User blog:AustinDR/Are Mr. and Mrs. Loud Bad Parents

When you rank all of the fictional parents in cartoons who were notably bad, there's the Loud parents. For starters, there's Lynn Sr. who is well-meaning, but I partially find him a pushover because of his effeminate attitude. On the opposite side is Rita who calls most of the shots. She's the one that does the cleaning, food buying, and all that good stuff. In my honest opinion, they aren't necessarily bad parents. It is made clear several times that they deeply care for their children, even when they get annoyed by their countless fighting. I feel that what makes Mr. and Mrs. Loud slightly "bad" is that at times, they are negligent. It seems that for the most part, the parents would let their kids solve their own problems before taking action. One instance of this is "Chore and Peace." The kids begin to fight each other because they wanted to switch chores. Lynn Sr. at one point does ask his wife if she thought they should probably step in to break up the fight, but Rita declines saying that it'd be best for them to work it out on their own. And then they play puzzles. Of course, it takes the kids believing that Lincoln was missing when the house becomes a pigsty to get them to work together, but in the end, Rita is proven right. Another instance of this is in "4x the Loud House:" in the episode, Lynn Sr. formulates a crafty plan where the kids would have to cooperate in order to find the hidden money that supposedly was from the original owner of the house. Sure, Lynn Sr. didn't count on the house being trashed, but you have to break a few eggs to make an omelette.

But when does letting your kids solve their own problems go too far? While I do agree that you should give your child a chance to solve their own problems before helping them if they're stumped, but there are some points where the parents could've stepped in to do something. Take "Brawl:" instead of trying to talk to Lori and Leni about the dress fiasco, they instead opt to wait it out. Really, if they would've confronted their daughters on their ridiculousness, maybe everything could've been solved. Sure, maybe not, but at least they could've done something. Oh, and of course telling Lincoln about the sister protocol. Even then, when they actually do act as the adults, sometimes they are too laid back in how they discipline their kids. In "The Sweet Spot," while they do yell at their kids to return to their bedrooms when they overheard them fighting over a seat in the van, that doesn't stop the kids from making a break for it the moment morning arrived. And that led to the van getting controlled (though Lynn Sr.'s comment about how long the van had been in his family was hilarious). If they were to have said something along the lines of "if you don't get the (bleep) back in this house this instant, none of you will go on that trip tomorrow," I'd think it would've been more helpful as the kids would be forced to act good so that they don't miss the trip. So they ground the kids after they sold everything in "Come Sale Away?" Good, they deserved that for letting competition get to their heads. How does the episode end though? The family goes on a long, overplayed victory dance competition that is honestly more disturbing than funny.

The only real time that I can call Mr. and Mrs. Loud bad parents is, of course, "No Such Luck." While I didn't hate the episode, what was infuriating how easily the parents fell for the sham. Besides Lisa, who is supposed to be a genius of course. I'm sorry, but I do not buy that garbage for one minute. They're supposed to be the responsible parents, and yet they're childish enough to believe in a silly superstition. While I personally find their treatment of Lincoln in this episode fine because it was exaggerated for comedic effect, I can completely understand how many people were peeved at this because what they were doing could be considered borderline child abuse of the neglectful side. To me, this is the point where the parents went from well-meaning but inattentive and negligent to being on the same level as Mr. and Mrs. Turner from The Fairly Odd Parents.

With all that being said, what are my final thoughts on the Loud parents? Do I find them the most reprehensible, despicable, and idiotic parents in all of cartoon history? No. While they aren't the perfect parents, they are far from the worst. Take "Lock 'N Loud" where Lynn Sr. orchestrates an elaborate scheme that makes hi family believe that there was a robber. Was it bad to deceive them? Yes, but he did it because he wanted his kids to remember to always lock the door for their safety. Or in "A Novel Idea," Lincoln actually ends up having a great time with his mother in comparison to his sisters who stare in shock at what was happening before them. Or how about Lynn Sr. giving up Vanessa for the sake of his family? All these moments show that Mr. and Mrs. Loud do care for their children and try to be as good as they could possibly be for them. The only real problem is that sometimes they give their kids a little too much privilige when it comes with them solving their own problems, and they can be inattentive. I would suggest that they be more strict, but at the same time slightly laid back so that they wouldn't be overbearing.