You know, fathers get a bad reputation…

 Before I start this post, I know that this is not an original topic, but it is something that has been on my mind for a while, fathers in media.  Now, I realize that women have been consistently portrayed and shown in negative light for a very long time, and I don’t want to take anything away from that argument.  The reality is that most women, on TV, movies, or real life, don’t get quite as much credit as they deserve.  Now, with that being said…

Specifically, I want to talk about the way in which fathers (and men in general) are portrayed in the field of entertainment.  Put simply (and to steal from The Critic), “it stinks!”

I have had several conversation with friends and family about the role of men as husbands and fathers.  This had brought me to do a great deal of think.  It has a lot to do with looking at the more shared roles in marriage that previously had been separated by gender.  In the past, you would classify the man as the bread winner, and the woman as the domestic who is at her happiest cooking, cleaning, and serving her family.  I think a great depiction of this view is the family in A Christmas Story.

The reality is that in our modern world, husbands and fathers are much more involved and share more responsibilities than previous generations.  A great deal of this has had to do with the changing role of women in the world, and just plain what it takes to make a family work.  I have lots of male friends who are tremendously active in raising the children, as well as doing housework, cooking, et cetera.  Personally, I clean the bathrooms in our house.  My wife hates doing it, and I don’t mind.  We, my wife and I, are of the mindset that we are a time and are in everything together.  It is this view that makes the world a better place for us.

Now with all of that being said, these changes in the role of men is not being reflected on television.  As a matter of fact, TV dads are at an all time low.  Just look at the landscape of paternal figures.  Fathers are portrayed as guys who are lucky to have ever lived out of their childhood, much less have gotten married and had kids.  Some seem so inept at everything that you’re surprised when they can even form a sentence.

Fathers, on television and movies, have become a comic relief role.  They are the dumb character that can cause trouble and never understand why it started.  They are the ones that are constantly outsmarted by their kids, boss, wife, family, door-to-door salesmen, and any other potential extra on set that day.  They are incompetent at everything.

Just consider the following television dads:  Homer Simpson (The Simpsons), Tony Soprano (The Sopranos), Hal (Malcolm in the Middle), Frank Castanza (Seinfeld), Arthur Spooner (King of Queens), Ray Barone (Everybody Loves Raymond), Herman Munster (The Munsters), Jim (According to Jim), and Al Bundy (Married with Children).  These are all dads that seem to be fumbling their way through life.  Even one of the greatest television father figures of all time, Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable, was shown to be the cause of many “problems.”

It seems that most of the great television fathers have come and gone with shows like Father Knows Best, The Cosby Show, The Brady Bunch, My Three Sons, and others.  Now, we have moved into accepting that these men are fools that only serve as a plot device and gags.  And even with the great men/fathers of entertainment past, they still (with the exception of the Cosby Show) did not share gender specific roles.  There was no cooking, cleaning, or any of that.

I put up two modern television fathers to consider:  Hank Hill (King of the Hill) and Michael Kyle (My Wife and Kids).  These are two dads who are sometimes the voice of reason, get into their fair bit of danger/trouble, aren’t always fooled, make mistakes, and can, at times, be the voice of reason.  These are not two perfect characters, like some of the past father figures, but instead have all of the flaws that real people have.  So, here’s to you, Michael and Hank, for not being idiots.

What a sad day indeed…

I’m not sure what to do to change it.  I’ve laughed at my fair share of these figures.  All I can hope to do is to show my own children that men are not what they see on TV (or movies), but are so much more.  So, a challenge to you men, husbands, fathers, let’s show the world how great we really are.