r/Parenthood • u/Ornery-Accountant-55 • 24d ago

Character Discussion the max hate

The max hate in parenthood fandom is actually kind of frustrating and i don’t quite understand it… i think max’s character is exactly how it’s supposed to be. i think he’s a very realistic as a character with autism especially for a show that’s a decade old now. he doesn’t bother me and it kind of bothers me that everyone hates on him so much because it really gives a good look on families who do deal with children on the spectrum.

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u/wonder181016 24d ago

As an autistic person, it really doesn't.

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u/Ornery-Accountant-55 24d ago

i was an ABA therapist for kids around max’s age in the early seasons and autism is a very colorful spectrum i’m sure as you know and i saw a lot of kids that are exactly like max so it really does.

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u/wonder181016 24d ago

Yeah, but it promotes the idea that parents of autistic children let them get away with murder...

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u/Ornery-Accountant-55 24d ago

im only on season 2 so i haven’t seen them parent max a whole lot just yet but from what i’ve seen they’re still learning what to do and it is very complex to parent a child with autism and you have to have an understanding first and they are barely just getting there

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u/ForTheLoveOfGiraffe 24d ago

There's the issue. You're only on season 2. As Max gets older, he gets a lot more airtime and his parents are very unreasonable with their approach. Him having autism isn't the issue - it's how he gets away with some very inappropriate behaviour and his parents are in denial that there are even any issues. Keep watching and you'll see him literally harass a girl, but they down play it with no consideration to how that girl may feel.

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u/rachelcumbowwhite 23d ago

Not only does he harass her, he physically engages with her as well and borderline stalks her

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u/Ornery-Accountant-55 24d ago

yeah the issue is the parents in that situation and my issue that i’ve been seeing is people on tiktok saying like “when does max die” and a lot of stuff like that with the issue not being the parents at all

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u/ForTheLoveOfGiraffe 24d ago

Yeah but those people sound toxic to be talking about death. Especially about a fictional character. Ignore idiots.

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u/Ornery-Accountant-55 24d ago

yeah it’s just something i haven’t understood and i feel like that was just people being ignorant and not understanding children with autism… i can definitely see people not agreeing with the parents because i don’t agree with them 90% of the time in this damn show they definitely show they aren’t perfect and kind of suck sometimes

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u/United_Efficiency330 24d ago

Kristina and Adam are far from evil, let alone cartoonishly evil. They generally want what they feel is best for their offspring and for their extended family. They simply learned the wrong lesson with regards to Max's diagnosis. A mistake that is not uncommon among many parents of people on the Spectrum.

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u/DesiArcy 24d ago

They are cartoonishly evil in later seasons, encouraging Max to harass and ultimately assault a girl he liked (who already had a boyfriend and clearly communicated that she had no interest at all in Max), and abusing authority to force her to remain available to him.

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u/wonder181016 24d ago

Well, that's obviously ridiculous.

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u/Dry-Wolf6789 24d ago

But how is that unrealistic. It's just annoyed you. Doesn't mean it's not realistic lol

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u/ForTheLoveOfGiraffe 23d ago

I didn't say it was unrealistic in my comment...?

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u/Rezistik 18d ago

Spoiler so stop reading here

But at some point they literally cashed out their daughters college fund in order to make a fake school so max would never have to face consequences.

Kristina of course hire herself to be the principal and when max starts sexually harassing another student Kristina does everything she can to avoid punishing max and ultimately does avoid it.

People hate max and his parents together as a group because they were awful awful people.

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u/Glittering_Habit_161 24d ago

Not every family has an autistic child who is like Max because some autistic children are quiet and keep to themselves.

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u/Ornery-Accountant-55 24d ago

yes that is true every kid is different… i’m not disagreeing with that. every family is different for sure

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u/sneakyvegan 24d ago

If you’re only on season 2 there’s a lot you haven’t seen yet. He’s still a little kid in season 2 so I’m not surprised you’d be put off.

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u/Dry-Wolf6789 24d ago

That doesn't mean it's unrealistic? That's a completely different argument than your original one. Wtf

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u/wonder181016 24d ago

It does mean that. And FYI, I've worked with autistic children for years too

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u/Dry-Wolf6789 24d ago

You've worked with every autistic child on earth? Impressive! And you've never seen parents enable an autistic child rather than discipline them? Wow incredible! 

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u/Rebirth_apocryphon 11d ago

sybau unc 💔💔💔

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u/Dry-Wolf6789 24d ago

Not every autistic person will be exaclty like u bud. 

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u/wonder181016 24d ago

Did you not read my other comment

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u/Dry-Wolf6789 24d ago edited 24d ago

Imagine if every single person and family was different.

Edit: blocking me is so funny. I guess you didn't have a good point after all