities with a man she isn't married to nor dating.

And I just find it disgusting. It's just glossed over like it's nothing. We're literally talking about two parents, and one of them is in full control of whether the other even gets to know he is a parent. It's just sickening that this is seen as a completely normal and fair thing, never even questioned.

Space_Exploring7_6 · 2021-10-08T12:05:31+00:00

Don't you dare watch Spain's TV/Movie entertainment then...

You would feel disgusted at how meaningless men are depicted... On top of that, most men are proud of it... That's how effective feminism brainwashing is...

OldEgalitarianMRA · 2021-10-08T13:04:26+00:00

Showing my age here but even in the much vaunted 1950's it was the same on TV. Desi Arnez, Lucille Ball (look her up) were married and had one of the top shows on TV when there were very few shows. I read a story that Desi wouldn't sign up to do the family show as men on TV were frequently played for laughs and portrayed as incompetent parents...fathers.

He made them put it in his contract that he would not play the buffoon.

In this article they say he played the buffoon as a latin guy who couldn't control his temper.

http://websites.umich.edu/\~ac213/student\_projects06/student\_projects/da/Discrimination.html

Throughout history men have taken it on the chin by societies chattering classes...I mean the hen house.

But things are different now. Now women work and there is no reason why 50/50 default custody cannot be achieved. This negative portrayal of fathers must stop so people will trust men, I"m talking about family court judges, to raise their own children.

auMatech · 2021-10-08T12:33:27+00:00

Fathers really are invisible on TV and in Movies.

Except when they are the butt of everyone's jokes, or portrayed as hopelessly incompetent in order for (female or minority) lead to step in and take over

disayle32 · 2021-10-08T17:15:36+00:00

The superhero shows of the Arrowverse mostly buck this trend, thankfully. The relationship between fathers and their children is a pretty common theme in them. Oliver Queen, Joe West, Clark Kent, Barry Allen, Rene Ramirez, Quentin Lance, Henry Allen, Harrison Wells, Martin Stein, Jacob Kane, and even Mick Rory are all shown to be active, present, and loving fathers in their children's lives. The ways and degrees in which they express that vary pretty wildly from man to man, of course, but the result is the same. They make some mistakes, but no more or less than the mothers in the shows. Just one of the reasons I still like them, even though some are definitely showing their age.

program_mer · 2021-10-08T18:14:38+00:00

that's true.. As a man, i feel really sad about this issue.. society, media are super misandrist..

EgalitarianFacts · 2021-10-08T20:36:23+00:00

Invisible, Deadbeats or Evil.

__pebble____ · 2021-10-08T23:32:11+00:00

This post made me think about a stupid trope in those Lifetime movies. The poor helpless woman is being chased down and her life is being threatened by her newborns steroid addicted father.

Electronic_Ad_3559 · 2021-10-09T00:02:15+00:00

There’s definitely a depressing lack of good fathers in fiction. I’ve been enjoying the show RWBY because despite most of the characters being female the mothers are mostly dead, neglectful, or straight up abusive while most the dads are great. Nearly all the mentors are men. Even the male characters who aren’t adults tend to be more nurturing than the female characters. It’s an interesting switch that I really enjoyed

itchyotcthy · 2021-10-08T17:15:22+00:00

I've also noticed this sometimes with interviews for 'whatever'.

Sometimes I've seen the interviewer ignore the woman, also.

I see it as bad reporting, rude reporting and shows a lack of care, compassion and warmth to human-beings in general. The interviewer should be making sure they prep the people that will be on screen rather than just having them as 'show-case' objects. They should be including everyone that is on screen is my point.

Title	Shower Thought: Fathers really are invisible on TV and in Movies.
Author	HPUnicorn
Upvotes	248
Comments	22
Date	October 8, 2021 11:25 AM UTC (4 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/q3vrlm/shower_thought_fathers_really_are_invisible_on_tv/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/shower-thought-fathers-really-are-invisible-on-tv.1076736 https://theredarchive.com/post/1076736

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