Don't humanize Daddy.
Jan. 29th, 2016 01:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dreadedcandiru2As you know, it's been nine years since the organized ugliness we called the Housening. Nine years since Mike arrogated the house to himself because accepting help from Mira or not horribly inconveniencing everyone else by being a spoiled brat about things was too much like being an adult to sit well. Nine years since Liz acted like a dog in a manger in her own damned right. Nine years since Elly bitched and hollered because her lack of firmness backfired on her. Above all, it's been nine years since it was tacitly agreed on that April wasn't actually a frightened, heartsick little girl who felt that the world had turned to quicksand. Since taking the time to address and allay her concerns was a Hell of a lot like work and might tend to make everyone feel bad about their horrible antics, they took their cue from a bystander ignorant of what was going on around him and agreed that she was simply being a princess.
The problem is, of course, that said ignorant idiot happened to be her biological father. Oh, sure, he finally after the fact admitted that yeah, children have feelings and yeah, they might just have been a trifle less than fair or nice to her but, chee, kids are resilient so it's not as if he had to learn from the mess his blindness had made or to apologize or, worst of all, finally get to know who the people around him actually are and what they actually want out of life. It seems to me that he learned the wrong lesson from the way his family was back in the day; given how literal-minded, uncurious and just plain dumb he is, he assumed that since Will was too exhausted by his back-breaking labour to do anything but wade in when Carrie was overwhelmed that being a remote figure that can only say no is what a father is. The idea of engaging with his family except when it's amusing is, to a dope like him who can't think, The Way Things Are. He might think that he's got it made and had a happy life but his need to cower behind his paper because he's too stupid to do anything else has cheated him out of too damned much. I'd feel pity for him if he weren't such a smug, stupid and self-absorbed asshole.
The problem is, of course, that said ignorant idiot happened to be her biological father. Oh, sure, he finally after the fact admitted that yeah, children have feelings and yeah, they might just have been a trifle less than fair or nice to her but, chee, kids are resilient so it's not as if he had to learn from the mess his blindness had made or to apologize or, worst of all, finally get to know who the people around him actually are and what they actually want out of life. It seems to me that he learned the wrong lesson from the way his family was back in the day; given how literal-minded, uncurious and just plain dumb he is, he assumed that since Will was too exhausted by his back-breaking labour to do anything but wade in when Carrie was overwhelmed that being a remote figure that can only say no is what a father is. The idea of engaging with his family except when it's amusing is, to a dope like him who can't think, The Way Things Are. He might think that he's got it made and had a happy life but his need to cower behind his paper because he's too stupid to do anything else has cheated him out of too damned much. I'd feel pity for him if he weren't such a smug, stupid and self-absorbed asshole.
