Bob Belcher is one of the best dads on television, and he wants to win | Tech Reddy

Any screenwriter knows that dealing with difficulty is key to allowing the audience to empathize with the character they’re writing. Seeing someone struggle, fail and sacrifice to achieve their dreams helps us to emotionally invest ourselves in the triumphs and pain of the main character no matter what type, whether they are freedom fighters in the Rebel Alliance. Star Wars or high school kids Unknown things. Likewise, real parents are often expected to live up to standards of love, kindness, understanding and sacrifice that few real parents hope to match, but at least they are heralded by viewers as paragons of parenting in their plight. If I were to name one particularly underrated TV parent, however, it would be Bob Belcher, Bob’s Burgers. He may be a humble “burger man,” but the long-suffering patriarch of the Belcher tribe somehow maintains his determination and integrity, even if it would be too easy to give up on his dreams. With that said: The guy wants to win, and he needs it badly.

It should be clear that being a parent is a sacrifice. But healthy parenting dynamics also involve continuing to raise both parents as one individuals, and this includes enduring love and the opportunity for individual satisfaction or satisfaction. Bob and Linda Belcher thankfully still have the former, even if their efforts to keep the flame burning are a running gag of arranged sex and romantic blunders. The latter, however, is more of a problem for Bob, because we see him at a certain point in his life when he has long ceased to exist as a person in his family. The daily grind of running a restaurant and raising children led Bob to seem to forget over time what it was like to be able to take even the smallest amount of time for himself, for his own satisfaction or mental health. She doesn’t expect or want a moment of solitude this time: As Tina puts it this way in “Glued, Where’s My Bob,” when she says “She doesn’t expect to be alone anymore; we hacked him.” And indeed they have, a sad trait the character has carried for 13 times now.

This does not mean that Linda is not a good parent, or that she is not holding up her end of the bargain to keep this family alive. I’m not trying to belittle Linda here, even though it may sound that way. It’s just that I can’t help but feel a special sympathy for Bob, because he often struggles more with the reality of their job: Keeping a restaurant that’s always struggling and failing, while raising three strange and trying kids. Compared to Linda, Bob often struggles with the knowledge that he may fail as a father and as a provider. Where his wife is more protected in these situations by her own sense of hope and an unstable adult rather than letting things like their dire financial situation get to her, Bob overlooks those perceived shortcomings and always has an enduring background. anxiety. You can call him the antithesis of a character like Homer Simpson, who is usually very dumb and doesn’t know he should be in trouble. Bob is well aware of the problems, such as the persistent fear that his children will look back on their childhood as dangerous or depressing, the way he looks back on his childhood. This kind of look at the essential poverty of childhood is because Bob reads closer to the “central character” of the show than Linda, because we understand more easily about why he is the way he is.

How can you not sympathize with Bob, when his childhood best friends were a scrubbing pad, a rusty spatula, and a little dog carved out of soap?

Some of these worries will be improved by the successful restaurant transition, but the struggle and financial uncertainty have always been at the heart Bob’s Burgers. This creates a rich and coherent storytelling of others who have faced the same kinds of struggles, but it makes the audience yearn for Bob to finally be. is rewarded because of the talent you have been shown to have, time and time again. How often has it been shown that Bob’s food is world class? Since season 1 of “Burger War,” Mr. Fischoeder has admitted that Bob is a “cowboy artist” who makes special meals – including burgers that receive rave reviews from critics in several episodes, such as Season 5’s “Best Burger.” And yet, despite the fact that everyone loves burgers when they taste good, it will never translate into lasting business success. Each gain is tempered by a new loss, one that can be attributed to Bob’s lack of skill as a salesman, and the insistence on high quality rather than fraud, as demonstrated by Jimmy Pesto across the street. We understand that Bob’s Burgers maybe you can he would be a great success, if Bob could just give up his integrity and be like Jimmy, but he’s not. How can you not love him for that?

Ways to improve family stress are similarly often presented, but are thwarted by a change in negative events. Bob is given five months of free rent, for example, by Mr. Fischoeder in “An Indecent Thanksgiving Proposal,” but the family breakdown during Calvin’s plan to seduce an old lover is said to have scuttled the deal, losing potential. made a huge difference in their business. Bob is also offered his own “bistro on the beach” by Felix to help him sell Wonder Wharf to developers in season 4, but ultimately chooses to give up that dream for the sake of his children, I don’t want to see the amusement park go. Such sacrifices are a long and strong pattern for Bob.

In this case, one would hope that Bob would at least have something to do to fulfill himself—some “me time” where he could chat with friends, or occupy his mind with anything other than the restaurant or the kids. . Linda has some of those things—hobbies, friends, etc.—but Bob is so focused on everyday life concerns that his wife doesn’t even know he likes doing a job like building Season 1 models. “A weekend at Mort’s.” For 10 years, Bob didn’t even find time to build a “bus from Speed,” describing model building as “my hobby, ever since I could have fun.” Even something as small as this, she put aside permanently for a decade, feeling like some kind of betrayal for her to do anything she liked or do anything that wasn’t directly in the service of her family. Bob also has no close friends or family, beyond his usual dining experience, whom he does not view as true confidants. Where Linda finds freedom and reassurance in her conversations with the likes of Gayle, Gretchen and Ginger, Bob eats away at those worries and doubts. One wonders what small cures could be unlocked.

Perhaps no example evokes more sympathy for Bob, however, than the events of Season 5’s “An Afternoon in Bob and Louise’s Garden,” in which Bob tries to find a place in the community garden, which will allow him to grow anew. produce in the restaurant. Immediately fascinated by the garden, and calling it his “happiness,” it’s rare to see Bob finally find something satisfying. in his own, and you can literally see the guy’s blood pressure drop in the process. But of course it should not be, as the conflict in the restaurant with the disagreeable Cynthia (the garden organizer) and the teenage Logan drives Linda and Louise into chaos, which results in Bob giving up the garden to make peace. This is a sad moment, because it would have been easy to reach an agreement—Bob spends less time in the garden, and the family agrees that his father could use this kind of marketing. But as always, the solution is simply “Bob is giving up another thing he loves,” because that’s exactly what he’s doing.

And it’s a shame, because with all those obstacles and disappointing results, the audience’s desire to see Bob score “big wins” continues to grow. There are few TV dads who are more devoted and devoted to their family in a way that resonates with reality, while at the same time dealing with such difficult, middle-class situations. If any of these dads deserve to be successful, to truly reap the fruits of their labor one of these days, then it’s definitely Bob Belcher. He can’t just be hungry the beefartist forever.

Jim Vorel is Paste it staff writer and resident genre guru. Can you follow him on Twitter especially writing for film and television.

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