OP (&AYRT): No, how dare you hijack a discussion of parenting in the MCU to talk about... parenting in general? And more particularly, in fannish versions of the MCU?
I think people like to make parents (particularly fathers) EVIL because it's simpler in the same way that comics are usually simpler: you are allowed to hate this person. But just as Daredevil made the villain more sympathetic (although, honestly, I was bored stiff by the Wilson Fisk scenes and never had much sympathy for him at all--give me Magneto any day), there's room for a little more nuanced view of parenting. I've heard a lot of praise for Daredevil being, not darker, but more gritty and realistic; can't that carry through into our interpretations of Jack Murdock?
So, thanks for *contributing to* (not hijacking) this discussion.
(And I've been known to indulge in a good anonymous rant or two at times myself. It's cathartic.)
Speaking of which: I do think Stick did profoundly more damage than Jack did, because he did his best to destroy Matt's ability to form meaningful relationships. He did it for what he thought were good reasons, but his world view is profoundly twisted. Even a soldier, which is supposedly what he wanted Matt to be, is meant to have fairly close bonds with those around him, to be able to trust in them and rely on them in terrible circumstances. (I'm not trying to romanticize the "band of brothers" thing here. Please, anybody, correct me on this. It's not like I've ever served.) Jack may have modeled poor coping mechanisms and given his son too much responsibility, but I still think isolating Matt was worse. (Then again, maybe he would have been stolen by HYDRA or something if he were too trusting, so there's that...) If that's an oversimplification of that aspect of their relationship, it's definitely one supported by the show.
Re: Jack Murdock's father abusive?
I think people like to make parents (particularly fathers) EVIL because it's simpler in the same way that comics are usually simpler: you are allowed to hate this person. But just as Daredevil made the villain more sympathetic (although, honestly, I was bored stiff by the Wilson Fisk scenes and never had much sympathy for him at all--give me Magneto any day), there's room for a little more nuanced view of parenting. I've heard a lot of praise for Daredevil being, not darker, but more gritty and realistic; can't that carry through into our interpretations of Jack Murdock?
So, thanks for *contributing to* (not hijacking) this discussion.
(And I've been known to indulge in a good anonymous rant or two at times myself. It's cathartic.)
Speaking of which: I do think Stick did profoundly more damage than Jack did, because he did his best to destroy Matt's ability to form meaningful relationships. He did it for what he thought were good reasons, but his world view is profoundly twisted. Even a soldier, which is supposedly what he wanted Matt to be, is meant to have fairly close bonds with those around him, to be able to trust in them and rely on them in terrible circumstances. (I'm not trying to romanticize the "band of brothers" thing here. Please, anybody, correct me on this. It's not like I've ever served.) Jack may have modeled poor coping mechanisms and given his son too much responsibility, but I still think isolating Matt was worse. (Then again, maybe he would have been stolen by HYDRA or something if he were too trusting, so there's that...) If that's an oversimplification of that aspect of their relationship, it's definitely one supported by the show.