fannish5 Great Parents

[selenak]

Name 5 characters who you think are great parents, or who would be great parents.

You know, that begs for the definition of "great parent". I mean, I'm in awe of Jack Bristow's protectiveness of his daughter as much as the next Alias watcher, but unlike the majority of Alias watchers, I also think Jack's utter lack of fatherly communication skills between Syd's early childhood and her twentysixth year, while being understandable enough in the light of his personal history, disqualify him from father of the year awards. As for SpyMommy, Irina Derevko is incredibly intriguing, but I don't think even the most passionate Irina fan would praise her motherhood skills. And as a banner carrier of "Noah got it coming" in s2, even before quitting Heroes, fandom's and HRG's tendency to consider "I did it all for Claire" makes him right about just about everything irritated me. While the dysfunctional relationship between Angel and Connor is, after Angel and Darla, the one I'm most invested in on AtS, I wouldn't put "great father" and "Angel" in the same sentence. (He's awesome with the protectiveness and compared to many another father in the Jossverse, he's stellar, but...)

So, going by "who would I want to raise my kids, were I to die young" rather than "whom do I think of as a fascinating character":

1) Haresh and Gita of The Sarah Jane Adventures. Both likeable, at the same time, with a proven record of having a great relationship with their daughter. Very encouraging of her talents. Both working parents. Go them!

2) The Burkles, of Angel: the Series. Fred's parents were the opportunity for the show to do something self-mocking, as everyone automatically assumes they're evil (since they're parents), and they turn out to be perfectly nice, loving and concerned. If you want to stretch it, it could be held against them they can't tell a god impersonating their daughter apart from the real thing, but hey, that's better than what Buffy's friends did when they couldn't tell her apart from a robot. Anyway, the Burkles - go them as well.

3) Martha and Jonathan Kent, of Lois and Clark. Note I'm specific about the show here. They're a great couple in many a comic as well, but it gets tricky when we come to other tv shows. On Lois and Clark, though, Martha and Jonathan score by being nice, both with a great sense of humour, more on the cell phone than anyone before the X-Files, and good at raising alien babies into enterprising reporters with a great taste in Chinese food. I think I could trust them with my hypothetical offspring.

4) Wash and Zoe, of Firefly: my hypothetical example. They would have been great parents. You'd know that Zoe would have had to be the one to tell them not to stay up too late because Wash would have caved and told them one more dinosaur adventure. And the family trips would have been something to behold. Oh, Zoe and Wash.

5) Abbey and Jed Bartlet, of The West Wing. My great and just a tad flawed example. Jed and his middle daughter have the occasional communication difficulties (Abbey, by contrast, seems to be regarded as impartial by all three), and he's a scary father-in-law, but all in all, the Bartlets come across as having done a great job with their three daughters. They also have a tendency to sort of adopt people. I wouldn't hand over a baby while they're in the White House for obvious reasons, but before or after, no problem. Abbey being a doctor is just an additional bonus. (In a country which still doesn't have a reasonable healthcare system.) (I want my hypothetical offspring not to wait three days in an emergency room.)


Considered, but left out because either of their partners or their working situations or their mental state: Sandra Bennet (Heroes), Emily Sloane (Alias), Sydney (The Pretender).

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On another topic: Battlestar Galactica offers webisodes again - and this time they seem to center around Gaeta. Here's the first chapter, which, among other things, makes a certain fanon canon:

Comments

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

Considered, but left out because either of their partners or their working situations or their mental state: Sandra Bennet (Heroes), Emily Sloane (Alias), Sydney (The Pretender).

Poor Sydney. Well, it's probably just as well he works for an evil corporation of badness; otherwise he'd have an unfair advantage in parenting contests, what with his innately superior parenting. ;)

[bethos.livejournal.com]

I screamed aloud.

[angevin2.livejournal.com]

Oh, #4 made me sad.

[nolivingman.livejournal.com]

It broke my heart that the Burkles didn't even get to know that their daughter had died and was replaced by a god in her skin. Because they were such amazingly great parents that they should have been able to mourn her; they should have known.

[lawrence520.livejournal.com]

I grant you Sydney would be a strong contender for best parent on Pretender, but I still think he might get edged out by Broots and Miss Parker. :)

[12-12-12.livejournal.com]

I love the Burkles. "Honey, it's just a decapitated head! Stop making such a fuss!" (slightly paraphrased, since it's been too long since I rewatched the show.)

I actually thought that Angel was a very good father, within his own limitations--that is, I loved the way he loved Connor, if that makes any sense. DB is surprisingly good at playing dads (he has a son on his new show.)

[damedbx.livejournal.com]

those are awesome parents. aaaawww. wash n zoe...

[neutralalienist.livejournal.com]

I would choose Carla from SJA, myself, but it does have a nice share of great parents this year. (Even Sarah got better at it!)

Wash and Zoe - post-sniffling, I am imagining the Serenity crew as extended family. It's kind of hilarious.

Oh, Angel. He loved Connor to death but never knew what the hell he was doing.

[andraste]

Not watching the BSG clip for fear of spoilers (have not yet seen Season Four) but please tell me they finally confirmed that Gaeta is the only gay man in the fleet? Or is it some other bit of fanon?

[midnightsjane.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the BSG clip! I didn't know if they would be on Youtube. Can't get the ones on the Scifi site in Canada, so again, thanks!
Jane Espenson does commentary on it too. Neat!

I think the Burkles were the best parents in the Jossverse, but Zoe and Wash would have been awesome!
Angel tried so hard, but he had his own daddy issues..

[merrymaia.livejournal.com]

Wash and Zoe, of Firefly: my hypothetical example. They would have been great parents. You'd know that Zoe would have had to be the one to tell them not to stay up too late because Wash would have caved and told them one more dinosaur adventure. And the family trips would have been something to behold. Oh, Zoe and Wash.

Oh, yes.

[wemblee.livejournal.com]

WOOOOOOO CANON GAY (why only in the websiodes, Ron Moore :///).

[kattahj.livejournal.com]

Heh, I was thinking "Martha and Jonathan in Lois and Clark" just a second before reading down far enough to see them mentioned. :-) I started rewatching the pilot yesterday, so they were on my mind already. Anyway, I agree that all five couples are excellent choices.

[wee-warrior.livejournal.com]

A gay character who is not evil or dead, yay! (I'm sorry, but I read Ron Moore giving one of these idiotic "I don't have gay characters because I'm too unfamiliar with them to write them right" interviews a while back. He really has to live that one down now.)