Are Ron's Parents oblivious????

[calisc]

What i meant to say, Actually Acturies are quite smart, moreso then a brain surgeon or rocket science, it is indeed harder in most countries to become an actuary then the other two, I have a friend who put down Acturial studies for his first choice, and aeronautical engineering for his second choice (i.e rocket science), and didnt get into Acturial studies but managed to get into AE.

However i will admit that Acturies are way boring (unless you like maths and/or probabilities, in which case, youd probably love them)

[cloudmonet]

To some degree, even Kim's parents are oblivious, or at best paying partial attention to what's happening. It's a running gag, social satire. Kim talks to them about saving the world (and sometimes she's not exaggerating) and her parents treat this like a typical kid's problem, important to the kid but not really important. Check out how blase they are about Kim and Ron swapping brains in "Mind Games," for example.

Without oblivious parents, this show would be completely different. The villains' parents are even more oblivious. Remember Frugal Lucre's mom? Or Mrs. Lipsky?

[calisc]

Indeed I think its a recurring theme throughout the show..

[azzie]

[glow=blue,2,300]Yeah, the villain's parents do seem more out there than any of the others. I think Frugal Lucre's (Francis Lurhmann's) mom is a little slow upstairs, just by mild observation of her vacant expression and otherwise.[/glow]

[taechunsa]

calisc said:

What i meant to say, Actually Acturies are quite smart, moreso then a brain surgeon or rocket science, it is indeed harder in most countries to become an actuary then the other two, I have a friend who put down Acturial studies for his first choice, and aeronautical engineering for his second choice (i.e rocket science), and didnt get into Acturial studies but managed to get into AE.

However i will admit that Acturies are way boring (unless you like maths and/or probabilities, in which case, youd probably love them)

A take a little offense with your statement.

It is not accurate to state that one profession is necesarilly smarter then another. Intelligence is not easily measured and a person's profession is never a good measure of such things. (Einstein was a clerk for a time, not a profession often associated with intelligence.) Each profession requires a set of skills that is necessary to learn to do the job well, and I have known one actuary who couldn't change the oil in his car.

It is also a fact that I have known at least two science oriented people who took the actuarial test and work as actuaries. One is thinking of quiting and going back into research (the other was the oil guy). Thus a person who went through school as a physicist (nearly equivalent to a rocket scientist in many regards) and worked in research for a number of years was able to become an actuary.

The other statement that I find a bit short-sighted is how you seem to lump a person's social abilities together with their profession. Do you honestly believe that actuaries can only discuss math? Are you the person who is studying to be an actuary? You had better quit participating on this board soon and find a good math board then or else they might kick you out of actuarial school.

Anyway, rant off and back on topic.

What caught my attention more than this is the extreme lack of fathers in the show. Think about how many mothers we hear and see and then note that we do not see fathers for the vast majority of those mothers.

Mrs. Lispsky
Mrs. Load
Mrs. Renton
Mrs. Rockwaller
Mrs. Lucre
We hear about Larry's mom

[Aers (That Writer Chick)]

Interesting point about the fathers, taechunsa...

I often see the parents as the same as adults in the Charlie Brown cartoons - figures who just wander around saying "blah, blah, blah"...

'cause let's face it - in the real world Kim would have been taken away by Social Services LONG ago and placed in foster care for zipping around the world, going into dangerous situations and cutting classes.

[cloudmonet]

Well, from a child's or teenager's viewpoint, that's how parents appear, either oblivious or in the way. Everything I say gets reduced to, "blah, blah, blah."
"Well, if you know my lessons so well, why don't you follow them? Wait, I know, you either disagree or think it's too much trouble."

*sighs and returns to apparent obliviousness*

-----

Oooh, Aers, three more opinions and you'll be a blue fox!

[Aers (That Writer Chick)]

sweet!

[calisc]

taechunsa said:

calisc said:

What i meant to say, Actually Acturies are quite smart, moreso then a brain surgeon or rocket science, it is indeed harder in most countries to become an actuary then the other two, I have a friend who put down Acturial studies for his first choice, and aeronautical engineering for his second choice (i.e rocket science), and didnt get into Acturial studies but managed to get into AE.

However i will admit that Acturies are way boring (unless you like maths and/or probabilities, in which case, youd probably love them)

A take a little offense with your statement.

It is not accurate to state that one profession is necesarilly smarter then another. Intelligence is not easily measured and a person's profession is never a good measure of such things. (Einstein was a clerk for a time, not a profession often associated with intelligence.) Each profession requires a set of skills that is necessary to learn to do the job well, and I have known one actuary who couldn't change the oil in his car.

It is also a fact that I have known at least two science oriented people who took the actuarial test and work as actuaries. One is thinking of quiting and going back into research (the other was the oil guy). Thus a person who went through school as a physicist (nearly equivalent to a rocket scientist in many regards) and worked in research for a number of years was able to become an actuary.

The other statement that I find a bit short-sighted is how you seem to lump a person's social abilities together with their profession. Do you honestly believe that actuaries can only discuss math? Are you the person who is studying to be an actuary? You had better quit participating on this board soon and find a good math board then or else they might kick you out of actuarial school.

Anyway, rant off and back on topic.

What caught my attention more than this is the extreme lack of fathers in the show. Think about how many mothers we hear and see and then note that we do not see fathers for the vast majority of those mothers.

Mrs. Lispsky
Mrs. Load
Mrs. Renton
Mrs. Rockwaller
Mrs. Lucre
We hear about Larry's mom

Oh wow dude, calm down i didnt mean for you to take offence. I love my science as much as the next person (if not more so) infact im considering going into the science field eventaully. Your right you cant compare brains between people, or in jobs.. but Acturial studies is definatly up there in the top jobs, i think if you could be an Actuary you could be a rocket scientist and vice versa probably..

As for my thing about Acturies being boring, its true.. Not because they only talk about maths.. they dont (look at me) , but because they are always so busy they dont get much time for a social life.
I didnt mean you to take offense though, so calm down

[Hammy]

Kims parents are the best.

[Krischan]

Well, we do see Ron spend some quality time with the 'rents in "Adventures in Rufus-sitting" where they go on a family vacation to Paris.

The all seemed to get along quite swimmingly there.

We also hear about things like Mrs. Stoppable signing Ron up for folkdancing lessons in ASIT (which expresses concern about Ron's cultural enrichment and involvement in activities).

Largely I think a good bit of their lack of involvement is the obliviousness of all the parents on the show that was previously mentioned (aka Mrs. Lipsky, Lucre's mom, and the Possibles to a degree).

But I think they also might be a good bit more absent then the Possibles due to work or something of the sort... I say this not because we don't see much of them, but because Ron is such an attention-monger among his peers. Considering how much he acts out to gain the attention/ affection of his peers it makes you wonder if there's a little lacking at home. (This is just a theory by the way.) Now, I think that the Stoppables are good, decent people... there's nothing to prove otherwise. But certain things make me think that they get distracted by non-homelife things such as work or trips often (which would make sense considering how easily distracted their son is).

[cloudmonet]

Good analysis, Krischan, I hadn't thought about some of these things.

[jmt2005791]

of course their not oblivious to their son. they've just chosen to not interfere with Ron life. Ron know his parents love him he's just not as comfortable discussing thing with them as his is with Rufus and Kim's parents.

[taechunsa]

To me there are still two major scenes that chaffe me regarding Ron's parents.

First was the scene from ASiT when they leave. There weren't even two words said to Kim when they left. For all intents and purposes she didn't even seem to exist to them other then to delay Ron in leaving. Can anyone explain that scene to me?

Second, was Mrs. Stoppable's reaction to Ron's attempt at going on a mission with Kim in Mother's Day. How could any person put cleaning a garage above another human's safety? That scene alone makes me despise Mrs. Stoppable in ways that I loathe no other character in Kim Possible. Either she simply has no idea what Ron and Kim do, how that would at all be possible considering the press that they get is beyond me, or she is one of the most callous and uncaring characters in the entire series. Placing her own petty desires above the world's and Kim's safety.

Honestly, I look back fondly on the days that I thought Ron's parents were oblivious. Now, I think that at least Mrs. Stoppable is a cold, callous, @#%@#. Mr. Stoppable is a toss up.

[Curse]

taechunsa said:

To me there are still two major scenes that chaffe me regarding Ron's parents.

First was the scene from ASiT when they leave. There weren't even two words said to Kim when they left. For all intents and purposes she didn't even seem to exist to them other then to delay Ron in leaving. Can anyone explain that scene to me? .

That's easy to explain, they just focused on the two main characters, who are Kim and Ron in that scene.
You wouldn't have liked if Mrs. Stoppable had disturbed the farewell scene by saying Kim goodbye, would you?

taechunsa said:

Second, was Mrs. Stoppable's reaction to Ron's attempt at going on a mission with Kim in Mother's Day. How could any person put cleaning a garage above another human's safety?

That's because the world saving thingy is made up like a normal teenage hobby, nothing else.
Mrs. Stoppable is just acting like a mother who wants her son to clean up his room, instead of going to the cinema or something like that.
You should not take that too serious.

[taechunsa]

cursexx said:

That's easy to explain, they just focused on the two main characters, who are Kim and Ron in that scene.
You wouldn't have liked if Mrs. Stoppable had disturbed the farewell scene by saying Kim goodbye, would you?

They didn't have to interrupt. It could have been anything before or after. Heck, even a waving arm out the window as they drove off.

cursexx said:

That's because the world saving thingy is made up like a normal teenage hobby, nothing else.
Mrs. Stoppable is just acting like a mother who wants her son to clean up his room, instead of going to the cinema or something like that.
You should not take that too serious.

And therein lies the dangerous precipices with evaluating any fictional work the way that we attempt. Some things are done simply for no reason other then timing, available screen time, and/or dramatic/comedic effect.

And this might be one of the major issues with Ron's parents. They seem to very often be the victims of these types of literary devices.

However, we see what we see. If we start to discount actions based solely on the arbitrary literary devices just because we don't like the implications of what is presented then where does that slippery slope end?

Is Drakken really evil or is this just a misrepresentation of his character due to the literary need for an antagonist? Why does Kim save the world? Is it because she feels the need to help and protect people or can it all be explained away as the creator's need for a heroine? Why does Ron accompany her? Is it because of their strong friendship and his possible love for her or is it simply because the story needed a goofy sidekick to interject levity?

The creators needed for Ron to not accompany Kim on a mission in Mother’s Day. There were a myriad of ways that they could have accomplished this, but either consciously or subconsciously they chose to have Ron’s mother value a clean garage over allowing Ron to go on a mission with Ron.

Was this done for comedic purposes? Most likely, but one still has to wonder about why exactly the creators chose this method of portraying the comedy to keep Ron and Kim apart.

But maybe you are right and I am simply thinking too much.

[cloudmonet]

I wrote a story to explore the ideas from this thread, in which Ron's parents do a rather "Ron's parents" thing-- he comes home from college for Christmas vacation to find they're off on an ocean cruise, leaving him home alone. Not really a big, since he's 20.

www.carlmillerpoems.com/608stoppablevacation.html

But then a squad of terrorists from "Central Asian Jihad" hijack the ship for political blackmail (not so different from some of Drakken's or Senior's schemes, if you think about it), and Kim and Ron have to go rescue his parents.

This brought the thread's question to a boil! Just how oblivious are Ron's parents? How surprised will they be when Kim and Ron come through the porthole in their mission clothes with a bunch of gadgets and a "let's do this" attitude?

I tried having them totally oblivious first, but couldn't convince myself: there's been too many times when Kim's been on the TV news, especially the Wisconsin cheese wheel melting and the worldwide diablo attack. The diablo thing, especially, involving a probably illegally funded corporate takeover, would be in the Wall Street Journal for months. Ron's parents are a banker and an insurance adjuster. They'd read the Wall Street Journal, and watch CNBC at work, and probably keep up with other news.

They can't be totally oblivious. The Kim Possible on the news looks too much like the girl of the same name up the street who's Ron's best friend, and wait, nobody's mentioning him, but isn't that Ron standing quietly nearby?

In the end, I settled on this little bit of dialog (first names unauthentic, my own invention):

------

While the crew took care of the terrorists, Don and Judy Stoppable found themselves doing something they seldom did-- gush with pride over Ron.
“You really are a hero,” said Mrs. Stoppable. “I didn’t quite believe all those stories you told us.”
“We just thought it was just your excuse for staying out late with Kim,” said Mr. Stoppable. “Especially when you started with the mad scientists and monkey mutants.”
“We didn’t know you could fight terrorists,” said Mrs. Stoppable.
“Kim did most of the fighting after the first guy,” Ron admitted.
“And you’re humble, too, such a good boy.”

------

So that's my latest guess, while they're off in their own financial and social worlds, Ron's somewhere else. They're sort of aware of what he does with Kim, but not quite realizing how important it can be.

[clayton]

Technically in most cartoons parents are there just to pay for food and board and the occassional embarrassing moment. If you want actual parenting done, you send your kids to the grandfather and unless you want anxiety attacks never ask about cybernetics, demons, or that new necklass your kid is wearing that you could have sworn was glowing a second ago.