As the incident with the turkey and the potty tell us, John is an arrogant clod who stands there moaning about the indignity of being laughed at and being seen as something less than the commanding, unquestioned figure he’d love to be seen as. The reason that I mention this that egomania and pride in full bloom need to be accompanied by a leafy green background of utter indifference to the rights and feelings of the people in his vicinity. After all, he is the husband and father so he gets to say what goes and no one is supposed to hold him down and make him less than a man by invoking something pointless like how Elly feels fat and ugly and foolish all the time already so it’s a real dick move to remind her of that fact. Since he’s supposed to win all the time and they’re just supposed to take it, we have to deal with:
Axiom 2e:
John firmly believes that there’s one set of rules for him and one set for everyone else.
That being said, his need to preserve what he sees as his rightful place as King Of Big Fucking Deal Mountain isn’t the only reason he mopes when his ego-gratifying toys are used as poking holes in his argument that his wife doesn’t really deserve kitchen equipment that actually works. We also have to realize that while his decisions are arbitrary and self-serving, his sensitivity to the needs of his family can only be measured with an electron microscope and his moral courage is conspicuous by its non-existence, he needs to see himself as a great guy everyone should listen to. He doesn’t see the whining, boorish ogre Elly sees or the pompous and always angry dicktard his kids do because he’s waged a war against self-awareness all his life. This leaves us dealing with
Axiom 2f:
John is almost tragically unaware that his family sort of fears him instead of loving and respecting him.
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