MovieChat Forums > The Cosby Show (1984) Discussion > Looking back Cliff was a control freak p...

Looking back Cliff was a control freak parent.


He never seemed to let his kids have their own views and interests and seemed to micromanage them to the point of almost being emotionally abusive in a passive aggressive sort of way.

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He actually did when Rudy tricked her into letting her wear that purple dress in "it ain't easy being green"
Even though he was well aware the whether was cold outside.

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And the episode during which they allowed Rudy to make her own rules.
Cliff and Claire were good and attentive parents. We need more real life ones like them in this world.

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Helicopter parenting?

Compared to society of previous decades or centuries, Cliff was an outright liberal.

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I think Claire was more of a control freak than Cliff was, but I never understood the whole rule about "no make up until you're 16." I was in HS in the 80's (about the same age as Denise), and that rule seemed archaic to me even then. As far as Rudy and the dress, she could have worn it with a turtleneck under it, and some warm tights, instead of white shoes and socks. No biggie.





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YES! and after just watching the only thing youtube has on the purple dress... I was wondering why they didn't find some sort of matching long sleeved shirt/stockings to wear WITH that dress.

all in all: I think Claire handled it relatively well. she was sweet and concerned, it wasn't just a flat no. but when rudy started to whine I would have said: this is not mommy being mean, this is mommy worried about your health.

then I would have taken her outside without a jacket for a minute so that rudy could really understand how cold it was. then take her back inside, taken her upstairs and rummaged through her drawers to find her some sort of warmer under things so that the dress would have been okay.

and I completely understand about a child absolutely loving an item of clothing that is only appropriate for some occasions. I would have allowed her to wear the dress inside the house afterwards.


I will never forget my first week student teaching in a kindergarten class: a parent brought her very tiny and thin daughter into school wearing SHORTS AND A TANK TOP WITH SANDALS! it was JANUARY!

Reading the paper can really be depressing. Mr. Dithers fired Dagwood again.

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Why shouldn't under 16s wear makeup?

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That was sort of the whole selling point of the show. The parents were in charge and the parents weren't idiots.

Looking at shows like The Partridge Family or One Day at a Time the kids could yell, scream or whatever and the parents would just throw up their hands like they didn't know what to do.

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I thought this as a kid. I loved the show but thought they were mean parents. As a parent myself now I think they were wonderful parents. A parents job is to raise a kid to be a responsible adult. It is the parents home and not the kids. This is just what the parents taught them. The kids jobs are to obey and learn. They didn't let their kids get away with back talk or whining either. You don't like it then they'd show you the front door.

Parents today are wimps. The kids run the home and you see the result in today's world.

One thing I have often said is this show taught me how to be a good parent. I was raised in an abusive home but quiet by being spoiled and given what I wanted. I had no idea how to be a good parent. I got many of my parenting skills by watching this show. Plus my husband who was raised in a good strict home. Im thankful for that.

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I say that dr. H. is an extremely wimpy father. He even lets claire physically abuse & torture him in one episode. In another episode, he tells the husband of one of his patients that his wife is the boss and always has been.

In fact, cosby representing dr. H. as a wimpy father who lets his wife abuse him and who lets his wife run the household as a terrifying harpy with an iron fist while he weakly defers to her reign of terror is probably one of the main reasons why liberals used to love this show.

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No.

Let's be bad guys.

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It is the parents home and not the kids.

Eh... Isn't it both the parent's home and the kid's?

The kids jobs are to obey and learn.

Ugh... I'm sorry, but I hate the word "obey".

Intelligence and purity.

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Abused but.spoiled?

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Back talk whining- aka,free speech.

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its called parenting what he was doing. they cared about their children. unlike allot today they didnt think of them as baggage to be let run amok

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Especially irritated by episode in which they baited and picked on Theo for using notes and mnemonics for an essay on Macbeth. Didn't these selfrighteous goodygoodies ever use labour saving devices-in the kitchen,for instance?

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Yeah, they definately were self-righteous goody-goodies. As much as I liked the kids (except for maybe Sondra, who often was an uptight bitch), both Cliff and Claire got on my nerves.

Intelligence and purity.

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I would've like to see Cliff and Clair empathize with their kids a little more to humanize themselves by saying they didn't become a doctor and a lawyer overnight and explaining their pitfalls and struggle to get where they are.

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Yeah, but it was never going to happen. Cliff and Claire had never had to struggle for anything, they were so perfect from the start. 

Intelligence and purity.

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its called parenting what he was doing. they cared about their children. unlike allot today they didnt think of them as baggage to be let run amok


Yes. Way too many parents are too easy with their kids which causes kids to think they don't need to respect anyone even teachers. Kids who don't respect teachers don't respect authority.

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Respect has to.be earned.

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I'm assuming that when Cliff and Clare were kids, their parents were just as strict (or even more).

Which makes sense, considering they most likely grew up in the late 40s- early 50s

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No, Clair was the control freak.

-If was Clair who caught Vanessa in the act while being mischievous.

- Cliff wouldn't have cared about Vanessa wearing makeup at 13, she would've gotten away with it.

- When Theo played with Rudy and got her hurt, Cliff didn't seem to care how it happened. It was Claire who caught Rudy in a lie causing Theo to get punished. If it weren't for her, he would've gotten away with it.

- And when Rudy tricked him into letting her wear that purple dress, it was CLARE who yelled at her and didn't allow her to wear it.

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