Our thanks to Kevin Metzger of The DADvocate Project (www.thedadvocateproject.com) for posting this video and starring in it. This is exactly the kind of topic we need to address: media perceptions of fatherhood. CNN contributor Josh Levs seems to have some genuine interest in the subject and a desire to explore the role of involved fathers. But host Drew Griffin not only seems clueless, he takes a few slaps at the concept.
We'll talk about the dads first. They represented their various blogs well and it was good that CNN promoted the individual website addresses so that viewers could see the content for themselves. Clay Nichols (www.dadlabs.com) makes a critical point in that the current crop of dads are forging new aspects to the role of fatherhood so its difficult to go to our fathers for advice. Our dads don't understand it because today's society is a far cry from the one they grew up in as well as the one they raised us in. Modern media no longer supports the "Father Knows Best" or "I Love Lucy" portrayal of leading man and responsible father. In that vein, Kevin Metzger (www.thedadvocateproject.com) stole -not that we mind- one of our main themes when he said, "we're not the Peter Griffin or the Homer Simpson that we're often portrayed as." Good job Kevin! And finally, CC Chapman (www.digitaldads.com) makes the point that society doesn't seem to understand how truly involved dads are with their kids. We completely agree and that is yet another thing we all need to work towards changing.
Now let's get into the hosts. Tellingly, the clip begins with "I feel like we should be talking football, but here we go." Griffin makes it seem as though this segment is a waste of time to him. We get the impression that discussing fatherhood is somehow beneath him. And Levs responds with, "hey, give 'em a shot!" Not exactly the best hook to the viewers.
After they air the interview, the discussion amongst the hosts commences and Reynolds Wolf makes a great comparison to his role as a father and that of his father and grandfather. They are wildly different. And Wolf he may have had a rough homecoming that night after telling the entire country that when he gets home, "the place looks like a hurricane aftermath." His wife probably didn't appreciate that observation.
Griffin goes back on the attack with, "I just want to know who actually is visiting this site", "I bet there are more women,", and his grand finale: "my advice would be get off the web and go see your damn kids!" Thanks for the pearls of wisdom Mr. Griffin.
In summary, the world of involved dads is growing and the media is doing a horrible job of catching up to reality. We need to continue working to bring them along and advocate with us instead of attacking against us. We also need more alpha male representation that society can observe as being a strong man and strong father at the same time.
Comments (4)
Griffin was just upset we insulted his family name
1
Tuesday, 28 September 2010 19:13
Kevin
Unfortunately, though we are not all Peter Griffin, Peter does have family out there and perhaps Drew was just upset we defiled his family name.
On a more serious note, Drew manages to personify a number of stereo types in his few short sentences. He would make Ron Burgundy proud and the truth is there are a lot of men out there that are exactly like Drew. I can't judge how he is at home with his kids but I can judge based on what he said that he feels football is more important than a discussion about fatherhood. I don't feel this reflects poorly on the dads that are out here, I just feel it reflects poorly on him.
Actually, this clip here doesn't include another winning line from Burgundy. On the CNN page (http://newsroom.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/26/stay-at-home-dads-connect-on-the-internet/), he talks about the bad economy, then says, "Fortunately, WE haven't been turned into stay at home dads just yet." Dick.
Thanks for the link BloggerFather.com! No wonder CNN tucked that clip away. It is far more infuriating than the one we saw earlier.
Obviously (as we tend to do), we left a comment on the site. Not sure if CNN will approve it, but lets hope Drew Griffin and I don't meet in front of a TV camera one day. One of us would win the public, the other would need a ride home.
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On a more serious note, Drew manages to personify a number of stereo types in his few short sentences. He would make Ron Burgundy proud and the truth is there are a lot of men out there that are exactly like Drew. I can't judge how he is at home with his kids but I can judge based on what he said that he feels football is more important than a discussion about fatherhood. I don't feel this reflects poorly on the dads that are out here, I just feel it reflects poorly on him.
Obviously (as we tend to do), we left a comment on the site. Not sure if CNN will approve it, but lets hope Drew Griffin and I don't meet in front of a TV camera one day. One of us would win the public, the other would need a ride home.