No Ordinary Family

[Dannyalcatraz]

And somehow believes that they'll be less proud of him if his successes are sue to his power?

What did they DO to him to mess him up like that?

 

[John Crichton]

And somehow believes that they'll be less proud of him if his successes are sue to his power?

What did they DO to him to mess him up like that?

He's a kid that's had difficulties in school and has never stood out doing anything. These things happen.

Also, he's a teenager. Not a ton of rational thinking going on at that age. Sounds pretty normal to me.

 

[Umbran]

And somehow believes that they'll be less proud of him if his successes are sue to his power?

What did they DO to him to mess him up like that?

He isn't messed up. He, like many kids with good parents, wants his parents to be proud of him.

He doesn't feel the powers are really part of himself. They are external. If he gets good grades, there's nothing to be proud about - they aren't a result of effort, so he didn't earn them and they don't represent an achievement on his part.

Basically, it's like he's cheating - being given the answers by something else.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

He isn't messed up. He, like many kids with good parents, wants his parents to be proud of him.

I disagree. The writers of this show seem to exhibit a mean streak towards all of the characters. I know this is to over-dramatize the story, but it seems way over the top at times. The cops are really hard on the dad, always putting him down. The rivalries at the science lab seem really caustic. And when their son starts achieving they put him down. "Football, REALLY?!?" And the teacher who believes he's cheating is way over the top too. The characters in this show are pouring out negativity in bucketloads. I like the show overall, but this aspect really sticks out to me.

 

[Umbran]

I disagree.

Well, allow me to rephrase slightly - he's not particularly "messed up" for a teenager that's been struggling with a learning disability for years.

The writers of this show seem to exhibit a mean streak towards all of the characters.

How many non-comedies can you name where this isn't the case?

While he's not working on this show, Joss Wheadon has a basic tenet which seems to me to be mostly true throughout fiction - stable relationships are boring. While he was originally speaking about romantic relationships, it holds in general. The relationship could be between a character and a romantic partner, a coworker, or themselves.

 

[Insight]

How many non-comedies can you name where this isn't the case?

While he's not working on this show, Joss Wheadon has a basic tenet which seems to me to be mostly true throughout fiction - stable relationships are boring. While he was originally speaking about romantic relationships, it holds in general. The relationship could be between a character and a romantic partner, a coworker, or themselves.

When you write drama (or really, anything), you have to create conflict. That doesn't happen when everyone gets along.

 

[Fast Learner]

The thing about the kid plotline that most irritates me is how he never says to his math teacher, "I'm not cheating, ask me anything." That would be perfectly normal for a kid trying to prove himself.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Bingo!

 

[Jdvn1]

The thing about the kid plotline that most irritates me is how he never says to his math teacher, "I'm not cheating, ask me anything." That would be perfectly normal for a kid trying to prove himself.

I get the kid is really in over his head--he may be a genius, but he's still acts as irrationally as kids do.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

When I was a kid (younger than the kid in the show), I was accused of plagiarism for a short story I wrote. My first reaction was to protest. That didn't work. I asked the teach what I could do to prove my innocence and didn't get a good answer. The next reaction was to go to my parents to get them to go to bat for me. They did, showing it was consistent with other things I had done at that time and before.*

Now, admittedly, this kid doesn't have a body of work to do that with, but he's got a better solution available to him. The fact remains if he simply told the teacher to give him a problem, any problem, as a pop quiz- even at that very moment- he'd be able to solve it.

Wash, rinse, repeat enough times to prove he can't possibly be cheating, and suddenly he's got a teacher on his side to mentor him a bit, as opposed to a stereotypical hard-ass teach who is "out to get him."

If the teacher didn't agree to the challenge, the next reaction- OK, MY next reaction- would be to get the parents to ask for that kind of test, under any reasonable conditions the teacher wished to impose.

This teacher is going to be hell on him because he's acting illogically- based on my experience in a similar situation.






* This happened to me more than once, FWIW, and I always stepped up to the challenge. And I'm no alpha male: I hate speaking up in class, and I was a perpetual bullying victim so its not like I had a high self esteem. But I wasn't about to let anyone accuse me of being a cheat or denigrate my work in any way.