Therapy

[cyberghostface]

Warning for discussion of abuse







The full comic can be read here.

Comments

[freezer]

Well... That's a thing.

...Wait... Is their therapist Bobby Hill?!?

[cyberghostface]

Yeah.

[locuatico]

I think the point is that, while Family guy and The Simpson's style of humor would be awful to see in real life (more so with Family Guy than The Simpsons), King of the Hill mostly had a healthier relationship with the Hills (which mostly had to do with King of the Hill not being a full comedy/satire, like The Simpsons or Family Guy, or at least not the same style of humor)

[super_fly]

That boy was all right after all.

[burkeonthesly]

I'm pretty sure "Bobby's gonna grow up just fine" was the unspoken thesis of the show.

[walkingthroughforest]

That was really sweet.

In a really fucked up way.

[redmagpie]

I know right?

[reveen]

Thank god for Hank Hill I guess. A cartoon sitcom dad who isnt horrible.

[redmagpie]

There's Bob from Bob's Burgers too.

[wizardru]

"Dad, why do you hate what you don't understand?"

"I DON'T HATE YA, BOBBY."

My son and I say this to each other all the time. :)

[alicemacher]

This is a clever, disturbing yet ultimately heartwarming story.

A common criticism of King of the Hill, or at least its later seasons, is that Hank is maybe too much of a pendulum-swing away from the "bumbling and/or abusive sitcom dad," that he's a Marty Stu who's shown to be always right and a much better judge of what's best for his family and community than anyone else.

I can't say whether or not that criticism is justified, having seen only scattered episodes myself. However, I will say that if domestic sitcom writers are going to err when creating parents or guardians, better they err in the direction of "unfailingly wise and decent" than in the direction of "unfailingly stupid, irresponsible and abusive," like Peter Griffin.

Granted, a too-good-to-be-true parent isn't comedy gold much more than a horrible parent is. (Whatever laughs there were in Leave It to Beaver didn't come from Ward and June, but from Wally's and Beaver's naievte and Eddie's conniving.) But at least the former doesn't validate the abusive behaviour of real-life parents, or potential future parents, watching the show.

[rainspirit]

Atticus Finch may have been the kind of guy to be painted with the same brush as Peter Griffin, as well.

...though I guess that may have been a little bit refuted with the latest book featuring him.

[cyberghostface]

Are you referring to the rough draft of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' that was published as a separate novel?

[rainspirit]

Uh, Go Set A Watchman, yes. The novel title escaped me.

[icon_uk]

I don't really hold that to the same standard owing to the controversy about whether Harper Lee would have ever allowed it to be published prior to her failing health.

[gyre]

Yesssss this forever. I heard it described on the radio before it came out and I was like, "Oh, so it's a draft of Mockingbird." And then the guy on the radio kept calling it a sequel and I was confused as to how someone could so clearly describe a draft and then call it a sequel. What a money grab. I hope demons eat their toes.

[locuatico]

the core aspect of Hank is that he is a decent man at heart, and most episodes have him trying to do what he thinks is the morally right decision and the problem he has (and were most humor comes from with him) is that he is a huge stick in the mud and too stubborn when he thinks he is right (not an unfair assumption, mind you, considering the stuff he has to deal with). I remember an episode in which he is boring a jury to death by going through every. Single. Detail. On how poorly constructed a house they had to demolish was, to the point everyone but Hank knew they would lose the trial if they didn't think of something fast.

[captainbellman]

Meanwhile, a few blocks down, Morty Smith starts on his seventh Jack Daniels of the afternoon.

[michaelhealy]

Shit the Venture brothers have a less horrific childhood than Morty.

[wizardru]

PFFT. As if Morty is still alive.

The original Morty from this dimension, anyhow.

[michaelhealy]

Any Morty who lives to adulthood (most will not) is going to be a wreck.

[thenicochan]

I read every line from Bobby is his voice. It was amazing.

[lb_lee]

Honestly, as someone who's just been through a men's group for survivors... this stuff really hits home. It actually feels like conversations we had in that group.

Which is actually really sad. :(

[burkeonthesly]

That line, "I don't know why, it was just what we did," hits me. However you grow up sets your idea of what's normal, and when you get out to the rest of the world and start to realize it's really not, your whole sense of reality crumbles.

[lb_lee]

Yeah, I'm kinda in the "reality crumble" stage myself right now, so it just hits hard. I feel like this comic was intended to be kinda funny, in a, "Man, what if these cartoons were REAL?" kinda way, but it all just feels so real to me in some ways, you know?

[burkeonthesly]

I know, believe me I know. I had my reality-crumble some years ago, but I was lucky enough to have my fiancee (now wife) with me at the time to help me through it. I still occasionally remember things from my past, and when I tell her about it, she gives me a shocked stare and a "that explains so much."

But you can get better. You can get good people in your life, and they will help you. I speak from experience.

[silverzeo]

The real sad part, this is what the writers of the Simpsons are really trying to make Bart go down this road, making him seem like he is going to be a failure at life.... even though he is just 10 years old, still in 4th grade, and has pretty much done more than most grown ups... that and it's Springfield, the place where Homer, a man who didn't finish either college or High School, works as the Nuclear Power Plant Head Safety Supervisor....