MovieChat Forums > Roseanne (1988) Discussion > Roseanne putting her hands on Harris and...

Roseanne putting her hands on Harris and holding her head down in the sink

posted 7 years ago by Mister Babadook (2708)
15 replies | jump to latest

Could you picture Roseanne from the first 9 seasons doing anything like that? I don't recall her ever putting her hands on anyone like that, even when Davids mother called Becky and Darlene Whores Roseanne didn't even touch her, she just made a snarky comeback line.

Roseanne has never gotten psychical with anyone like that before, closest you can say was when she spanked DJ after he stole their car and she felt horrible afterwards.

I'm not saying i was offended or got upset by it i'm not one of those types, i'm just saying it just seems out of character for Roseanne to do that, she seems to be doing alot of stuff thats out of character this season. Roseanne would always use her wit and bitchy personality to get her point across and deal with people, she'd never grab them and get physical.

[–] modica (4169) 7 years ago

She's older now and just may not have the patience anymore. I thought the scene was funny.

[–] Washingtonnative (2613) 7 years ago

And it served Harris right. She had it coming.

[–] modica (4169) 7 years ago

She definitely had it coming.

[–] [deleted] 7 years ago

If I had called my grandma stupid I'm not sure I'd have lived to type this message here today.

[–] earl237 (1106) 7 years ago

Me too, German grandmas don't mess around.

[–] Jobimfan (95) 7 years ago

We never saw her get physical in that way but I didn't find it out of character. It's clear that Harris is too old for a spanking but Roseanne felt she needed some kind of physical punishment and she knew that Darlene wouldn't do it. I think also, it's like someone sid up thread, Roseann and Dan are both 20 years older than the last time we saw them, it seems like everyone has been out of the house for at least 10ish years, if not longer. They're out of the habit of dealing with all of BS teens that age can heap on a parent. Couple that with constantly being in pain with (typical) aches and pains, that's the sort of thing that make a person much crankier than we might remember them.

I guess she's turned into her mother a little bit.

[–] [deleted] 7 years ago

It actually does a bit of a disservice to the original series, not so much because she did that to Harris but because it felt like they were retconning the character to someone who raised her own kids with that form of discipline. This was far from the truth as the spanking issue with DJ brought to light that both Roseanne and Jackie had been physically abused by their father and the feeling she had after spanking DJ hit a little too close to home for her. So that having been completely forgotten about feels a bit wrong

[–] CupidDeLocke (279) 7 years ago

It was bizarre hearing Roseanne complain about how modern parents don’t spank their kids when it was made clear she was against spanking in the original series. She was so guilty after spanking DJ once and didn’t want to be like her dad.

[–] Gubbio (3893) 7 years ago

We never saw her get physical in that way but I didn't find it out of character.

I agree. Roseanne always had anger issues and was always about to explode. Now, she's older, more crotchety (I would assume).

She wouldn't have taken Harris' BS from Darlene. Didn't surprise me that Harris pushed Rosy over the edge.

[–] dteam6 (5073) 7 years ago

I think people are blowing this WAAAAY out of proportion. Roseanne didn't hit Harris--she simply sprayed her head with water. That was NOTHING.

And Roseanne's complaints about her father were how he would beat her and Jackie on a regular basis for little to no reason at all and would emotionally abuse them as well. That's not exactly the same thing as holding Harris' head under some water after she mouthed off continuously.

This isn't even the first time she's been physical with kids in general, either. Aside from spanking DJ, she had zero problem grabbing Molly Tilden by the arm and yanking her back into the room in season 5. Also, Dan and Roseanne have both in the past taken DJ by the ear out of the room, Dan took Darlene out of the room by her hair once.

Roseanne and Dan weren't even advocating spanking to Darlene--they were telling her to lay down the law and not allow her kid to walk all over her. Both Roseanne and Dan have punished/yelled at their kids plenty of times throughout the show.

Let's also remember that Roseanne was laughing the entire time she was spraying Harris with the sprayer. She wasn't abusing the kid--she was making the kid feel a little of the embarrassment and degradation that Harris was making Roseanne feel. If anything, Roseann showed INCREDIBLE restraint around Harris and, if anything, was softer toward Harris than the younger Roseanne may have been. Just rewatch the scene. She hardly even raised her voice to Harris. Young Roseanne would have been yelling.

[–] brux (14837) 7 years ago

Must be the Trump deplorable influence!

[–] SuriLee (0) 7 years ago

[deleted]

[–] nmitrione (293) 7 years ago

I agree with one of the other posters. As we get older our tolerance level goes down.

[–] [deleted] 7 years ago

I had no problem with the spraying, it was the holding her down part that I didn't like. That would be classified as assault.

I think they could have made the scene a little less intense.

[–] [email protected] (6224) 7 years ago

Both of Roseanne's daughters were loudmouth, arrogant, snotty brats in the original series. If I had EVER spoken to my parents that way I would have been in serious trouble.

Darlene's little obnoxious offspring proves that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Holding Harris's head in the sink? If I had addressed my grandmother that way, my mom would have been kicking my a@@ while my grandmother held my head in the sink!

The Connor kids were disrespectful brats. I think Roseanne finally realized the error in her parenting ways and will have none of it with her granddaughter.