To be disturbed by Netflix 'Breeders'

[Overhype]

With Martin Freeman. Is this bordering on abuse dressed up as acceptable parent burn out? It is supposed to be loosely based on Martin Freeman's own experiences? I'm sure it is exaggerated, but I an finding parts of it not funny at all. It just gets good, than an extreme "joke" is thrown in which is to me far too aggressive. I find Ally such a pathetic wet rag of a character, smiling and excusing her husband for his vile swearing rants at their children?
No parents is perfect, but there are certain parts of this that make me question how it even passed as a comedy. I'd imagine some parts of this would be triggering for some people who won't have a clue that they'll take it so far, and are expecting to see a comedic representation of "normal" patenting. It all seems to be excused by Paul saying he loves the kids, as if that cancels out his aggressive nature. When social services get involved it is passed off as being somehow over the top, when in actuality it isn't imo.

What do you think?

I agree OP. I felt the same and couldn't get through the first episode.

It’s awful & just not funny. I agree that it’s abuse dressed up as entertainment.

i imagine him to be like that in real life I’ve never taken to him.

People are allowed to discuss their views on a TV programme, it’s kind of what a forum is for. Get off the thread if you don’t like it & leave everyone else to share their views. Any reason you’re so particularly offended by this thread?

Yes apparently it’s based on his own parenting experiences so that says a lot.

I've heard parents say worse in supermarkets and on the street. Not often but I have.

But did you laugh?

Nobody's laughing at the abuse though? No one's watching and thinking 'haha, what a funny man verbally abusing his children' are they? The comedy comes from elsewhere.

It IS slightly based on his parenting life @30percent which you keep skirting. Also very invested for someone who had never watched it.

c’mon, you’re one of the writers????

Tetchy much lol I'm not offended at all just pointing out my own view on a discussion forum like everyone else 🤷🏻‍♀️

We really enjoyed it as a programme, but absolutely agree that his character was a bullying twat to his kids, and Ally was a wet rag most of the time.

I didn't think for a second that it was autobiographical for Martin Freeman! He's an actor ffs.

I took the whole thing as a comment on where the line should be drawn on parenting, and how being middle class and "loving" most of the time (debatable in his character's case) shouldn't be seen as a mitigating factor. We did find a lot of it funny but were horrified at his outbursts at his kids. I don't see that we were being invited to laugh at that, so didn't have a problem with it. Plenty of comedies have other darker threads in them and people don't get offended by their inclusion.

Going to have to watch this before I can make further comment. Monday night viewing sorted I guess.

Completely agree. Had to stop watching, a shame because some parts were really funny. I didn’t find it relatable at all.

I agree op, I couldn't even finish the first episode. I've never really like Martin Freeman anyway, but this really made me uncomfortable.

I watch horrors, thrillers, grisly mysteries, various stand up comedy etc so I'm not usually a pearl clutcher, but honestly I couldn't stand Breeders. It wasn't funny, the characters were intensely dislikeable and it was basically abused dressed up as "lol isn't being a parent shite".

Quick Google tells me different!

MF is a bit of a prick if that’s how he parents.

I've watched the first 3 series, I think there's a 4th?

MF character made no sense. Parents that are abusive like him don't really have the more caring side that he showed sometimes. At times it went too far and was just uncomfortable to watch. If it is based on his own experiences of parenting, then I feel really sorry for his children.

The mum wasn't great either. she allowed him to abuse the children and called the police when he and the kids were missing, so she believed him capable of something terrible.

It was very watchable but on reflection, it was very 'off'. Abuse made lighthearted. Very fucked up.

I did find it distressing to watch and triggering at times. (Although I loved the grandparents).

My teen daughter loved it and encouraged me to finish watching the series. I could see why by the end. Things kind of came around.

On first episode. Been laughing a lot.

Sorry OP.

"Sorry, I tried to tire them out but I think I just made them stronger..."

💀

I loved it! It’s clearly an exaggeration of the extreme but I liked it a lot. Watched it twice through now. Although the kids were pretty drippy if anything!

Give it time, I laughed at first, then he shouted at the kids in fhe bath, and i thought a bit harsh, he has lost it, a one off. I didn't expect that to be the tip of the iceberg though, and be followed by much more disturbing stuff, such as a flashback of him shouting at his son as a newborn, along with so much more. The baby thing was awful, and at that point I thought this isn't funny at all.

It sort of lulls you into a false sense of security, then boom there's a disturbing abusive part.

There are a lot of funny parts and I laughed at a lot of it. He really is abusive though, he's not just a parent who sometimes gets frustrated at the things life with children throws at you, it goes beyond that which sort of ruined it overall for me. He actually damaged his children.

There were moments of humour and moment of real heart (especially with his parents) but both the parents are abusive and it was hard to watch. Him because of his total rage and her because she is unable to protect the children from him. If my husband ever spoke to our child like that, I'd have thrown him out.
And there's not much reflection on the programme about how awful and damaging the parenting is.

I found it particularly tough when the parents were sat there debating on whether to take their son to hospital, after he badly hurt his leg due to social services. It made me feel sick. I didn't get far past that. I'm the kind of person to see things out to the end, wait for it to get better then think great I can't get those hours of my life back. I couldn't do that with this though.

Spoiler alert

I’ve just watched seasons 1-3 on Netflix (4 is in Sky I think) and I thought similarly to you. I preferred the later episodes when the children were older as he does try to redeem himself a bit/get therapy, but the swearing really jarred in the first series (and I am a big swearer but didn’t swear at young DCs).