Stan isn't a replacement parent for Henry. He's kind of like an uncle. I do think the show was making a statement about Henry's relationship with his own parents, though.
Oh, I agree. That's part of what I find so creepy about jumping to an "real father" scenario. It's like people can only see two possibilities of an adult is talking to a child: parent or predator. But there's lots of other possibilities.
Like with Paige and Pastor Tim he was her youth pastor. She shared personal stuff with him--he didn't invite her into his personal life except in very specific ways that were appropriate with that. Stan and Henry, I think, do have a more personal relationship. There's times where Stan does share things with Henry because he knows Henry personally. And I do think it's intentional that Henry's having those conversations with Stan and not Philip--but that's also not unusual, especially in families where there's personality conflicts during adolescence.
I always thought another thing with both Pastor Tim and Stan was they were, in the eyes of the kids, the opposite of their parents. Stan's a cool FBI agent (whose long hours don't bother Henry because he's not his father), Pastor Tim was a political activist etc. Paige was intensely obsessed with Pastor Tim at 14 and now probably doesn't think about him. And her interest in him came with a lot of work on her part. Stan, I agree, is more like family. He's there whether Henry's in his Stan-obsessed phase or not. It's not all or nothing.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2018-03-12 11:21 pm (UTC)Oh, I agree. That's part of what I find so creepy about jumping to an "real father" scenario. It's like people can only see two possibilities of an adult is talking to a child: parent or predator. But there's lots of other possibilities.
Like with Paige and Pastor Tim he was her youth pastor. She shared personal stuff with him--he didn't invite her into his personal life except in very specific ways that were appropriate with that. Stan and Henry, I think, do have a more personal relationship. There's times where Stan does share things with Henry because he knows Henry personally. And I do think it's intentional that Henry's having those conversations with Stan and not Philip--but that's also not unusual, especially in families where there's personality conflicts during adolescence.
I always thought another thing with both Pastor Tim and Stan was they were, in the eyes of the kids, the opposite of their parents. Stan's a cool FBI agent (whose long hours don't bother Henry because he's not his father), Pastor Tim was a political activist etc. Paige was intensely obsessed with Pastor Tim at 14 and now probably doesn't think about him. And her interest in him came with a lot of work on her part. Stan, I agree, is more like family. He's there whether Henry's in his Stan-obsessed phase or not. It's not all or nothing.