>But I think that sort of goes to parodize the way that many parents view
>true discipline and respect in today's society - they see everything as a
>matter of "yelling and grounding will fix all", and as they carry that
>philosophy in to their late teens, they actually act surprised it has
less
>and less effect as they get older. For as stifling as Lois is, we're
>supposed to assume that the screaming is largely the extent of it.
>
My brother got caught underage drinking. My parents yelled and
grounded him. He learned not to get caught again.
Yelling and grounding is dealing with the symptoms, not the problem. I
don't know that Lois has the finesse to come up with a punishment that
might actually teach a lesson. Except maybe when she gave everything
the kids owned to charity; that was funny.
Somehow I figure Lois for having been an underage drinker in her time.
Curiously we know a lot about Hal and Lois after they met, and a bunch
about the relation****ps they subequently had with their parents, but
know almost nothing about life for them growing up.
The upcoming episode 'Goodbye Kitty' has a listing in the cast for a
'teenage Lois', it would be really neat to see some background like
that to her character. A neat perspective maybe, a week before they
run the drinking show.
Lois being a tyrant I don't figure having too much problem with
hypocrisy, except in the mini-bike episode they actually used that to
convince her to let them play on it before Reese screwed it up by
breaking his leg. So I wonder that if she was the kind of kid that
went underage drinking, she isn't going to freak out on this. Compare
it to the whole *** talk thing with Malcolm - it wasn't 'don't' it was
'do it responsibly'.
Kids have to learn this kind of lesson for themselves. Seeing Malcolm
learn could be a positive lesson. Seeing it beaten into him won't be.
If there is to be a payback for the drinking in the show, I figure it
has to come from somewhere other than Lois, at least if they want it
to have a real impact on the audience.
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