‘Hey mom — dad’s an idiot’

Over the years, concerns have been expressed about the negative influences TV imposes upon our children.  We are all concerned with the effects of explicit sex and violence on young minds - and rightly so.  However, there is a far more insidious danger to young minds coming from our TV sets. I refer to the longstanding and ongoing campaign informing young children that their fathers are total fools.  American family sitcoms and children’s cartoons appear to be dedicated to the total ridicule of Dad.  Smart-a** children, some barely able to talk, insult and abuse their parents, mostly Dad, with the support of canned laughter.  Every time one of these kids puts down his bumbling father, the room fills with peals of canned laughter. What these kids say to and about their Dads is not funny.  What makes it “funny” are the peals of laughter.  Give yourself the following test: turn on your TV to a family sitcom.  Now the hard part, try to take control of your own mind.  You will ignore the peals of laughter.  Only laugh when you are actually amused.  After the show, ask yourself how many times you laughed.  Probably none! Most Americans born after WW2 have grown up totally indoctrinated that Dad is a hapless buffoon, and that mocking Dad is a great way to build self-esteem. 

With the advent of worldwide cable TV, this thing came into our homes. But back in America the propaganda was so effective, that corporate America began to market on it.  Smart-a** kids, insulting their Dads, are encouraging youngsters to humiliate their parents into buying products - mostly useless products.  This recently reached what must be advertising’s low point: A company called Earthlink aired the following advertisement on TV: Two little children, already showing signs of obesity from physical inactivity, are taunting their Dad over his inability to get on the internet.  One of the kids calls out for help: “Mom, Dad doesn’t know what he’s doing!”  Dumb Dad, bye-pass him and forget him.  He’s there to pay the bills. How can an ad like that be conceived, produced and presented without someone - some man maybe - saying - “No!  This is crap.”? I can understand the ad being conceived by two little nerdy creative directors who grew up - no, who existed in their teenage years on a diet of smart-a** and the worship of Michael J Fox and Alf.  But how does a company’s Board of Directors (presumably consisting of grown men and women), actually approve such an insulting ad for release.  Well, they are not “grown” men, although at their age they should be, and there are hardly any women.  (I learned this from a CNN report: Apparently American women do not seek serious careers in the technology sector, because the men who work there are astonishingly immature - having stopped developing at thirteen.)  You know the men - they live their lives talking rapidly and loudly, in sharp staccato mini sentences, speaking smart-a** jargon, and at each pause they perk up, eyes wide open, smug smile on their soft faces, listening to the canned laughter in their empty heads. Are you surprised that a society like this throws up kids like Bill Clinton and George Bush as their presidents?  Slick Willie who always behaved like he just discovered sex and Dubya who thinks war is a computer game.  But I digress - back to Earthlink. My first thought on seeing this ad was that no father would ever purchase the product.  Are you in their target group?  How do you feel about that, Dad?

But I am wrong. Fifty years of indoctrination has obviously made every father proud to be the butt of his children’s ridicule.  Dad has grown proud of his kid’s smart-a** comments - shows how bright Junior really is. If my comments were not true, then some group representing fatherhood (that’s Dads) or family or respect would have protested this trend long ago. I mean, it’s not like Americans can’t perceive “insult” out of the most innocuous comment.  The whole Chinese-American community was outraged because Shaq teased Yao Ming about his accent after a NBA game.  Get real folks.  If I went to a restaurant in America and ordered a “tomahto” salad, and the waitress laughed and said: “Oh! You mean “tomayto”.”  Could I sue for public embarrassment? But there is a ray of hope.  You can fight back physically, or get your son on a sports team at school.  When one of my sons was 14, he started to become the “Fresh Prince of Belair”.  Every request of him elicited a smart-a** remark - nowhere near a response.  When I finally struck him - BRUTALITY! - He was upset because I “couldn’t take a joke!”  One afternoon I went to collect him from football training.  The team was seated; coach was speaking.  Someone fidgeted at the back of the group.  “O’Connor, Jones - two laps” said the coach.  “But coach…” one started to plead. “Four laps” said the coach, and they were off running four laps. Now you - dear Dad - as you ponder your new shirt this “Father’s Day” morning, or your lunch at that restaurant you don’t really want to go to - answer this: If your son gives you “back-chat”, can you say “four laps” and he’s off?  If not, why not? Want to do something really great for Father’s Day?  Just hang out with your Dad - talk to him about your school, job, girlfriends, and sports - maybe find out something from him too!  Dad - you listen!  You may discover that your children can have an intelligent conversation with you.  Then try to take it all beyond “Father’s Day.”