The Parent rap

My parents, (photo coloured in)

"Children begin by loving their parents; after a time they judge them; rarely, if ever, do they forgive them." - Oscar Wilde

Song of the blog:
"I am what I am
A family man
Mother, father, brother"
- Fleetwood Mac

 Let’s face it, the most important people in many people’s lives tend to be their parents.  Today, 27 July, is Parents’ Day. A chance to say ‘thank you’, and to show how appreciative you are of the time, effort and love poured into your (assumable) successful upbringing and induction into "normal" society. Good work, parents. Personally, my father died in 1999 and I haven't been in touch with my mother, sadly since 2004 (I have tried several times myself ...).

Most superheroes are often orphans in some way or another. Batman lost his parents after a shooting , when he was a young boy. Superman was send away in a rocket, by his parents when they realised their world was going to be destroyed. I never knew much about Spider-man's parents, other than a they might have worked for SHIELD at some point. It seems heroes just have to face it all by themselves. In the end, we all do lose our parents in one way or another. If we are lucky we end up becoming one ourselves and hope that we keep in touch with our own children for a long time to come.

Illustration by Zohar Lazar

Looking back at the adventures of Tintin, I can't remember any mention of parents at all. I guess Captain Haddock became a sort of father figure. But, more than ever at least one of the parental figures seem to be out of the picture. It's the same with many of the Disney movies. SPOILER WARNING: Bambi's mother dies. In "The Jungle Book", "The Fox and the Hound", "The Little Mermaid", "Aladdin", "Tarzan", "Atlantis", "Lilo & Stitch", "Finding Nemo", "Brother Bear", "Frozen", "Big Hero 6" and even the live-action version of "Beauty and the Beast" all feature protagonists who have mothers that have died, or have been killed or caught. Snow White’s mom died before the film even begins. There's a great article about this topic here:
Why Are All the Cartoon Mothers Dead?

 

Of course there are many comics and cartoons WITH parents... even IF the father is,... well, Homer Simpson or the "Family Guy"... Even Disney has some good parents in some of their movies, like "the Incredibles" who resemble other super families like the one in "the Fantastic Four" and even Superman seems to have a son these days. In the end, we will mostly remember our parents and the roles they played in our lives to the best of their ability.
Thnx Dad... Thnx Mum - where ever you might be.