Dad's On Tv

[CatholicMax]

[url="http://www.slate.com/id/2148392/"]http://www.slate.com/id/2148392/[/url]

Fathers are constantly being bashed by the media. Portrayed as couch potatoes who sit around drinking beer all day, in tv dads are abusive, uncaring and all around not the superhero they once were. Its nice to see that some companies are looking to change that image. something that really caught me about this commercial though is that it doesn't end the way you would think.

[LouisvilleFan]

Divorce: Not so bad after all.

[CatholicMax]

No and that is very cynical to look at it that way. the Commercial is recognizing the reality of society and it is saying men should be involved in their children's lives. It is contrary to the picture of the divorced absent father. Divorce is sometimes necessary though it is not desired (I speak as someone from a broken home), and it is an rampant today. And commercials like this do send a message, not that divorce is okay but that men need to take part in their children's life. If Divorce were not so common i would agree your statement would be the message but in the context its not.

[Malachi Crunch]

I agree that the American male father figure is under attack from the mainstream media. No question. Although I watch it and am mildly entertained, Jim Belushi's show "According to Jim" is a perfect example of a stereo typical father who drinks beer, becomes an apeman when football is on, wants sex every time he demands it, teases his children unmercifully, acts foolish nearly everytime a challenging and serious decision is to be made. I know NO ONE who acts like this. neve have, and it's not representative of anyone real, I hope. Part of it is attmept at comedy to get viewership and earn a paycheck. The other part is a strange a vicious commentary on the male figure whose children are generally smarter than he is - perhaps it's out natural instinct to pick on the dominant figure in the US - the white male, because "hey, it's funny and it's true!". Sad.

The Ford commercial has nothing to do with this notion. Ford decided to go social. I don't think it's the place of a car company to preach to us - this seems to be a common theme among companies. If they really wanted to have an impact, they should have done the driving in the car scene, then when it's time to split back at home, the mom and dad should have said something to eachother like, Dad - "Can we do this again next week?" Mom - "I'd like that" in a subtlely-flurting way... hinting at getting back together... getting the seeds of marriage to grow again. But it's not okay for companies to preach for marraige, just keep divorce acceptable and remind parents to be involved. Gross.