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Beware of the Patterblunders....
Dec. 5th, 2012 01:23 amWatching the Pattersons in action tends to remind me of a series of road safety advertisements that they used to run in the United Kingdom decades ago as part of a seat-belt campaign called "Beware of the Blunders." The title characters of the series were very appropriately named as they were the most heedless group of gormless twits to ever wedge themselves behind a steering wheel. What always happened is that a Blunder would do something very stupid and a non-belted driver would smash right through his or her windshield trying to avoid ramming into the nitwit. The announcer would then shift from a running commentary on the non-existent thought processes of the Blunder to a stern warning that even if you, the viewer, were a competent driver, there are so many oblivious ding-dongs like the Blunders racing around mindlessly, it made sense to belt up. This would lead to the tag-line: "Beware of the Blunders! Clunk (your car door), Click(your seatbelt closed)!!"
The reason that I mentioned them is that most of why the Pattersons fail as human beings is that they do not like the idea of paying attention to their immediate surroundings and seem actively averse to having to be told about the negative consequences of their heedlessness. What seems to be happening is that they seem to be under the impression that they should be able to drift witlessly through this life without having to deal with the unfairness that is being told to watch out for other people. Other people are supposed to scurry out of their way and let them do what they want and if they don't, they're picky-faces, evil career women and domineering in-laws.
What makes this all the more annoying is that the same John who cannot be asked to pay attention to the fact that Elly feels conflicted about her lot in life and has issues with her looks turns around and complains about how his children can't watch what they're doing. One could almost imagine a pay-off line from an American PSA: "I learned to be an oblivious wingnut from you, Dad!"
The reason that I mentioned them is that most of why the Pattersons fail as human beings is that they do not like the idea of paying attention to their immediate surroundings and seem actively averse to having to be told about the negative consequences of their heedlessness. What seems to be happening is that they seem to be under the impression that they should be able to drift witlessly through this life without having to deal with the unfairness that is being told to watch out for other people. Other people are supposed to scurry out of their way and let them do what they want and if they don't, they're picky-faces, evil career women and domineering in-laws.
What makes this all the more annoying is that the same John who cannot be asked to pay attention to the fact that Elly feels conflicted about her lot in life and has issues with her looks turns around and complains about how his children can't watch what they're doing. One could almost imagine a pay-off line from an American PSA: "I learned to be an oblivious wingnut from you, Dad!"
