TMC
11-30-2022, 04:01 AM
https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:g_dvmL83lfUJ:https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2022/11/big-mouth-season-6-elliot-birch-cartoon-dads/672289/&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
A modern generation of animated sitcoms shows a rarity in the genre: well-adjusted fathers.
By Adrienne Matei
NOVEMBER 29, 2022, 1:31 PM ET
In Bob’s Burgers—in some way a spiritual successor to King of the Hill, with the executive producer Jim Dauterive having worked on both—Bob Belcher approaches his own eccentric son, Gene, with more respectful curiosity than anxious disapproval. Bob doesn’t need regular life lessons to learn how to better empathize with his family, and he's not socializing his kids to have patriarchal values—he seems to operate from a softer place by default. Bob may not be the best businessman, but he is an emotional provider. His gentle parenting and ability to both work and have fun with his wife, Linda, imbue the show with a sense of security despite the family’s precarious existence on the poverty line. In no small part due to its tender patriarch, Bob’s Burgers pulls off a rare feat in the age-old genre of the sitcom: a portrayal of a family that’s functional and affectionate, but still funny.
A modern generation of animated sitcoms shows a rarity in the genre: well-adjusted fathers.
By Adrienne Matei
NOVEMBER 29, 2022, 1:31 PM ET
In Bob’s Burgers—in some way a spiritual successor to King of the Hill, with the executive producer Jim Dauterive having worked on both—Bob Belcher approaches his own eccentric son, Gene, with more respectful curiosity than anxious disapproval. Bob doesn’t need regular life lessons to learn how to better empathize with his family, and he's not socializing his kids to have patriarchal values—he seems to operate from a softer place by default. Bob may not be the best businessman, but he is an emotional provider. His gentle parenting and ability to both work and have fun with his wife, Linda, imbue the show with a sense of security despite the family’s precarious existence on the poverty line. In no small part due to its tender patriarch, Bob’s Burgers pulls off a rare feat in the age-old genre of the sitcom: a portrayal of a family that’s functional and affectionate, but still funny.