MovieChat Forums > Dog with a Blog (2012) Discussion > Do feminists love or hate the mom's char...

Do feminists love or hate the mom's character?

posted 11 years ago by I_hatenazis
12 replies | jump to latest

Do feminists love or hate the mom's character, Ellen Jennings?

She's totally insecure, incompetent, and not respected by anyone in the house. I could see how feminists might hate her character but on the other hand it does show what happens to a stay at home mom who doesn't expand her horizons in the work force. So maybe feminists love her character.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] PaulG28 11 years ago

Ellen is pretty much a Disney mom cliché. Overbearing and bossy. In trying not to make her an old school cliché of docile house wife they just made her a new cliché.

[–] crotchrocket 11 years ago

the dad acts the same tho

[–] I_hatenazis 11 years ago

the dad acts the same tho

Ah, very true, the dad does act like an overgrown child but with two exceptions.

1. He clearly knows that he has to encourage his wife's frail ego but I never see it the other way around. In other words, at least he occasionally acts like an adult even if it is in an overbearing manner.

2. They seem to have a running joke where they forget or lose Chloe (which I passionately hate, seriously how many times do parents really lose their own child?). In any case, the dad is ALWAYS the one who notices that Chloe's missing; the mom is totally in lala land.

I wish they would dial back the mom's stupidity just a little bit from criminally negligent to something less than that.

[–] PaulG28 11 years ago

Yep, another Disney channel cliché the spineless child like father. Wish that one would go away too

[–] I_hatenazis 11 years ago

The dog is basically raising the children himself and teaching them all of life's valuable lessons instead of the parents .

[–] flyerzzrul 11 years ago

I cant look at her as a Disney mom, I can only see her as Stu's kinky girlfriend in Spin City

[–] mddwbsst 11 years ago

I don't think any true feminist would mind, yes she's a weak character. But having a weak female character in a story isn't automatically sexism, its only sexist if she's the only example or all the other female characters are exactly the same.

And Avery, is a much smarter and stronger character, so it balances it out. Chloe isn't particularly dim either, just a bit loopy seven year old. Plus while Ellen is weak, she is also very loving and caring so she isn't an outright bad character.

In real life there are women who are thick and insecure, but there also about just as many men who are to.

Besides I personally kind of like it, not every show needs to present all male characters as idiots who rely on women to have any hope of living a life. Some of them can actually be competent, intelligent and good fathers.

[–] Zippy B 10 years ago

They are parents in a show about kids. They are not supposed to be very well developed and are more often than not secondary to the plot or obstacles of some kind. She is a bit of an airhead with a career.

[–] mddwbsst 10 years ago

She is a bit of an airhead with a career.

She doesn't seem to actually have a career, the implication is she's a house wife.

[–] Zippy B 10 years ago

I got the sense that she was supposed to be a modern career woman of some kind though I don't remember any reference to her doing anything.

[–] mddwbsst 10 years ago

Well she's never shown or referenced to having any sort of job. And in the one episode where she gets on working for Stan's vet, there is no mention of her leaving any job before that. And people act like this is her first job, so I think its safe to say she doesn't have a career.