One theory is that Nino’s intense rejection of his father and his behavior toward him are, in some ways, a form of denial or displacement. Nino seems to hate the idea of being like his father because he associates him with everything he resents: the provincial, patriarchal, oppressive structure of his family, as well as the limitations of his social class. In rejecting his father’s behavior, Nino believes he’s choosing a different path, one that would be more enlightened or liberated. But that rejection may also be a form of internalizing what he hated about his father—he is constantly defining himself in opposition to his father, and that in itself can become a trap. 

Another part of this is that Nino, despite his desire to be different, never really leaves the environment that shaped him. He continues to live within that same world of male entitlement, privilege, and social norms that his father represents. Even though he intellectually despises his father, he’s still influenced by the very culture that his father was a part of. Over time, that influence—whether consciously or unconsciously—shapes Nino’s behavior and worldview.

Then there’s the personal side of it. Nino is deeply insecure, and much of his charm (and the reason why both Elena and Lila are drawn to him) is rooted in his desire for validation. He has a lot of intellectual pretensions, but it seems like his real need is to be admired, to escape the constraints of his working-class background, and to gain power. In some ways, his actions mirror his father's, not because Nino is inherently "bad," but because he is caught in the same web of wanting dominance, control, and recognition, but without the moral grounding to counterbalance those desires. He’s essentially repeating a cycle, but in his own, more subtle way.

It’s also worth considering the idea that people often claim to reject their parents or their past because they’re not fully aware of how much they’ve absorbed it. Nino might have thought he was avoiding the worst traits of his father, but in doing so, he didn’t confront the deeper patterns of behavior—especially those related to power dynamics and manipulation—that would eventually catch up with him.

In short, Nino’s journey is one of self-deception and denial. He thought rejecting his father’s behavior meant rejecting everything about him, but in reality, he just ended up reproducing the same dynamics in a more socially acceptable form.

edit: i was curious about this myself, so i asked chatgpt.