Bad Dad Jokes Are Funny, Bad Depictions of Dads Aren’t
Imagine walking through your front door following a long day at school or work and looking for a relaxing, enjoyable way to unwind after a stressful day. What is your first instinct? Odds are, near the top of your list is plopping down on the couch, reaching for the TV remote, and turning on your favorite show. Over the years, television has become a staple of our everyday lives, spearheading trends, influencing pop culture, and providing characters with whom we often identify. The prevalence of shows and streaming services’ catalogs offer viewers the ability to watch current shows as well as those that are decades old, giving new life and sparking new fandom. There is something for everyone, and there have never been so many options available at our fingertips. With the passage of time and more inclusive education came the awareness of negative stereotypes perpetuated by many programs. Some examples of the stereotypes that have come under fire are the demeaning and inaccurate portrayal of women as subservient and dependent on men, ditzy, and nothing more than eye candy or homemakers; and minorities, depicted as uneducated and often as servants to white families. Fortunately, the characterizations and representations of these groups have greatly improved over the years. While the portrayal of many groups has become more accurate and favorable since the dawn of television, one role, in particular, appears to have grown more exaggerated, more unfavorable, and more stereotyped over time — the father. Can this characterization affect our real-life expectations, attitudes, and behaviors of and toward fathers?
Examining the role of the father in American family sitcoms, we can see the degradation over time. In the 1950s-’60s and even into the ’70s we have the model fathers Ward Cleaver in Leave it to Beaver and Mike Brady in The Brady Bunch. These fathers would be able to tell people who their children’s friends were and list their kids’ favorite activities. They were warm, gave words of wisdom and advice, and they were strong forces and positive influences in their children’s lives. They were looked at as “the perfect father.” These fathers stand in stark contrast to modern-day “fathers,” such as Homer Simpson (The Simpsons) and Peter Griffin (Family Guy). Erica Scharrer in her article “Why Are Sitcom Dads Still such Doofuses?: Sitcom audiences, more often than not, are still being encouraged to laugh at dads’ parenting missteps and mistakes” refers to modern-day sitcom fathers as bumbling and inept. Matt Roush, a television critic, in 2010 articulated the issue succinctly: “It used to be that father knew best, and then we started to wonder if he knew anything at all.” One doesn’t have to be a family sitcom connoisseur or an avid viewer to tell you that fathers in modern shows are depicted as essentially lazy, aloof, and dimwitted losers. And it’s not just one or two notable TV fathers portrayed in this less-than-desirable light; you’d be hard-pressed to find a single sitcom father on-air today who displays nearly any semblance of intellect, competency, or fatherly instincts.
David Hatch concurs in his article, “A Good TV Dad is Hard to Find: Study Says TV Portrays Bumbling, Uncaring Fathers,” claiming that there is a deficiency of fathers who serve as positive role models on television. His article focuses on the nonprofit National Fatherhood Initiative and a study it conducted with concerns over broadcasters depicting fathers as “bumbling and uncaring.” The most recognizable of the “bumbling” fathers is likely Homer Simpson. The cartoon father has been up to the same inane and often dangerous shenanigans for over three decades. Homer behaves like a child, repeatedly puts himself and his family in danger, and is not respected by his neighbors or colleagues. In one episode, he brings a gun to the dinner table. When Marge, his wife, tells him she earlier told him not to bring a gun to the dinner table, he replies, “You said the breakfast table.” If having a gun at a family dinner isn’t a poor enough display of judgment, certainly, not generalizing from Marge’s earlier admonition about not having a gun at the breakfast table to the dinner table shows a lack of common sense.
In a similar vein, Peter Griffin, a walking, overgrown man-child with the maturity of a middle school boy, stars as the father of three in the hit animated sitcom Family Guy. Peter is perhaps the quintessential “bumbling father.” He is portrayed in a number of episodes as being inappropriately hyper-focused on the male genitalia, demonstrating his immaturity. In response to his wife, Lois, saying “nuclear,” Peter snickers, “You said nuclear, it’s nucUlear, dummy, the S is silent.”
Both Homer and Peter exhibit exaggerated speech intonations that are intentionally used to portray the characters as unintelligent, furthering the proliferation of the bumbling father trope. These are perhaps the two most prominent fathers on television while also being the two dumbest. Significant or not, these characters and their popularity should give us pause.
Some might argue that, naturally, these characters are exaggerated for entertainment purposes, especially in cartoons. Others might just as easily push back saying, yes, the point of the characters is to make the audience laugh, but why is it specifically fathers who are portrayed as incompetent? Why are the jokes always at the expense of them and rarely the other characters? What I’m saying is you can create a comedic character whose sole purpose isn’t simply to be the butt of every joke, yet, these fathers almost always are. Secondly, it’s not only cartoon characters like Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin who are portrayed as egregiously stupid fathers in sitcoms.
Disney Channel’s live-action shows of the early- to mid-2000s are notorious for their bumbling and incompetent fathers, particularly Bob Duncan of Good Luck Charlie. In a repeated gag of the show, Bob, a tender but absent-minded father, trips on a rubber duck while holding his infant daughter, launching her into the air, and bounces down each step on his rear end like a toddler, ultimately catching the poor child. Sure, Bob is a live-action character, but in scenes like this, he may as well be a cartoon. Bob drops not just one, but two of his children in this fashion over the run of the show.
If that isn’t enough, it’s revealed that Bob accidentally named his 18-year-old son, PJ (Patrick John), “Potty John” while filling out his birth certificate. Because as we all know, fathers most definitely cannot decipher “Patrick” from “Potty” or find the time to fix their mistake in 18 years.
Phil Dunphy of Modern Family, while a lovable, involved father, can only be described as an airhead. There is no better evidence of this than in his book “Phil’s-Ospohy,” a collection of life lessons he intends to give to his daughter before she leaves for college. Some classic gems from this collection include: “Always look people in the eye, even if they’re blind. Just say, ‘I’m looking you in the eye,’” “You can tell a lot about a person from his biography,” and “When life gives you lemonade, make lemons.”
It’s no secret that these fathers are exaggerated, inaccurate depictions of real fathers. However, unlike how the characters disappear when you turn off the television, their effects on viewers may not. “When sitcoms stereotype fathers, they seem to suggest that men are somehow inherently ill-suited for parenting,” Scharrer explains. “That sells actual fathers short and, in heterosexual, two-parent contexts, it reinforces the idea that mothers should take on the lion’s share of parenting responsibilities.” As a want-to-be-father one day, I find these portrayals of fathers on television disappointing, if not discouraging. Seeing numerous depictions of fathers as inept, brainless slobs who are the butt of every joke on TV is demoralizing. You see, I was that kid growing up who, when asked, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” I always responded with, “a father.” I am not the only person who feels this way. In her research, Scharrer noted, “Today, fathers are just as likely as mothers to say that being a parent is ‘extremely important’ to their identity.” Not only is the role of father significant to an individual’s identity, being a father is a role that I believe has tremendous value inside the home and family unit, as well as in our communities.
I could sit here and talk more about how these sitcom’s depictions make me feel and postulate others’ feelings as well as the effects of these portrayals. Instead, I went straight to the demographic that has been caricatured, hoping to gain insight into the perspectives of those individuals these characters are designed to represent. I want to know how fathers truly view these portrayals. And who better to interview about the topic than my own father?
My father grew up watching Growing Pains, Family Ties, and other sitcoms he described as “traditional” with parents who were “considerate, caring, and smart.” Not so much anymore he explains, but he used to be an avid viewer of The Simpsons before having children. He articulated the stark contrast between the fathers in the shows of his childhood and more modern shows’ characterizations of fathers, like Homer Simpson. While modern sitcom fathers are more present, he explains–with the older sitcom fathers being at work the majority of episodes–they are less competent, less on the ball, and are always getting into trouble. Older shows’ fathers were competent and a source of wisdom, and it appears as though we’ve done a full 180, my father emphasized.
Prior to becoming a father, he enjoyed watching The Simpsons, but not so much after. “I watched it for the laughs,” my father explained. “I didn’t identify at that point with the father.” He thought Homer’s goofiness was comical, and something to make fun of. “I guess since I wasn’t a father then, it didn’t bother me. But now that I am a father, it’s something I do think about more when I see stuff.” “I feel like I have a distaste for that kind of a portrayal, where before I was a father, I didn’t.” He strongly believes that the viewing experience of these sitcoms is vastly different for fathers and non-fathers.
“There seems to be less value put on the need for fathers to even be around…I’m not saying that was caused by the sitcoms, but it probably reinforces that mindset.” Viewers are watching these sitcoms with negative depictions of fathers, which serve to only reinforce the idea that fathers aren’t really that important.
Men have become better, more present fathers in their families and to their children over the years, my father asserts. I think most people would agree with that statement. What’s so puzzling then is the reason for the plummeting public image of fathers, most noticeably in their depiction in TV sitcoms.
Perhaps my biggest takeaway from the interview was when asked how the depictions made him personally feel, he responded, “Less valued by society.” He believes that there has been a downgrading of fathers by society over the past few decades. “People want dads to do more, then they do more, and are usually told that they’re not doing it right.” He expressed his belief in the importance of fatherhood, and how seeing it devalued, particularly in media such as television, makes him unhappy because he is a father and feels it’s an honorable and indispensable role to serve in families.
My father had an interesting theory for why we’ve seen this relatively recent trend of bumbling fathers become so prevalent on TV. As our society becomes more diverse, and with it, these shows, it becomes less and less acceptable to “make fun of” various groups of people, he explains. Men, fathers in particular, have been the dominant social creature for so long, making it in viewer’s eyes, more acceptable to poke fun at them without treating them as a protected class. Essentially, fathers have become an easy “punching bag” in these sitcoms.
In family sitcoms–comedies–whether they be live-action or cartoon, someone has to be the one to bear the brunt of the jokes. If you make that individual the kid, you’re downright despicable. For good reason, it’s no longer socially acceptable to make jokes at the expense of women or minorities. That leaves the father as the prime option. However, the interview with my father and my gut tell me that the bumbling father trope in television does, or has the potential to do, more damage than the short-term chuckle these characters elicit.
Works Cited
Disney Funny Scenes. (2012, June 21). Charlie Duncan Catch (Good Luck Charlie). [video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlVD_nbNojQ
Hatch, David (1999, March 8). A Good TV Dad is Hard to Find: Study Says TV Portrays Bumbling, Uncaring Fathers. Electronic Media, 18(10), p. 19. https://archive.org/details/sim_televisionweek_1999-03-08_18_10
Hoejoo. (2013, June 20). Bob dropping Toby Good Luck Charlie. [video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RORuo_EPnSE
Larocque, Ashley. (2015, May 8). Season 3 episode 5 PJ is 18. [video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCylhrOM5oM
Mohér, Gertrúd. (2016, October 9). Phil’s-osophy (complete). [video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwASk7Odla8
Rolling Rocker 66. (2018, June 8). Top 10 Dumbest Things Homer Simpson Has Ever Done (Watchmojo Idea). [video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufWE8F-RxTk
Sharrer, Erica (2020, June 21). Why Are Sitcom Dads Still Such Doofuses? The Conversation. https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-are-sitcom-dads-still-such-doofuses
ToothpasteWizard. (2022, October 26). Best of Peter Griffin Being a COMPLETE IDIOT- Family Guy. [video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmMwjSBXwZM
TV Tropes. (n.d.). Bumbling Dad. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BumblingDad
