MovieChat Forums > Little House on the Prairie (1974) Discussion > Charles was insane.

Charles was insane.

posted 8 years ago by Albert_Ingalls
30 replies | jump to latest

Charles Ingalls logic that proves he was insane.

1. Always talk about paying for stuff with cash. Immediately after moving to walnut grove he asks for credit at the mercantile. Gets mad when they tell him no.

2. Signs a deal where if doesn't complete job he will lose his oxen. Climbs up tree, falls and breaks ribs and doesn't finish job. Gets mad when guy takes his oxen.

3. Goes to town with his often shattered ribs and uses his children to turn the town against the businessman who legally repossessed the oxen. Townsfolk don't realize this will be an often done thing.

4. Builds tiny house and moves family in, forces two daughters to sleep in attic. Forces youngest daughter to sleep at the foot of his bed, forcing her to listen while he has sex for seconds at a time with his wife and to hear him as he eats popcorn and laughs. Causes young daughter to become developmentally delayed and to have bladder problems.

5. Goes out on the road to earn money after crops fail. Again. Starts blasting tunnels for railroad, a friend is blown up and Charles stuffs his remains in a travel bag and returns them to the widow.

6. Constantly runs around hitting people. Bully boys make Caroline drop her eggs so he attacks in a rage. Bully brothers break his ribs and then do unmentionable things to him.

7. Best friend and wife are getting a divorce. Charles is a witness to the case. Charles starts laughing at their misery and points out they are idiots. Laughs so hard he soils himself.

8. Talks about how a man is supposed to support his family, moves Winoka where he gets job for himself and his wife. Wife winds up working all the time while he smokes a pipe and eats pie.

[–] Ditto-head 8 years ago

9) Sends his adolescent daughter to live amongst a tight knit, uneducated community under the tight control of an illiterate and hostile religious fanatic.

10) Adopts multiple children he cannot afford.

11) Quits the only business he actually succeeded in- the freight company with Jonathan.

12) Leaves Caroline alone with Chris to finish adding onto the kitchen and the family.

13) Drags his catatonic, dying son out into the wilderness and builds an altar. Gets struck by lightning, knocked into a coma, and dreams everything that follows.

14) Fails to dodge a giant rolling wheel, breaks multiple bones and gets laid up for weeks, then attempts to refuse to "allow" his wife to work, preferring instead that his children go hungry and lose their home. Pouts like a child when defied.

15) Drives a wagon with his wife's dead mother in the back straight up to the front door of the house, rather than stopping somewhere out of sight and walking to the house and breaking the news to Caroline. Caroline, in blissful ignorance, joyously runs to the back of the wagon to greet her mother, only to be confronted with her coffin. Good job, Chuck.

[–] BenjiCarver 8 years ago

16. Even though he has a farm to run and his ribs are very fragile, he constantly initiates physical confrontations with people.

17. Laughs like a maniac when eating popcorn. Imagine sitting next to that nut at a movie theater?

I call woo woo on you,

[–] glitterrose 8 years ago

Oh holy *hit, I have so many replies to what you said!

9--I hated Charles attitude when Mary's back at home, she's clearly upset and makes it sound like she also has part of the blame for why everything blew up in her face in that episode.

10--Clearly ridiculous. Yeah, I realize why they're doing it for the show. Even Matthew was getting older, they clearly had no faith in the Greenbush twins to bring the "kiddie factor" back into the show. But it's still so damn stupid to keep on taking on more than you can handle by taking in kids you clearly can't afford to take care of.

11--Don't forget he was halfway successful at furniture making. I sit and watch that episode and think "Why in the hell weren't you doing that since day one, Charles? You're not a farmer! Even Jack the dog could probably have a better crop than you do!"

12--To be fair, I'm glad Chris showed up. It's a shame he never came back so that way he could build them a bigger house once Charles started taking in every orphan he came in contact with. Chris was a damn hard worker. Same goes for Almanzo when he added on to the house when Royal and Jenny came. It'd probably take Charles 2 years to get one wall up. And of course there'd be a storm that'd knock it down.

13--I just hate that episode.

14--I LOVE any time Caroline puts him in his place. And to be fair, if Charles was actually helping to unload the rolling wheel, maybe he wouldn't have gotten hurt? No, "I'm gonna supervise by holding this clipboard!"

15--Did Bandit have his doghouse by this episode? I'm brainfarting at the moment. If he did, THIS would've been the episode that Charles would be sleeping in the dog house for the rest of his life. I get the dramatic angle. But you mean to tell me they couldn't write that scene differently? Charles or Caroline's father could've CLEARLY warned Caroline and they could still have Caroline go to the back of the wagon to cry over her mom. But for both men to sit there like bumps on a log, holy *hit, that's just awful. Of course I've said on other threads that Charles is a horrible husband and father.

[–] glitterrose 8 years ago

Tied on with 15--I don't watch the show but how many of you are familiar with that Wife Swap show? lol, I'm not suggesting anything kinky there. :D I would love to see an episode when Charles and Harriet were together because Harriet flat out wouldn't put up with Charles and his *hit. And Nels could basically have a vacation being with Caroline.

[–] Ditto-head 7 years ago

Hi, I just noticed your responses. I did forget about the furniture episode, but he did ultimately fail at that particular piece, since someone ripped him off and mass produced it. But if he really had been so gifted, I agree that he should have stuck with furniture making and given up on his failed farming attempts.

I was also glad Chris was there. (Too bad he didn't stick around long enough the put up the much needed partition between Carrie's bed and her parents') There's a running joke, though, that he was actually Grace's father.

I don't remember if there was a dog house in that episode, I never can get past how insanely cruel (or totally oblivious) one would have to be to drive up to the house with the coffin in the back of the wagon.

[–] motheroftwoprinces 8 years ago

You forgot arsonist. When they bured that shed full of rats and cornmeal.

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] anna8625 8 years ago

7. Best friend and wife are getting a divorce. Charles is a witness to the case. Charles starts laughing at their misery and points out they are idiots. Laughs so hard he soils himself.

https://makeagif.com/i/EafxqI

He enjoys laughing at others' misfortune to make him feel better about his own.

[–] glitterrose 8 years ago

And don't forget he can't take the heat when he had green hair and people were laughing at HIM. All the times he laughed at Harriet, I wish they'd gotten a close up on the Olesons*. I bet Harriet wasn't laughing like a hyena the way Charles would do if Harriet had green hair. My guess is Harriet was probably trying to cover her mouth to keep from laughing so hard.

*The only one I could see in that scene was Nels. I think the way they shot the scene had Caroline blocking Harriet's view.

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] nicolbatchellor 8 years ago

I'm seriously crying laughing at these....

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] glitterrose 8 years ago

Slightly wrong there with that post. Remember the classic gem during the Morphine episodes? Charles wished Albert would run away and not come back. FATHER OF THE YEAR MATERIAL!