Why are sitcom dads still so inept?

bufedad · 2020-06-23T14:09:21+00:00

And here is MensLib's take on the issue

This is actually studied in feminist theory about one of the ways that patriarchy (the embedded ideas of male supremacy) hurts men. It goes all the way back to Punch & Judy, where the man is inept and incompetent and totally at the mercy of his competent (and violent) wife. It goes even further back to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales where the hapless husband is completely befuddled by his adulterous wife carrying on an affair right in front of his nose.

In all these cases it's "the exception proving the rule". We laugh at it because it is so outlandish and the opposite of what men are supposed to be: firmly in charge with no one able to challenge their absolute authority.

Yeah, treating men like crap is just treating women like crap and showing how men are the greatest gender...

azazelcrowley · 2020-06-23T16:14:21+00:00

It's kind of like the galbrush problem.

If you show a zany, erratic, and stupid woman doing all the shit homer simpson gets up to, it has to be played positively, as though this makes her desirable. (Closest thing is the "Manic pixie girl" thing). It has to be framed as positive and life-affirming, something that awakens the husband spiritually to see her do and so on.

Because that she could just be a fuckup and a Moron who keeps causing herself and those around her problems is verboten, as our culture is extremely hostile to the idea that "Maybe this womans life is a mess because she keeps fucking things up for herself, but is too inept to realize it. So let's laugh at her for it.". That is the exact thing feminism rails against so frequently.

So when women behave like homer simpson does, it's written to never cause them any problems, it's always portrayed as positive and attractive and something men should value in women.

The Sarah Silverman show is the closest to this being challenged, but notably, she isn't married. She's an inept moron who causes problems for herself and those around her, but If the show added a husband to play the straight man to her, it'd be decried as sexist.

The fragility of feminists is such that the terminus point of a conversation can never be a negative observation about women. So when we talk about homer, it's "He did this thing, because he's a dumb dumb." That's the conversation, it's funny, we laugh. We can also have other conversations, but that's this one.

The feminist is fundamentally unable to handle this when the subject is a woman because of the feminists chronic psychological problems. An equivalent would be;

"Yes but WHY is female-homer a dumb dumb, it's someone elses fault! The school system failed her because mr burns doesn't pay his taxes and-"

And now suddenly it's not a comedy anymore and you're writing about a revolutionary class struggle drama about how mr burns not paying his taxes forced female-homer to stick his head in a bee hive and gave him all these terrible injuries. Doubtless until Lisa simpson becomes president and gives a dramatic speech about how she's going to crack down on tax fraud and end patriarchy. All the "Humor" will be insecure references to their own ideology, because they are in the end psychologically unable to derive humor from female-homer being a dumb dumb. They are unable to laugh at themselves. (Hence, "Women are not funny.").

There's a discussion to be had about whether if feminists are so fucking insecure that they insist only men be portrayed this way, whether men should match them in order to prevent our gender being portrayed negatively relative to women, or whether we should portray both men and women as "homer simpsons" on occasion, and then just laugh at feminists and point out they are psychologically broken human beings with fragile egos, who are chronically unable to take even a moment to have a show that laughs at a woman being a moron without immediately feeling the need to focus elsewhere, to blame some system for her failings. It's why all the media and narratives inspired by feminists has the same fundamental plot arc.

And it's not like we're opposed to stories about systems and so on. It's just that, you know, that's not the only kind of story.

dzkrf · 2020-06-23T13:59:08+00:00

Because dads irl won't complain

Just_da_fax · 2020-06-23T14:39:57+00:00

Because sitcoms are mostly watched and run by women. I used to watch some with the wife when I was a younger adult but yeah, it gets old. Every episode the males are just a bumbling, ignorant, lazy, forgetful, neanderthals. And even when they're not, they're still inferior to any woman(Big Bang Theory). I stopped watching them and just left the wife to watch them on her own, but then even she stopped when she started seeing how stupid the women were and the whole premise was.

perplexedm · 2020-06-23T17:18:38+00:00

Empowering women by discriminating men. Isn't that the sole idea of feminism these days ?

TheRabbitTunnel · 2020-06-23T16:06:49+00:00

Its because inept parents are comedic, but they cant make the moms inept because feminists would freak out and get the show cancelled. So its gotta be dads.

gaia2008 · 2020-06-23T16:48:25+00:00

Commercials too

MonsterHipster · 2020-06-23T19:23:59+00:00

Propaganda helps the npc simps sleep

Rockmapper_ · 2020-06-23T13:57:54+00:00

Because it's funny. The media should do and allow for stereotypes and stereotypical depictions as it can be very humorous when done right. Look to little Britain for example, that is absolutely hilarious

Chafrador · 2020-06-23T18:33:49+00:00

The Simpsons is satire tho, that's the whole point.

jamesdanton · 2020-06-24T00:47:57+00:00

For the same reason that 'white lives matter' is somehow racist but B(lacks) L(ike) M(ayhem) is just fine.

It's about unearned cultural supremacy.

Svenskbtch · 2020-06-25T11:10:40+00:00

Because ineptitude among men is funny.

More broadly, there are many more ways for men to be funny than women, for the simple reason that we see what happens to women as more serious. There are brilliant exceptions, such as Veep and Absolutely fabulous - but they nevertheless remain just that: exceptions.

RyansPutter · 2020-06-23T17:45:26+00:00

I don't know and to be honest, I don't care. I don't waste my time watching crap made by Hollywood liberals who hate people like me.

Title	Why are sitcom dads still so inept?
Author	PeterCornswalled
Upvotes	170
Comments	45
Date	June 23, 2020 1:51 PM UTC (6 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/heez73/why_are_sitcom_dads_still_so_inept/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/why-are-sitcom-dads-still-so-inept.1197217 https://theredarchive.com/post/1197217

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