MovieChat Forums > Footloose (1984) Discussion > So Ariel's Dad didn't like Ren but never...

So Ariel's Dad didn't like Ren but never said anything about her BF?


Whatever his name was, the @$$hole with the antlers on his truck and almost gets her killed with her standing on his truck, takes her into the woods to have sex, takes her to the diner to DANCE, then beats her and gives her a black eye when he gets jealous?? Nope that didn't seem to bother him.

But then Ren comes along and he hates him why? He's from Chicago??? He's read Slaughterhouse Five? Give me a break!!!

Didn't he blame the entire high school using drugs and alcohol on Ren or something?? What an idiot.

A blind dog could have been a better father.

reply

[deleted]

Yeah, Chuck was Ariel's undercover lover, at least for her dad.

reply

An outsider teen with a rebellious streak from a big city is a much bigger threat than some ignorant hick bully to a rural Protestant minister.

reply

For some reason I always thought that Ren reminded Shaw of his son who was killed in the car accident. He was mad at his son for dying so he took it out on Ren.

reply

almost gets her killed with her standing on his truck


That was pretty much all Ariel's doing. Chuck and her friends were equally responsible for the role they played and both her friends and Chuck were screaming for her to stop what she was doing. And her father didn't know about that at all.

takes her into the woods to have sex

Pretty sure she had just as much responsibility in that as Chuck did. And her father didn't seem to know about that.

takes her to the diner to DANCE

What are you talking about? She was headed to that place with her girlfriends and he drove up on them then Ariel took the tape out to play it and he did not cndone it at all--in fact he even made comments telling her she would be in trouble if her dad found out.

then beats her and gives her a black eye when he gets jealous??

Now I'm starting to wonder if we watched the same movie since that is not what happened at all.

Nope that didn't seem to bother him.

I do agree that it seemed odd that her black eye didn't seem to be an issue at home at all. Regardless of my opinion on the situation with Chuck it's odd that the result was a black eye and that it's never brought up again.

Didn't he blame the entire high school using drugs and alcohol on Ren or something??

No, he didn't.

What an idiot.

Someone is an idiot alright, but it ain't the Reverend Shaw.

He was not a perfect parent but I'm not sure how exactly he could have known about these things unless he was with her every second. She clearly had issues beyond normal teenage rebellion and went out of her way to do these things. I'm not sure how that makes him the worst parent ever--couldn't one just as easily say that all of this makes her the worst daughter ever? It's obvious that the loss of the brother really had a huge impact on the family and relationships and it wasn't as simple as one or the other being wrong or bad.


"Why couldn't the monkey arrange this from INSIDE the garbage can?"

reply

beats her and gives her a black eye when he gets jealous??
I'm a progressive female and I'm actually with Chuck on this one. It wasn't because he was jealous, and he was not the aggressor in or the instigator of the situation. She dumped him for Ren without bothering to actually break up with him first, she hit him when he got (understandably) pissed off about that. He hit her back once in retaliation - wrong, but a knee-jerk, heat of the moment reaction. Instead of walking away then - which Chuck himself was doing; it's not as if he just kept beating on her - she decided to destroy his truck with a metal pipe instead, giving him two options: allow her to shatter his windshield, or physically stop her. He chose to physically stop her, and I would have done the same.

I absolutely hate that scene, because the movie expects us to feel sorry for Ariel and see Chuck as a monster. And while Chuck was a redneck and yes, kind of a jerk, he was NOT the one at fault for that altercation - Ariel brought it upon herself. Men should not hit women, but that doesn't mean women should just be able to do whatever they want with no repercussions.

As to your OP, clearly Shaw didn't know about all that stuff. How would he know about the truck incident? (Which again, was primarily Ariel's fault, and Chuck's share of the blame was shared with her friends.) How would he know she was having sex in the woods with Chuck? (Again - also not Chuck's "fault"; he didn't rape her, it was consensual.) The most he could have known was that she was seeing Chuck, and since he was a local and his father was a friend and colleague of Shaw's, he probably thought he was "safe". When I was 16 I dated a guy in his 20's and my father had no idea. Teenagers hide things from their parents. It doesn't mean Shaw was a terrible father.

The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those that speak it.

reply

She deserved the beating....the chick was out of control, probably high on drugs and crazy from all the alcohol she drinks. I would have laid her out worse than that for hitting my truck with a board. She'd been spitting teeth and waiting for her broken ribs to heal. Anyone who is so stupid, man or woman, to physically destroy another's property deserves swift, quick violence. She got what she deserved.

reply

She deserved the beating....the chick was out of control, probably high on drugs and crazy from all the alcohol she drinks. I would have laid her out worse than that for hitting my truck with a board. She'd been spitting teeth and waiting for her broken ribs to heal. Anyone who is so stupid, man or woman, to physically destroy another's property deserves swift, quick violence. She got what she deserved.


Alright already. So she might have deserved to be pushed away or something but that's not a license for you to go batcrap insane and say she would be spitting teeth and "quick violence" - obviously you enjoy beating up women and will look for any excuse. Someday... sooner than you think, something bad will happen to you. Examine why you hate females so much. Try to be a better person.

++++++
Love means never having to say you're ugly. - The Abominable Dr. Phibes

reply

The question is, if he gave her a beating, would she learn a lesson, I think not as I had to say this to a ex friend of mine who seriously betrayed me. Just let the snake leave in life or get rid of it by loaning it $20 or something and when it won't repay you, they will never bother U again for anything, $20 to get rid of somebody, that's cheap.
These women today need to B put in their place.

Spoiler alert for them spoil sports out there! Y'all like spoiled milk, stop crying over it!

reply

I know right I noticed that too he was so against Ren but Chuck was a terrible guy.

reply

[deleted]