- Joined
- Feb 9, 2013
We have zero reason to believe Barb lied to Cole about his parentage. Seriously, it's conspiracy theory level evidence.
So Cole is the only one saying this? He tends to be dramatic so I wouldn't be surprised if he made it up for some good writing material and/or to spite Barb.
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- Dec 28, 2014
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2013
I don't think he's making it up. I think he's just dumb and desperate to believe he's a special snowflake. Barb and Cole's stepfather were godawful parents. Barb very well could've been a drunken whore (as she was accused of being) and fucked some random guy.
But all Cole has is that some guy's middle name is "coleman". It's not like he's got a blood test or anything.
Shit, I'd have more respect for Cole's argument if he showed up on Maury or something. But right now? He's just content to bitch at Barb for being a whore without any real evidence.
Yep, pretty much.
Holy shit, just googled his name and found the website.
What a pretentious douchebag.
What a pretentious douchebag.
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- Dec 27, 2014
Well I mean, Barb's story isn't rock solid either. There's something going on there Barb doesn't want to talk about, because she thinks if no one knows, it's not real.
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- Sep 16, 2013
I get the sense she believes her own lies. But perhaps I am being naive.
Maybe time of day has something to do with it? When I was a teenager, my overprotective mother never really cared about what I did during the day. But after 8 at night, she needed to know exactly where I was, who I was with, and I needed to check in every couple hours and be home by midnight.
I guess in a way Barb reminds me of my mother in that phase in my life. My mother was a bit eccentric and over protective, but it wasn't was malicious. And then once I became an adult, it stopped. Chris has never become an adult.
But again, maybe I am being naive. And I don't claim she doesn't have selfish motives. I just have a sense there might be genuine protectiveness as part of it too.
Or maybe she has tricked herself into seeing her selfish desires as protectiveness?
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- Mar 22, 2015
I wish we had more talks with Barb like we did Bob other than stories from people that already hated her. It'd be interesting to get her in a phone call or something to see more of what makes her tick.
I think Bob was more receptive to phone calls because he was a lonely old man that craved normal human company. He was a cool dude, a lot like my grandfathers in every way. I still feel bad that he got stuck with the likes of Barb for the rest of his life.
Barb is by nature suspicious and reclusive so that probably explains the lack of success in getting information about her. Personally I don't feel like she's that interesting. She's just a bitter old bat that no one likes to be around. It takes a lot to have your own family turn their backs on you for decades and it speaks volumes about Barb's character.
Barb is by nature suspicious and reclusive so that probably explains the lack of success in getting information about her. Personally I don't feel like she's that interesting. She's just a bitter old bat that no one likes to be around. It takes a lot to have your own family turn their backs on you for decades and it speaks volumes about Barb's character.
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- Dec 28, 2014
Barb is both underprotective and overprotective, and both in bad ways.
For instance, she "protected" him from getting proper treatment for his autism.
But she also brought him to a mall where he was banned and then let him run hog wild there and get himself arrested. Nor was this the first time she did something this dumb, since she was also actually arrested herself in the Snyder incident.
I'm not sure her motives are ill, at least in regards to Chris himself. But she is almost as out of touch with reality as Chris, and even if entirely well motivated would probably do things to harm him.
I agree that Barb is not a good mother. But she's still a mother, nonetheless, and mothers gonna mother.
Chris absolutely deserves real consideration, and he clearly deserves better than what Barb has given him, but he isn't a "real adult" by any reasonable standard. I'm definitely not saying it's right to keep him locked up at home all the time, but trying to keep him somewhat restrained is hardly misguided. Part of her motive is likely selfish, but I bet part of it is just common sense on her part.
We know how Chris works: he needs a chaperone. Back when Barb was younger, she could do stuff like escort him to his senior prom. That was fifteen years ago. Since then, she's had cancer and colitis and who knows what else, in addition to all of the other stuff that normally happens as you transition into your 70s.
I know the Chandlers fought tooth-and-nail to get Chris out into the "mainstream," and I know they've exhibited a shockingly delusional perception of his abilities and limitations, but a lot of that can be chalked up to outward wishful thinking. Inwardly, after all of these years, Barb surely has some concept of what Chris is really like. It's sad and wrong for her to quash the socialization efforts of someone who is so starved for meaningful human contact, but it's still entirely understandable.
It's selfishness, combined with plain old self-preservation, combined with a compelling notion that it's "for his own good."
I don't get it. Isn't that the thread we're in now?
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2013
Barb's no good as a chaperone. She was at least 50% to blame for the Game Place incident, and it could be argued that it wouldn't have happened at all, or least not have escalated the way it did, had she not been with him. Barb is a net negative influence on Chris' behavior.
Yeah, absolutely. Barb is an idiot, and I totally expected that example of her idiocy to come up, because it's an especially noteworthy one.
The question isn't really whether or not she's doing a good job as a parent, because the answer is clear: no, she isn't. She's a terrible mother and a terrible influence. Maybe she has tried her best, but she has objectively failed.
I wasn't commenting on that, though. I was commenting on her intentions. While she's often doing the wrong thing and is probably being quite selfish in the process, I'd wager that some aspect of her thought process still tries to accommodate what she believes to be Chris's best interests. She probably wants to be a good mom, and maybe even views herself that way, despite the fact that she clearly is not.
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- Apr 10, 2013
Nope. Barb's only concern is for herself. She knows on some level that Chris is screwed, she just doesn't care. To her the only things that matter in a situation are: What can she get out of it and how can she use the people in it.
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- Feb 3, 2013
I agree with this. Like, she at least wrote that note telling Colin to "fuck off" because she thought he was being mean to Chris.
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- Sep 21, 2014
I don't feel the need to learn anything more about Barb than we already know. In a previous line of work I met her clones many times over, usually in trailer parks and threatening medical professionals or high on their disabled nephew's prescription medication.
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- Mar 11, 2015
I feel kinda sorry for him. One of the first Google results is his CWCki page, and a bit further down is a 59-page Kiwi Farms thread. He's trying to be seen as a respectable movie reviewer, but his entire legacy is that he's the half-brother of a fat autist and that he hated one universally-loved movie. Also, his weekly YouTube series gets a solid 20 views per episode. Poor guy.
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- Feb 9, 2013
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- Sep 16, 2013
There doesn't need to be a single reason.
And the reason(s) she tells herself don't need to be the same as the true deep-seated reason.
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- Feb 9, 2013
No, I meant "what makes you think Barb tries to restrain Chris?"