To think the Parent Trap parents are the worst parents ever?

[GlummyMcGlummerson]

Disclaimer: lighthearted, I know it's a film.

Watching (the Lindsay Lohan) Parent Trap with DD, how utterly SHIT are both the mum and dad:

• they take one twin each when they're 1yo and vow never to see the other because the adults don't like each other
• they never acknowledge this or apologise for it
• they keep it a secret from their daughters that the girls have a twin, and seem to see now fault or feel no guilt about thia
• the dad gets engaged when his daughter is away for the summer, to someone she's never met, and "surprises" her with the news.
• when the mum finds out her estranged daughter has been with her in secret, she's more bothered about the prospect of meeting her ex again
• the dad lets his 11yo drink wine
• they get prickly when either child asks about their estranged mother/father
• when the girls almost kill the dad's fiancée by pushing her inflatable bed into the middle of a lake while she sleeps, he just goes "meh"

I also want to know -

• how a woman who only owns a wedding dress shop can afford to have a huge house in what looks like Holland Park, complete with butler
• why someone would send their child to the US from London for summer childcare
• how a 26 year old owns her own wildly successful PR company in California
• what kind of name is Chessie? (The "maid" in California)?

Even 8yo DD is pointing out how awful they all are 😂

The twins in the movie are named after the filmmakers' daughters, I read somewhere

@LetsGoFlyAKiteee

I just love films that have Londons Calling playing over scenes of London..to show we are now in England!

The ear piercing in this always made me cringe a bit

I would love to know what the Clash think when they get the royalties for being in played in some transatlantic romcom. Which pretty much stands for what they were against

Well, they are bad parents but what about the Home Alone parents? Leaving their small son alone for a week at Christmas 2 years running? I bet grown up Kevin hates Christmas and wont even allow a tree in his home.

Most of the other family members twig pretty soon that its not them, it shows the parents dont spend that much time with the kids as everyone else notices something is up and not the parents.

Yeah, the filmmakers’ kids are in it: Hallie is a kid at the camp, and Annie is the girl who brings the first aid kit at the hotel.

I always remember that from the IMDb trivia page (film nerd).

@GooodMythicalMorning

Most of the other family members twig pretty soon that its not them, it shows the parents dont spend that much time with the kids as everyone else notices something is up and not the parents.

Never thought about that

Although that might be that he's wrapped up all loved up

And she's into her wedding dress business

No excuse but still

@WetPaint4

The twins in the movie are named after the filmmakers' daughters, I read somewhere

They have walk on roles in the film as I recall

I love this film but you are so NBU! The first time I watched it as a parent I was a bit , how have I never noticed that this is so wrong before 🤣

Good point, @Meraas! I'm not sure if she counts, given that she spells it differently.

My father and his older brother were born in 1922 and 1918 respectively, in the US, to British parents who had met and were living there. The family came back in the 1930s for an extended visit to their families in England and Scotland. My granny was so distraught at the thought of being parted again from her family here that she refused to go back, and they separated and were divorced. My father stayed here with my granny, my uncle went back to America with my grandfather, and my father and uncle saw each other only once more in their lifetimes. Worse still, my granny was so ashamed of being divorced that she wouldn't let my dad tell anyone the truth and he was made to tell everyone his father was dead - which I reckon puts even the parenting skills of the Parent Trap couple in the shade! Joking aside, I find this quite tragic.

I've heard of Hallie outside of the film

Wasn’t Mo Farah separated from his twin to come to the U.K.?

@Witchend

I don't think they're the worst parents ever though. Horrid Henry's are definitely worse, and plenty of other kids lit parents are at best negligent.

I liked the original "Lottie and Lisa "book. Wasn't it written by the same person who wrote "Emil and the Detectives"?

Yes, by Erich Kastner (Not sure I spelled that right). I think Lottie and Leisa book is better than The Parent Trap film although I didn't mind the film.really. But yeah, so!e pretty dreadful family dysfunction there.

I also wondered Bout the name Chessie and thought maybe it a short for m of a name or a nickname?

@Flibbertigibbet2211

My father and his older brother were born in 1922 and 1918 respectively, in the US, to British parents who had met and were living there. The family came back in the 1930s for an extended visit to their families in England and Scotland. My granny was so distraught at the thought of being parted again from her family here that she refused to go back, and they separated and were divorced. My father stayed here with my granny, my uncle went back to America with my grandfather, and my father and uncle saw each other only once more in their lifetimes. Worse still, my granny was so ashamed of being divorced that she wouldn't let my dad tell anyone the truth and he was made to tell everyone his father was dead - which I reckon puts even the parenting skills of the Parent Trap couple in the shade! Joking aside, I find this quite tragic.

That is pretty rragic. Your poor father.

Since US movie British stereotypes have been mentioned, I have to throw in ‘Three Men and a Little Lady’. I think maybe the producer of that film got dumped by an English person at a young age and waited years to get their revenge.

That is pretty rragic.Your poor father.

And he took it so seriously that he waited until after she had died to tell even my mother and me. 😢

@Flibbertigibbet2211

That is pretty rragic.Your poor father.

And he took it so seriously that he waited until after she had died to tell even my mother and me. 😢

That is shocking

@SachaStark

If we’re on the subject of shitty parenting in films, can I just ask what the heck the parents in Stuart Little were smoking?!

THEY ADOPTED A TALKING MOUSE

And everybody just behaves like, “Yes, this is a perfectly sensible decision, and your existing human son is utterly unreasonable in his reaction to this.”

It's preferable to the book, where she actually gives birth to a mouse!

It's preferable to the book, where she actually gives birth to a mouse!

God I forgot about that!

What I never understood about Stuart Little (the film) is why they didn't just keep the mouse as a pet and adopt an actual child as well. Imagine being an orphan and watching a couple adopt a mouse instead of you. Christ. I also seem to remember that the book ends very abruptly.