Bob's Crypt Photo

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I guess I'm just wondering if Bob ever did anything GOOD for Madame Christine. Credit card thing seems like a legal and cover his own ass thing, other than that Bob just seems irritated and like he tries to avoid Chris as much as possible.

But I suppose nothing is better than bad?
 
creamyfanta said:
I'm getting so many disagrees!

It seems Bob has many fans haha. All I'm saying is I didn't see anything stellar about him either.
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Bob was human. He was far from perfect. He was an old man with traditional values. He wanted a son he could do old fashioned father-son things with. Christine was not that boy. I'm sure Bob did all he could within his own mind, but he was ill-equipped to deal with the bizarre kid Chris turned out to be, autism or no. If Chris had turned out to be just a nerdy gamer shut-in who didn't socialise, minus the autism, Bob would have disapproved just as much because it's not something he can relate to at all. No doubt Bob was disappointed in Chris, one way or another. I'm sure he loved him regardless, but he just didn't know what to do. He never asked for the level of surrealism he ended up living with. I'm not defending him as such. But he had his achievements in life, and I for one would have actually been interested to pick his brains. I'm sure he had a lot of cool stories that Chris could have listened to, but those games needed playing, damn it.
 
Jamsta's Second Cousin said:
Bob was human. He was far from perfect. He was an old man with traditional values. He wanted a son he could do old fashioned father-son things with. Christine was not that boy. I'm sure Bob did all he could within his own mind, but he was ill-equipped to deal with the bizarre kid Chris turned out to be, autism or no. If Chris had turned out to be just a nerdy gamer shut-in who didn't socialise, minus the autism, Bob would have disapproved just as much because it's not something he can relate to at all. No doubt Bob was disappointed in Chris, one way or another. I'm sure he loved him regardless, but he just didn't know what to do. He never asked for the level of surrealism he ended up living with. I'm not defending him as such. But he had his achievements in life, and I for one would have actually been interested to pick his brains. I'm sure he had a lot of cool stories that Chris could have listened to, but those games needed playing, damn it.
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I don't doubt that. I just don't see why Barb isn't considered the same way. There's this whole stigma surrounding her and I find it very odd since it really just seems like a weird reputation rather than anything really based on fact.

Like I said, not defending her or saying he's bad, just trying to figure out why so much hate for Mom and so much love for Dad when really it seems both were equally incapable of dealing with an autistic child and both really did a crap job with her...him?
 
creamyfanta said:
I don't doubt that. I just don't see why Barb isn't considered the same way. There's this whole stigma surrounding her and I find it very odd since it really just seems like a weird reputation rather than anything really based on fact.

Like I said, not defending her or saying he's bad, just trying to figure out why so much hate for Mom and so much love for Dad when really it seems both were equally incapable of dealing with an autistic child and both really did a crap job with her...him?
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Just my personal opinion, but Bob deserved better than Barb. Or at least deserved to be alone. Bob was getting on in years though, and sometimes you take what you can get. Especially if it's offered to you on a plate like Barb was apparently doing. Barb is extremely lazy and makes a lot of excuses for herself, something Bob never did as far as I'm aware. Also, again just my opinion, but Barb doesn't strike me as the maternal type. Some people are, and some people aren't. You don't *have* to be a bad mother if you aren't naturally maternal, but it doesn't help, especially when you've got someone like Christine to contend with.
 
Marvin said:
By the time the serious damage to Chris' upbringing happened, Chris was out of school and Bob was home during the day as well.

You shouldn't consider Barb as a parent, so much as a second Chris. That's the kind of thinking that all the Barb hate comes from. She's like a Chris, but with way worse intentions and more maliciousness than Chris himself.

Heh, not even that. Barb's foot was literally on the gas and her hand on the wheel when she hit Snyder and drove off. She's also assaulted cops before.
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I never really thought about that before. I guess the thing with barb is once she decides she's right about something she takes it so personally she thinks shes entitled to respond how ever she wants, because well SHE'S RIGHT. Problem is she's a dumb redneck who doesn't know much of anything so she's usually wrong. I can definitely see some of Chris's conflict resolution skills coming from Barb. Although he does sometimes do a better job and try to treat conflict as misunderstanding, which seems like something Barb would never do.

creamyfanta said:
I don't doubt that. I just don't see why Barb isn't considered the same way. There's this whole stigma surrounding her and I find it very odd since it really just seems like a weird reputation rather than anything really based on fact.

Like I said, not defending her or saying he's bad, just trying to figure out why so much hate for Mom and so much love for Dad when really it seems both were equally incapable of dealing with an autistic child and both really did a crap job with her...him?
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Most of the reason Bob fails as a parent is because was a senile old man. Most men in his situation would have run the second they found out their backup wife bore a tard baby. So he has that going for him. The big problem with him is he was too out of touch with Chris's world that he couldn't really do much. He actually disciplined him when he thought he was misbehaving, tried to get him as far as he could with an education and a career path, and seemed really concerned with improving his financial awareness. He was just too ignorant to know how to deal with Chris's situation.

Chris would often hide things from him he knew Bob would come down on him for. This is a guy who told his mom about his masturbation habits. Bob actually tried, but was too old, useless and out of touch to do anything worthwhile for Chris. Barb on the other hand is an enabler. She feeds him her delusions so that she'll have someone on her side. She doesn't actually respect him at all. She sees him as someone who will do the chores for her and give her approval when everyone else thinks shes a piece of shit. Just go read the Cole Smithey emails. She totally uses Chris to send passive aggressive backhanded comments to Cole and it completely goes over Chris's head.

That said, you're right in one aspect. Both failed as parents. Bob due to incompetence but Barb failed due to being a lazy snorlax more concerned with herself than her son.
 
Chipmunk With A Banana said:
WTF is a free box? Is it like the Penny Tray at a cash register? "Take some ashes, leave some ashes"?
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Yeah, the crematory handed out free ash trays. Always does remind me of my nan, burnin' a fag.

Uh, I mean, they have to store the remains somehow, and a cardboard box prevents ashes from potentially spilling more than a loose bag would. It's also a bit more sightly. Call it an eco-friendly urn, if you will.

creamyfanta said:
It seems Bob has many fans haha.
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There's no doubt he was looked on more favourable than Barb in life, but now he has a legacy. No new criticisms of him can really be brought forth unless something previously unmentioned comes to light, and even then, it won't be look upon the same as it would for one who's living. Barb, however, has had the opportunity to live through many more mistakes.

Bob just seems like a nice guy who's hit bad times, especially when contrasted with Barb. Independently and objectively, he was a poor parent for Chris, but you can tell he tried.
 
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I think they were both fairly lousy parents, and seem to have been unpleasant people at times. It fair to assume Bob did something bad, if both of his earlier children alienated him. Bob just seemed like the less negligent of the two, when raising Chris, so he garners a little more sympathy. Being a little more worldly, and more willing to engage in conversation with trolls, he's also a little more relatable to people.
 
LightningStrikes said:
It fair to assume Bob did something bad, if both of his earlier children alienated him.
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I'm assuming you mean "..if he alienated both his children". We don't actually know that for a fact. It could also be that Barb was such a toxic person (which she is) that she drove a wedge between them.
 
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Coldgrip said:
I'm assuming you mean "..if he alienated both his children". We don't actually know that for a fact. It could also be that Barb was such a toxic person (which she is) that she drove a wedge between them.
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If that's true, I don't see that as much of an excuse for Bob. If you let your children's stepmother cause you and your kids to be estranged, that's on you.

That being said, there is a story about Chris going to see his brother to get his eyes checked, and another story about Bob trying to bring gifts for his granddaughter. To me that suggests a more passive estrangement, where adult children didn't particularly get on with their father so they just don't see him. That it is a little more forgivable than if it was a more active thing where there was an incident and everyone refuses to talk to him ever again.

Like others, I do give Bob credit for trying. Refusing to send him to a special ed program in Greene County and moving a couple hours away to look after him on your own is not something a father who didn't give a shit would do. It may not have been the right decision, but it definitely wasn't the least effort solution.
 
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timtommy said:
If that's true, I don't see that as much of an excuse for Bob. If you let your children's stepmother cause you and your kids to be estranged, that's on you.
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For any other person I'd agree, but it's Barb we're talking about here. People as toxic as her are able to destroy perfectly healthy relationships with their influence and actions.
 
timtommy said:
If that's true, I don't see that as much of an excuse for Bob. If you let your children's stepmother cause you and your kids to be estranged, that's on you.
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Eh, lots of people make bad decisions when they're in love. I'm not faulting Bob for being human, but I'm faulting Barb for being shitty.
 
Bob really has fans here!

What exactly is so toxic about Barb? Are there any direct quotes or is it just a feeling and general musings?

Perhaps the love for Bob is more stemmed from how enjoyable he is in classics such as That is My House Bigger Longer and Uncut than a true founding in scientific fact?

To me they appear to be two tired rednecks who are constantly exhausted and irritated by their autistic son. Bob gets less and less involved as he inches closer to death, and as Barb grows older and becomes more insane, not to mention has more responsibility and less support from Bob as he declines, she makes worse decisions and appears useless and awful.
 
creamyfanta said:
Bob really has fans here!

What exactly is so toxic about Barb? Are there any direct quotes or is it just a feeling and general musings?

Perhaps the love for Bob is more stemmed from how enjoyable he is in classics such as That is My House Bigger Longer and Uncut than a true founding in scientific fact?

To me they appear to be two tired rednecks who are constantly exhausted and irritated by their autistic son. Bob gets less and less involved as he inches closer to death, and as Barb grows older and becomes more insane, not to mention has more responsibility and less support from Bob as he declines, she makes worse decisions and appears useless and awful.
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Well, her own lovequest seemed to have involved playing tiddlywinks with her sister's husband, that's pretty fucked up. As far as we know, she's lying to Cole about who his father is, we know she's constantly trying to find a 'sucker' to dupe like with the cars and she seems to be rather confident of sacrificing her remaining son's future for some current personal convenience. Also she feeds Chris (aka: the world's most gullible fool) a shitton of delusions, completely ruining his ability to socialize. These delusions might be things she genuinely believes herself, but that doesn't make them any less toxic for Chris.
The question really can't be "Is Barb a toxic person", the things we know make it a pretty certain thing. The question should be "Was Bob as toxic as Barb" and the answer to that seems a lot less clear.

But your last paragraph is pretty interesting to think about as well. Mind you, you basically admit why she's a bad person from the get-go, but then again, most of her shenanigans might have come from her making bad calls after Bob was too worn out to make said calls.

Disclaimer: Of course this all is based upon rather shakey information, when you think about it. But based on what we at least assume to know, she's simply not just a misunderstood poor old lady that's busting her ass to make her son's life get a bright future.
 
I get that and agree, Barb seems quite awful, at least from our limited info.

I just don't see why Bob isn't considered equally awful. But it seems that we just don't have as much dirt on Bob to know, and that people also very much enjoyed his interactions with trolls, not to mention the sudden respect the dead get in our culture (and even reverence), which gives him this saintly glow.

Don't get me wrong, Bob was featured in some of my all time favorite Chris vids. But just because I enjoyed him doesn't make me think he was any less shitty than his wife.

I mean, he chose to marry her. And he never left her. That right there says something big about him as a person if she really is as awful as we like to think.
 
creamyfanta said:
I mean, he chose to marry her. And he never left her. That right there says something big about him as a person if she really is as awful as we like to think.
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I really don't see how that argument is supposed to make sense. "He stuck with his defunct, terrible wife, so he must be terrible."... really?
He could have stayed with Barb so Chris isn't stuck with a crazy old crow. Most likely, he was just desperate for someone to share his last few years with.

Point in case: I don't see how that behaviour makes him any better or worse. It's just the way it was.
 
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