MovieChat Forums > It Takes Two (1995) Discussion > the reasons Roger is a bad father

the reasons Roger is a bad father

posted 13 years ago by LarryLestersBuns
4 replies | jump to latest

1) When was he even going to bother introducing his daughter to his gf before he proposed? That was very inconsiderate on his part.

2) When Alyssa was trying to tell him that Clarice wasn't who she appeared, he wouldn't listen to her.

3) He let Clarice drag him around on a leash. I understand the poor guy was probably quite horny and wanted to get some, but it was a selfish thing to let Clarice rush the wedding and drag them to NYC without taking his daughter's feelings into consideration.

4) When Clarice was about to slap Alyssa/Amanda, Roger stood there and did nothing! Even as a kid I always wondered why Roger didn't do more to protect his kid when some woman was trying to hurt her. That's my biggest peeve - he just stood there and let the butler do the parenting for him.

What does it mean to regret when you have no choice? It was death. I chose life.

[–] moonlightsiren18 12 years ago

The butler was more of a parent to Alyssa than Roger ever was throughout the movie.

Still one of my favorite kid films though :)

What a twist!

[–] Housefan2 11 years ago

I don't know if I'd call him a terrible father but he was inconsistent. That's the fault of the script

He obviously loves his daughter and children in general but 1) he sends her away to a posh boarding school instead of having her live at home, 2) he didn't come to her piano recital, 3) he didn't pick her up at the airport (or even fly with her) to plan for his engagement party and has evidently forgotten to pick her up before ("he forgot again, didn't he?"), 4) all the reasons you listed.

Does Diane realize that when she marries Roger, he'll be working the entire time and Amanda and Alyssa will be away from August until May/June for school?

I just chalked all of that up to Alyssa reminding him too much of his late wife (like the camp) and so he gave her the best life he could while maintaining his distance. He thought marrying Clarice would let him re-capture the life he might have had with Kathy and Alyssa and saw Clarice as a way to bring his family closer together. However, Clarice would have made it worse while Diane will actually give him that.

All in all, I'd call it bad writing.

Lizzie

To love another person is to see the face of God! - Les Miserables

[–] tyshimah3 11 years ago

I doubt that Diane would let Roger get away with that behavior.
Roger's not a bad father or a bad guy. He's just a single parent who's doing the best he can.

"Do you even remember what you came here to find?"

[–] neomusic 9 years ago

He loves his daughter but he was a guy who lost his way because he let his rich status get in the way of his parenting skills and himself as a person.

Keep in mind, I believe that it was implied in the movie that Roger was not born rich he attained a rich status.He was living off his image and forgot about being a person until Diane brought him back to reality.