MovieChat Forums > The Squid and the Whale (2005) Discussion > What horrible parents!

What horrible parents!

posted 9 years ago by amdew717
9 replies | jump to latest

First of all, I can't see how this was nominated for Golden Globes in the comedy/musical category. There is nothing remotely funny about this sad story.

So wow, if this really was based on the director's life, what a survivor of emotional abuse this man is! In scene after scene, I was absolutely appalled at the things coming out of the mouths of the parents. The things they disclosed to their kids were SOOOOO inappropriate, not to mention their actions in front of them, and their choices of sexual partners...talk about crossing the line and breaking boundaries...JEEZ!

I guess because there were no outside observers, nobody ever called social services. What kind of idiot would leave an emotionally fragile 12 year old boy by himself, even for an evening, let alone a 3 day out of town trip? Why didn't *beep* Bernard leave Frank with his mom for that time? And if they were alternating days, wouldn't Frank have automatically been with his mother for some of that time? I guess that's a bit of a plot hole. But DAMN, what selfish and clueless pricks they BOTH were!

That said, it was a pretty good movie, but certainly not a feel-good and definitely not a comedy.

[–] califor123 9 years ago

The mother was a great, caring mother. Her only problem was not editing out some of her history when speaking to her kids. I would have given anything to have a mother like her. Pardon me, but I think you're nuts. I don't think you've had any experience with really bad parents. Just count yourself lucky, and shut-up.

[–] MoviemanCin 8 years ago

They were mediocre as parents.

Schrodinger's cat walks into a bar, and / or doesn't.

[–] peachesNcream97 8 years ago

News flash, there are way worse parents out there. These ones weren't the best and the father was unbearable but they're a far cry from being "horrible"

[–] ElMacho 7 years ago

Allowing your 12yo son to drink beer at will, is extremely bad parenting.

Desperanto spoken here...

[–] Fully_Loaded 7 years ago

they weren't around to witness him doing these things and that was their crime ... absenteeism

[–] ElMacho 7 years ago

The father saw the kid drinking beer from a can through the window of the mother's house.

Desperanto spoken here...

[–] brux (14666) 4 years ago

I don't think alcohol for a 12 year old is that bad. French kids drink wine at an early age, and in he past they drank a lot of alcoholic drinks because the water was often not pure. When I was a kid my Dad let me have beer, not a beer, just some beer, and I never developed any kind of attachment or addiction to alcohol, in fact of my friends in high school and college I probably drank the least of anyone. But I can see why you would say that because those kids were acting out so much. Same with the dad. Creepy movie.

[–] sublime1109 7 years ago

I'm pretty sure Bernard left frank at home simply because he forgot about him, or at least thats what I got from it. Of course that doesn't absolve him in any way, it just changes the context of his bad parenting.

I thought it was a comedy, although the humor was pretty twisted, and I could see how some people might not find it very funny.

As far as their parenting goes. Bernard was such an *beep* in most every way. Sure, he wasnt abusive to his kids, but I think what he was doing was in a way damaging them for life. He convinced the older son that his gf wasn't good for him because maybe she wasnt super hot, convinced him that his mom was *beep* inferior intellectually, and basically a whore who only dumped bernard because he wasnt successful anymore. Not to mention raised him to think that anyone who didn't love the arts and literature that they were a 'philistine'. Yeah, he liked to spend time with his kids, but it seemed all of it was in an attempt to always show that he was better than everyone else in the world.

As far as his mom goes, I'm really not sure the direction they were going with her. When the movie started, I was under the impression that they were trying to portray her as the same as Bernard when it comes to parenting, but there was really only one example of that at the beginning when she basically warns Jesse eisenberg that he'd better practice a lot because he might humiliate himself in front of the school at the talent show, which is not very supporting of her. But the rest of the movie, other than having an affair, she was a mostly sympathetic character who was driven out of her marriage by having no connection with her arrogant husband.

as far as that kid drinking beer the whole movie, I have no idea what was up with that, and why his parents let him do that, or why a kid who seemed to be no older than 9 or 10 was jerking off at school lol.

[–] brux (14666) 4 years ago

Yeah, having just seen Marriage Story I thought I would go back and watch this, since it is on NetFlix, and I was really surprised because I had seen it a long time ago and did not remember any of it. It was creepy.