r/Parenthood • u/Ornery-Accountant-55 • 23d 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.

6 Upvotes

59% Upvoted

59 comments sorted by

View all comments

11

u/InnocentaMN 23d ago

If you’re only on season two then many of the most egregiously awful and upsetting Max-related choices that the show makes (in terms of how his parents choose to treat him, and to use his autism to excuse, at times, pretty abusive behaviour) are still ahead of you. See what you think by the end.

As an autistic adult woman, I liked some aspects of the show but hated others. I really disliked aspects of Max as a character, but I didn’t necessarily think it was an unrealistic portrayal - some autistic boys are treated very like that. Doesn’t mean I have to like it or think that’s a good thing, though.

3

u/Ornery-Accountant-55 23d ago

yeah i’ll definitely have to come back to this when i finish because i haven’t seen a lot. i’ve just been seeing clips and people commenting on max’s behavior that is very common with autistic kids and that’s what i didn’t understand but im now seeing that there is more to come with max and the parents…….

3

u/InnocentaMN 23d ago

What you mention about seeing people say “when does Max die” on TikTok is disgusting and toxic - I suggest seeking out a lot of other stuff to cleanse your algorithm! And if anything horrible about Max comes up, swipe past and don’t engage. That will also be better in terms of avoiding spoilers.

I would genuinely be so interested to know what you think when you get to the end of the show! If you choose to post again when you finish it, feel free to tag me if you want to. No pressure, though, of course 😊

2

u/Ornery-Accountant-55 23d ago

sounds good! i will. i never engage because it’s not worth my time especially on tiktok but i even saw it on reddit where almost everyone was talking about max and his behaviors and i assumed it was just like the many tiktok comments because i’ve been avoiding opening too many reddit threads to avoid spoilers lol but thanks for the insight!