/tv/ watches Malcolm in the Middle from a Gen-Z perspective
Posted by NachoNutritious@reddit | 4chan | View on Reddit | 110 comments
Posted by NachoNutritious@reddit | 4chan | View on Reddit | 110 comments
HistoricalMovie9094@reddit
Every time I see someone shitting on Lois I feel compelled to defend her . Were all of you raised by parents that coddled you? Is that why every one of you thinks the instant a mother raises her voice or punishes one of her children for doing some heinous shit she's somehow in the wrong? Of course Lois isn't perfect, in fact she has a lot of fuck-ups in the show, but
So this episode may be a little steeped in sitcom logic, but from what I've seen of Malcolm's and Lois' characters this kind of decision is exactly in line with the rest of the show. It's established time and time again that Malcolm is someone with extremely high potential, whose biggest enemy is his own ego. Lois, on the other hand, has an almost supernatural ability to be right and legitimately has the best interests of her family at heart despite being very tough.
I swear, most comments I see on this show come from people that have seen a short clip or two of Lois being pissed at the boys, when 95% of the time she has a good reason to be. Then these viewers go and say that her behavior is unacceptable, abusive etc. Hello? There's multiple times in this very show that all of her boys and Hal tell her that they need her toughness to not fall apart as a family or to literally kill themselves.
Tldr: watch the fucking show you coddled babies
thesoupgiant@reddit
There's a middle ground between coddling and being a vindictive, angry control-freak. Kids who get constantly yelled at and not given the benefit of the doubt don't learn right from wrong, they learn that power is all that matters.
OrganizationOld3105@reddit
Nope. My mother did not coddle me, but she also didn’t explode over the tiniest or stupidest shit imaginable. You just have to remember the parking lot episode to understand where the criticism of Lois stems from.
DeadFuckStick59@reddit
my mother was a manipulative, abusive, emotionally unavailable, dumb drunk cunt, yet id have preferred her to lois. it was WHAT she chose to lose her shit over that i think made me hate her. on top of just NEVER thinking she could be wrong no matter what.
BarrelStrawberry@reddit
Written by Michael Glouberman. A Jewish man and author of Mommy and Daddy Want to F%#&.
Horsemanofthedank@reddit
Is that real?!?
Dr_prof_Luigi@reddit
It's kinda wild how true this logic is. I come from a poor, working-class background. But I worked my way through college, with a rocky break during Covid, and eventually crawled my way to a diploma and a good job after a decade of struggling after high school. I even managed to do it without substantial student loans.
So I landed a solid career by clawing my way though college and taking advantage of every opportunity that I could, no matter how small. A dozen small opportunities combined to get me where I am, and it has been a hell of a ride.
How does my family react? My working-class parents? My siblings in dead-end jobs? Are they proud? Are they happy I 'got out'? No. Suddenly they act as if I am some privileged person who is part of the evil rich upper class. They act like my decade of working shit jobs through college just didn't happen, and act as if I just lived on easy street, despite the fact that we went through all the same struggles together, from being homeless to listening to radio because we didn't have a TV. But no, those years of pain just didn't apply to me because I finally landed a good job last year.
So yeah, this idea that 'you should be forced to struggle forever' is so real. It's fuelled by their own inadequacies, and a desire to think it is just inevitable, rather than the reality that it IS possible to 'escape', it is just incredibly difficult.
Amazing_Yak66@reddit
Wow this hit hard. Similar situation here, now I finally have a good job they don't want to hear about it and somehow always change the subject to be about their life instead.
fresh-anus@reddit
I got this a lot when I got a (not even particularly glamourous) CS degree maybe a decade ago.
Rest of family is blue collar/nursing/teaching and the amount of “get a real job” comments while making triple what they did was unreal.
Absolutely seething when I was wfh only working a few hours a day too.
bigGoatCoin@reddit
if they say anything ask them how much they make a year, straight at their face. Then laugh, thats what i did.
Pitiful_stray@reddit
Isn’t the family middle class though?
stillphat@reddit
you could just be acting like a bundle of sticks tbh
redbloodywedding@reddit
Sorry you had to deal with that. If it makes you feel better, my parents are blasse about my successes despite not listing to them about going to college (Asian Parents) so it's like because I didn't listen to them despite being successful I'm kinda just the red headed step child regardless, but my sisters with college degrees have all the status.
OutrageousQuantity12@reddit
There are countless moments where Lois seems to intentionally set the boys back just to prove her moral superiority. Hal too, but he was shown to be far more self destructive without Lois.
When Malcom works at the store, she fucks him over by reporting the smallest infractions, and then manipulates him into not reporting her at work or telling Hal that she smokes.
There’s even an episode where she gets a ticket for pulling out in front of someone and cutting them off, sees the video tape of her pulling out in front of them, and just says “the video tape that exists before only a CIA lab could edit it convincingly is wrong”.
psinguine@reddit
The worst part of that episode is that the dude she worked with that had a crush on her found a tape that proved the guy she hit (a cop) was actually at fault. And it was right after she had finally admitted she was wrong for the first time ever. Guy brought it to the house, Hal snapped it in half, and told him to never mention it again.
OutrageousQuantity12@reddit
Still, it almost shattered her mind to admit she was wrong once in the face of evidence. Even if it was lacking context, (I think the other person pulled a u-turn or something as she was pulling out) she just plainly said the video tape was wrong. Didn’t say “oh wow I missed that in the moment”, just denied any possibility she was wrong.
plasticmanufacturing@reddit
The end of the episode with the video tape another angle is shown that proved her right in the end.
ThisBeTheVerse63@reddit
My wife comes from a very poor, large ass mountain family. She got into a top 10 university (full ride) and became a doctor. Only her parents and few aunts treat her the same. The rest are mean spirited or dismissive. The first family reunion I attended was super awkward.
BeelzebubTerror@reddit
That ending is stupid. Malcolm grew up in a poor and struggling household. He already got enough experience.
psby23@reddit
Hell yeah
not_mad@reddit
I am sorry you went through that. It's amazing to me that people act this way especially to their own blood.
I've experience a little of what you describe, and my only goal in life is that my kids have an easier and better go than I did; not the same or worse.
Robwsup@reddit
Curious, major? Career?
oby100@reddit
It’s crabs in a bucket mentality and it’s very real. “Poor mentality” is a disease.
countrybreakfast1@reddit
Yeah a lot of middle class and upper class people come from loving two parent households where they are supported and nourished. But a lot of poor people come from households where their parents are spiritually broken and it's a repeating cycle. They can often resent their kids if they try and better themselves (oh, so you think your better than me?)
positivelypolitical@reddit
Lois is lowkey the villain in the series
TypicalMootis@reddit
A white middle-aged woman fucking up the lives of everyone around her? Say it ain't so
Coelachantiform@reddit
Do you speak of your own mother this way? Disgraceful.
StormR7@reddit
My mom sent my little brother to military school which has traumatized him to the point where he cannot talk to strangers. He’s 22 now.
xtraSleep@reddit
I went to military school- it’s literally just a street smart and common sense test. The key thing is that all the older kids were younger kids at some point, and know exactly how it, what’s ok and what’s not acceptable. It’s a lot of stress tests, but like anything else guys root for improvement, not pushing dudes down.
Literally all you have to do is stand up for yourself, don’t do stupid shit and you are fine. Everyone gets bullied and how you respond is how it’s gonna be.
I was fat kid with glasses and braces and to top it off, I’m black and “act white.” Shit was rough early on. In two years I was had kids cleaning my room, making my bed, and donating snacks. I took care of the young kids and didn’t let shit slide, and kept kids away from the self destructive fuck ups.
I was like your little bro for about a month. Then you get that “fuck u” off your chest, and it’s off to the races.
spence4101@reddit
Should have went to Culver or kimball, he’d be a jpm investment banker after playing hockey/lacrosse at Yale
TypicalMootis@reddit
I love my mother with all of my heart and would die to protect her
She is also a gigantic pain in the ass for my dad
StringsBeerBook@reddit
Holy shit, this guy lives
AlphaMassDeBeta@reddit
Women whenever a trvthnvke is dropped.
edbods@reddit
I love Grandma Jenelle, and god bless her heart, BUT SHE'S OLD AS FUCK
RelevantBee7856@reddit
Yea
Night_Byte@reddit
Found the mommy issues
PM_Me-Thigh_Highs@reddit
Skyler should've died the first episode
Jezeff@reddit
I'd probably rewatch the series
Cyberbug7@reddit
Reese’s only chance is being a chef
Armando909396@reddit
Would. Still. Bang.
smokeweed-everyday@reddit
Blue collar Harvard student
Thecramosreddit@reddit
Yeah, this one isn’t so bad. Better to work as a Janitor on campus than to have to work some shitty job away from campus. It sucks that he’s going to lose out on that tech money but the final episode also aired in 2006 two years before the housing market crash so who knows how long that would have lasted. The rest of the kids got more screwed than Malcolm that’s for sure.
GlitteringFutures@reddit
"I'm a bum. But bear in mind, I'm a Harvard bum."
taimoor2@reddit
She is absolutely the villain. I don’t think the woman loves her kids.
Also, the father is a complete loser in every sense of the word. Lives in abject poverty. Wife works double shifts. He has every Friday off. Instead of using it to better himself or help his family, he takes every single Friday off to go have fun at amusement parks and non-free places. At the same time, refuses to spend money on birth control. Lies about getting a vasectomy. Keeps getting his wife pregnant. Infuriating man.
CreepingPastor@reddit
Nah Francis is absolutely an asshole who got what he deserved. He was as shitty as Reese but smart enough to apply it better.
DancesWithChimps@reddit
Francis has insane mommy issues though, so you could argue that’s also on Lois
Thecramosreddit@reddit
That’s why Lois treats Reese with kid gloves instead of whatever she did with Francis. Well that and Reese is also straddling that line between retarded and just plain stupid.
Fungruel@reddit
Reese is a cooking genius though. They're all geniuses in their own way. Francis was a genius at running the ranch and I think he would have had a lot better of an ending if the actors that played the ranch owners hadn't died before the final season
jamesonginger@reddit
Genius is way overselling Francis. Capable or successful is a better description.
Fungruel@reddit
Yeah, that's fair. I think he would have flown a lot higher if he'd continued at the ranch
It's been a few years since I rewatched it
bigtree2x5@reddit
Francis traumatized commandant spangler, not the other way around. Also, he treated it like a boys club and was constantly fucking around before leaving for Alaska.
Yeah because they're broke and in that play Dewey was just revealing a ton of private arguments and stuff out in the open.
Malcolm would genuinely be evil if he didn't have to suffer all the time for anything good. Bro becomes a massive asshole anytime he gets anything easy besides that babysitting job. The Sims episode shows this especially.
No the fuck he isn't?
positivelypolitical@reddit
Lel, lmao even
bigtree2x5@reddit
I saw a comment, it was wrong, I said why
fruitymcfruitcake@reddit
Also they do end up buying him a keyboard, he just has it one episode but they did get it for him after finding out his actual talent.
Doriantalus@reddit
Well, we can assume Malcolm becomes President.
thermitethrowaway@reddit
Would though.
Oshootman@reddit
Pretty sure it was just that nobody cared about the ending very much. I remember everyone losing interest in this show around season 3 when they ran out of plotlines and it went off the rails.
On the internet people have taken to talking about this show like it was an old standard, I would guess due to Breaking Bad's success. But tbh I only ever remember it being good in the first couple seasons when the kids were young and the writing was fresh. The rest was just alright.
smokeweed-everyday@reddit
I liked it all the way through and didn't perceive a noticable decline other than the first season being the best. Data agrees with me:
https://imgur.com/a/malcolm-middle-imdb-stats-KWkanHT
ConsequenceSad6581@reddit
I agree with you but
Shut up dork lol
illhaveapepsinow@reddit
How is it incredibly stupid that a child becomes more intelligent as he grows up?
TheDeadlyZebra@reddit
You're really off the mark with this one. It's almost the opposite - when people first saw Breaking Bad or advertisements for it, they said: "...the dad from Malcom in the Middle? I love that guy".
I've probably seen every episode of Malcom in the Middle (and also Breaking Bad). But the former was a pretty critical part of my childhood TV experience, along with my peers at school.
Hungry_Chipmunk_2588@reddit
I remember them basically not doing any promotion for the last season and thinking that was odd. I guess nobody was watching by that point.
mischling2543@reddit
I stopped watching around the dude ranch plotline. The characters turned into caricatures, which I despise. That's why I can't stand shows like Brooklyn 99 or Parks and Recreation - over the top personalities that would never exist in real life get old crazy fast.
YorkPorkWasTaken@reddit
Otto didn't show up until the second half and his episodes were the best in the series
phoncible@reddit
I have no recollection of the ending at all and loved this show. Stopped watching once they had the baby.
Oshootman@reddit
Holy shit the baby. Yup, I hadn't even remembered that but you're right. That was the shark jump wasn't it.
Demonweed@reddit
Yeah, I was an unreliable viewer. I definitely followed the show for at least a couple of seasons, but then it either went up against another show I liked more or perhaps I just got a regular social thing happening that night. Either way, I know some stuff happened in Alaska right around the time I tuned out.
StinkUrchin@reddit
Man I forgot about the baby too
I also don’t recall him having a choice to be a janitor or not lol
countrybreakfast1@reddit
Yeah I do remember losing interest in this show by the end. Like I couldn't tell you how their story lines ended at all.
AHighAchievingAutist@reddit
The episode where Hal turned into a chubby chaser and started secretly spiking Lois’ food with sugar to make her get fat should have got an award
Ilikemobkeys52@reddit
She should have been braping through out the episode
Charbus@reddit
He was the janitor from good will hunting
TheDeadlyZebra@reddit
Malcolm in the Middle really jumped the shark when Lois started slipping Hal estrogen and let him get power-bottomed by Craig.
TypicalMootis@reddit
Judging older works by modern standards will always be fucking retarted
Full_Independence566@reddit
Wtf man it's not that old just...20 years holy shit.
TypicalMootis@reddit
Culture has been changing at an accelerated rate for a while
oroheit@reddit
Yes, they didnt even have the printing press back then
TypicalMootis@reddit
Pfft, probably didn't have phones either. Fuckin dinosaurs
slow_joke@reddit
Hal still smashed twice a day everyday for decades. He’s the real hero of the story.
mischling2543@reddit
At some point it fell off into sad birthday handjobs though
J3wb0cc4@reddit
And Hal hasn’t worked on a Friday in over 20 years. I’ve gone over a year at one job and it is amazing.
Drapausa@reddit
Wait, wasn't it so he could eventually become president? I remember everyone being in on it too.
dillardPA@reddit
Specifically so he wouldn’t become a bad president, because Malcolm points out he could just make a ton of money and buy his way into the presidency. Which was pretty prescient looking back now.
She also points out that Dewey gets the easy life that Malcolm wants because that fits Dewey’s personality more (which makes sense since Deweybis way less neurotic and more self assured).
Owlsthirdeye@reddit
Yeah the whole point was that he can't forget how bad shit is for people like them so he can fix it when he's president. Taking the job would help him but wouldn't help people like them. And everyone in the family thought he would make it if he tried, even himself.
PeksyTiger@reddit
Huh? What is this about? Never saw the show
Master_Shopping9652@reddit
'Malcom in the Middle'
PeksyTiger@reddit
Ok but what job was he supposed to have?
butades@reddit
In a family barely above the poverty line, the 3rd (out of 5) child, named Malcolm, is found to be incredibly smart when he is in elementary school, like around 160 iq or higher I believe. The show follows him as he grows up all the way to high school graduation.
At the very end of the show, it may even be the last episode, Malcolm gets an offer to work right after high school graduation for a company making maybe around $150k a year to start. His mother says no, he is going to Harvard like he committed to already, and he will work until he becomes President of the United States (she elaborates a lot more but yes, that is her expectation of him and in the context of the show, it makes more sense.)
wisebloodfoolheart@reddit
So he attends an excellent college, while doing a work study job to mitigate loan debt. That sounds fine? He can still get a good job after graduation, with amazing credentials and connections, and pay off his loans. Whereas if he loses that job from his friend, he has no degree. That's a normal parenting decision.
Ferridium@reddit
Yes the thread OP and the OP in screenshot are just rworded
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oscar_z_a@reddit
Lust provoking image,
wipoooo@reddit
why the fuck is everything yellow? Hacked?
AHighAchievingAutist@reddit
AIDS
droogvertical@reddit
Can’t be having the goycattle think that there’s any way to improve their lives or they may start having expectations.
AHighAchievingAutist@reddit
Right, because sitcoms are a famously reliable metric for living expectations
Alternative_Border29@reddit
I'm confused. I assumed everyone was operating under the assumption the mom was the villain of that show.
BrownieJ@reddit
Despite being one of the best sitcoms of all time imo, I always though the way they handled and wrapped the storylines in the last season was a bit weird. IIRC Malcolm’s ending was kind of shoe horned and a lot of the characters didn’t really get a cathartic ending. I am looking forward to the 20 year time skip to see where everyone else is and how they’ve handled their lives since the finale, hopefully we get a proper send off.
miku_dominos@reddit
The point is she knew Malcolm would always be successful because of his intelligence but working as a janitor would keep him humble and connected to his working class roots which would make him a good President.
m4nuuuu@reddit
That is a way to put it if you never watched the entire series. Hal also was on board with the idea of make Malcolm struggle through life. They think he needed to know the struggle because only then he could undestand how the dumb average guy life feel. And they knew Malcolm could quit any job and rise at any moment because his intellect was superior., or how many times have happen that a janitor has become president? (Thats was the plan all along)
Even in one episode they told Malcom that Reese is doomed and thats why they put extra atention on him. And he will be fine no matter what because he is gifted.
Not that in real life being gifted guarantee any succes, but the show is fiction. Dont over analize it or use it to proyect your trauma.
ninjapenguin12@reddit
Why is the entire post yellow?
Nand-Monad-Nor@reddit
I had an insane crush on her as a young teenager. Hal is a lucky guy.
EatPrayFugg@reddit
Craig?
FartFlavoredLollipop@reddit
Lois was trying her best.
Unfortunately, her best was an idiot.
Hodor15@reddit
She did that so he would be a politician. He worked as a janitor to help pay off school. Watch the show
DarkScorpion48@reddit
You really think a zoomer can watch anything longer than 10 seconds?
talkingspacecoyote@reddit
Not just a politician, her expectations were president or bust.
Owlsthirdeye@reddit
Everyone in the family thought he'd be president if he tried.
PerfectBlueOnDVD@reddit
Yeah it's very clearly explained that she believes he will be president if he doesn't forget where he comes from, hence the janitor thing. It's stupid but it's explicit.