Ok, does anyone else think the Animorphs' parents were, well, um, not to put too fine a point on it, a bunch of dicks? I mean, yeah, they're fine and good most of the time, but when the Animorphs need to be punished boy they go to town on them. In fact, it's almost like they enjoy it. Jake's dad gives him a ****ing draconian punishment in MM#1 just because he stayed out late for a few hours, which he is remorseful for anyway, but STILL severely punishes him, and relents ONLY FOR A FEW HOURS if he will do the work he should have done HIMSELF. He may be a doctor, but he's an irresponsible ****.
Um, when I was thirteen, if I stayed out hours late without notifying my parents, I'd have been grounded for months. So would my friends, had they come home late. Draconian? Really?
The reverse happens in #12, where Rachel's mom not only doesn't notice that her daughter jumped or "fell" into a crocodile pit, but she doesn't punish her for it, severely or non! Hell, she doesn't even QUESTION her about it. Great lawyer, but HORRIBLE mother.
"Hey honey, that part where you almost died in a crocodile pit? You're grounded."
Then we have Cassie's parents in #14 embarrassing Cassie with great glee, snickering like high school pranksters and using something sweet to turn into something perverse for their own twisted ends due to their warped views of the world,
Because "aww, isn't out daughter growing up sweet and awkward" is exactly the same as child abuse.
which shows that Cassie's parents are the winners of the "Worst Parents of the Animorphs" Awards.
No way, Peter totally has a lock on that prize.
Not to mention Cassie's dad was nonchalant about what he believed to be a possible dropped bomb "ACCIDENTALLY" KILLING HIS DAUGHTER.
Yeah that was stupid. Then again, after Cassie goes missing in #19 apparently they can't stop hugging her for weeks afterwards, so it's not like they don't care about her.
Then we have Marco's dad making his son FERTILIZE the lawn with raw **** after he's out late. In addition to losing TV, of course, AND being grounded.
THAT'S what you choose to pick on Peter for? The child neglect, the obliviousness to the point of idiocy, the lack of authoritative power, the passive-aggression, the 'not noticing my sick kid's been gone for twelve hours', the ice cream for dinner, the two years in the Sad Cave, and FERTILIZING THE LAWN is his biggest flaw?
Really, who else LIKES the Animorphs' parents?
Me! Who cares if they're flawed people, they're fictional characters. And sometimes endearing ones at that.
And then, not only do they never relax on their punishments or, hell, just TALK to their children, but they never notice that their children are staying out later, and that so are their friends. The parents can keep in touch, so how hard would it be to figure out they're all going out around the same time? They never notice that they're getting moodier and depressed. Even if they thought that this was teenage angst, never confronting them about it or even just watching them or talking to them, or, you know, maybe PLAYING A PART IN THEIR LIVES, is totally irresponsible on their parts.
They do notice that their kids are getting moodier (#15, #16 and ugh #32 are good examples), but are they supposed to jump to the conclusion that their kids are participating in a war? Peter tries to reach out to Marco but is rebuffed, Jean tries to talk to Jake but assumes it's a normal part of growing up. And we know they play a role in their kids' lives, we see plenty of references to them doing things with their families.
Really, it seems ALL they care about is that they get grades and follow their orders.
Except, you know, the scenes between Jake and Jean in #16 and #31, Naomi protecting her daughters from a bear in #49, Peter trying to reach out to Marco in #10, #15 and #35, Cassie's parents putting their daughter's safety first in #49 and inviting her to participate in their work throughout the series, so on so forth. I think it's incredibly obvious that all the parents in the series really love their kids and want the best for them, and one of the things I love about the series is that all the parents have their distinct personalities and parenting styles. Sometimes the parents are infuriatingly clueless or easy to fool, but I don't think they're nearly worthy of this much hate.
