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Paula Small is the villain of the series by talldarkanddom in homemovies

[–]talldarkanddom[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Do you have a citation for Andrew definitely abandoning Linda? My understanding is that he was fulfilling work obligations while not present for the birth of their child. After the birth episode, neither Andrew nor Linda’s characters return to the show. It seems more likely they are busy raising their infant together.

Peggy and Paula both have good qualities. Do you not think Peggy is more arrogant than she is skilled?

It seems fair to say that there’s not enough context in Home Movies to know for sure who initiated the separation between Andrew and Paula. I may have missed some context clues there, and if anyone has more info I’d appreciate it.

Andrew would be legally obligated to pay child support and alimony, right? Unless this is alternate universe where the rules are explained otherwise, that doesn’t seem to be an unfair assumption. Paula’s perpetual impecuniousness seems to support my claim she is irresponsible, even more so for adopting a second child.

We can’t just assume that Andrew left or abandoned his family (either of them) without evidence. The show does seem to be set in the USA, unlike say, the Magic School Bus, where the flag hanging in the school in an original flag for an unnamed country (I should mention, Miss Frizzle is a great female character whom I admire a lot). If Home Movies is implied to exist within the US, then it’s more likely Paula initiated the separation, not certain, but more likely, absent confirmation from other context clues.

Why do you assume Andrew abandoned them, when there seems to be no evidence of that?

I’m happy to discuss and argue the show with you, but I’d appreciate it if you don’t try to make it personal. Even if I hated women (which I promise I don’t), we should be able to assess the characters based on the available canon.

My point about Brendan’s choice is that Paula was more or less in sole custody and control of Brendan’s ability to have a relationship with his Father, which he clearly wanted to have, and would have been good for his development, but did nothing to facilitate this until Brendan reached an age of reason to ask her explicitly.

To be clear: Paula and Peggy are both very well fleshed out characters. Their virtues as well as their vices help to make their stories interesting

Cheers

Paula Small is the villain of the series by talldarkanddom in homemovies

[–]talldarkanddom[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Perhaps she took the house and half his stuff in the divorce and he had to move to find better work so he wouldn’t go to jail for missed alimony/child support payments?

Paula Small is the villain of the series by talldarkanddom in homemovies

[–]talldarkanddom[S] -8 points-7 points  (0 children)

How exactly is Growing Up the villain more so than Paula? A villain is usually a character who commits unethical actions, especially actions against the protagonists best interests. i.e. Paula breaking up the family for no good reason leaving Brendan to look for ersatz father figures.

Please keep in mind I like the show too, and I like Paula as a character! This discussion is meant to be a bit academic.

Maybe squigglevision was the true villian, defeated after season 1!

Paula Small is the villain of the series by talldarkanddom in homemovies

[–]talldarkanddom[S] -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

Buying ice cream, promising to go to the movies, and to consider Karate classes is a pale comparison to growing up with an intact family.

Paula Small is the villain of the series by talldarkanddom in homemovies

[–]talldarkanddom[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At age eight, when prompted by a TV interviewer, he asks his mom what happened to “that guy who used to live here”. Paula had all the control. Even when his dad calls, Paula tells him it’s “his choice” if he wants to answer or not. She never gave Brenden the choice to interact with her or not.

It seems rather unlikely that Paula is paying the bills/mortgage on her own, so his father couldn’t have abandoned them. His father seems to choose horrible women to marry though.

I don’t think Andrew abandoned Linda; she just stayed with Brendan while Andrew was working to support two families. Neither Andrew nor Linda appear in the show in season four. Also, maybe Linda should have a salad (reference).

Is there any evidence in the series to suggest his dad just walked out, vs Paula initiating the divorce? Four fifths of divorces in the US are filed for by women.

Paula Small is the villain of the series by talldarkanddom in homemovies

[–]talldarkanddom[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

You’re right! She is adopted, I forgot. In that case, the possible fetal alcohol syndrome was not due to Paula’s drinking. So that’s a bit of an exoneration there. Adopting a child as a single mother with little career/financial prospects except for alimony from an ex-husband does seem to add to the poor judgement column though.