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Old 08-30-2004, 11:19 AM
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Parents of the YA gang - troubled relationships and incestuous webs

No YA character has perfect parents. Ham's mother is cheating on his dad, Bella's mom left Bella's dad 10 years ago, Will's father assumingly hurts his wife, Monica Pratt is a self-centered mother that doesn't even notice that her daughter attends an all-boys school and Senator Calhoun might be Bella's father.

Whose parents did you like, whose not? Why do you think the parents reacted the way they did? Did you think some of the situations they were in were unrealistic? What did you think about the YA parents?
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Old 08-30-2004, 07:35 PM
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I kinda liked Will's Mum - Susan, wasn't she called? I thought she dealt well with her violent husband.

I understood Steven, although I didn't condone the way he treated his family. I get the feeling that he was stretched like a rubber band, trying to make decisions that would keep everyone happy (which is impossible) and attempting to keep his family together at the same time. I reckon he needed a long holiday!!!

Monica Pratt, in my opinion, should be slapped. I mean, she drove her daughter away enough that Jake did the crazy "Boy's School" stunt, and then didn't even notice . . . for the whole of Summer Session! And did we ever find out what happened to Jake's Dad? If he left, I have no doubt that Monica was too demanding for him to continue a relationship with.

. . . Or perhaps he died or left, and that's when Monica became all dominant and dismissive. Oooh, interesting!!! I've gotta go and think about this now . . .
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Old 08-30-2004, 10:24 PM
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Yeah, I agree about the Steven Fleming thing. Being the Dean must be an incredible stress on his family life. It's a shame that Kate's cheating on him, but it's one of those situations that you can really see both sides of the story. He's busy, she feels neglected.

I think Senator Calhoun is pretty upstanding, actually. He was a bit harsh to the idea of Bella being his daughter, but again I can see where that's coming from. He's a big-shot politician; that sort of thing could really ruin him if it got out.

Will's dad is a shocker. Much kudos to Susan for keeping the peace.

Charlie always seemed a bit dodgy to me... Donna Banks is a bit harsh, but then again, she doesn't look that well off and yeah, she was entitled to sell the gas station. Although to just bring that out of the blue - not nice.

I wonder how much of the Jake-cross-dressing is caused by her mother. Because I don't know, the more I think about Jake, the more I become convinced that she creates problems for herself. She seems to have gotten it into her head that she has to create mischief all the time, and she has to do it in style. Remember Our Town with the leather 'lifting the Mona Lisa' getup? She looks as though she thinks she's a play or something, and she has this idea of a part she has to play. Granted, all that must have started with Monica not being there for her; but I think Jake must take some responsibility for how she'd turned out, and it's not fair on Monica to cop all of the blame.
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Old 08-31-2004, 10:19 AM
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I think the parents who really made an impact-at least for me-were Monica and Kate.

It's true that Kate might not have been a really great wife but I give her an A+ as a mother. Monica, on the other hand...failed miserably in this area. But although she was seen as a self-absorbed actress, I think deep inside, she really loved her daughter...I think Jake and Monica were just too stubborn to admit/show how they really felt...As for Jake's cross-dressing, I think a part of it was really because of their relationship...Jake was attention-starved because her mom never really had time for her. I think this was somehow a blessing in disguise-there's a possibility that because of this, Monica and Jake's relationship will change for the better-Monica will learn how to make time for her daughter and Jake will learn how to be honest enough with her mom...and of course, if Jake didn't do this crazy stunt, the jakeandhamilton saga would start in a different way or not at all...(well not really...they were destined, but that's a different story...)

One of the reasons why I wanted YA to continue is because a lot of details were left in the dark (Who was Jacqueline before she came to Rawley? Where's her dad? How did Steven treated his family-we never saw that...) and we didn't get the chance to see how each character will evolve...and how the parents will grow up along with their children...

I think the situations were realistic enough...the show was true about the different situations in different families. These things do happen...and this what also made YA unique. It was not pretentious and the characters were played out quite honestly and creatively...
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Old 08-31-2004, 03:21 PM
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Quote:
Originally posted by nki
Monica, on the other hand...failed miserably in this area. But although she was seen as a self-absorbed actress, I think deep inside, she really loved her daughter...I think Jake and Monica were just too stubborn to admit/show how they really felt.
I totally agree on that. Monica loves Jake, even thought she doesn't have much time for her. She notices that Jake has changed, that she's somehow happier because she now has Hamilton, and she's happy for her. I think Monica's problem is that she doesn't want to be Jake's mother, at least not in a conventional way. I guess what she really wants is to be Jake's friend, someone Jake can confide in, someone she can talk to about things that you wouldn't normally tell your mother.

Susan Krudski was sweet and caring. She wanted her whole family to be happy, and she put great effort into making them happy. But I hope that someday she would have realised that this would never be a perfect family, no matter how hard she tried. I never know what to think about Will's dad, though. He hits his kid, he practically says that he hates that Will is going to Rawley, and then he shows up at the Regatta. What does this mean? I always want to think that it's his way of showing Will that he loves him, because I know how it is to not get any signs of affection or love, but then, someday, there's something trivial, but you somehow know it's a way of showing love without anyone really realizing it. And, well, I hope that this was the case.

There's something about Senator Calhoun that I don't like. I really don't know what exactly, I just have this feeling that he's not as nice as he seems. I really don't know how to explain it.

Donna Banks? She left her family. And then she wants to sell the gas station without even telling them. They are her children. She could have at least asked if they had some place to stay if the gas station was sold, if they would be able to live without it. As for Charlie, I liked him. He wanted the best for Bella, and from what he knew from Donna and everything that happened with her, Rawley guys weren't the best for Bella. He wants to protect her and Grace, because it seems like they are the only people he has.

Quote:
Originally posted by Silversun
Yeah, I agree about the Steven Fleming thing. Being the Dean must be an incredible stress on his family life. It's a shame that Kate's cheating on him, but it's one of those situations that you can really see both sides of the story. He's busy, she feels neglected.
I completely agree.
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Old 08-31-2004, 04:27 PM
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Personally, I think the show should have followed the parent/child relationship in the Krudsky family.

I mean, I so felt for Will. His frustrations, and his deep, earnest desire to get away from the troubles/turmonts of his life - his father's brutality, his love for his mum.

He was so sick of his family life, that he took drastic measures (cheating/lying to get into Rawley). Man could you envisage what would have happened if he had had to return back home to the family situation.

I thinks thats one of the reasons why I was so bummed that the show did not continue, cos I was left hanging as to what would happen to Will after he returned back from his hols with Scout (I mean I know he would have found out about his scholarship being approved, so he would return back to school, but what about afterwards.....)
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Old 08-31-2004, 06:38 PM
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I thought Charlie Banks was really great. I mean, he obviously loved Donna enough to stay with her even though he knew Bella wasn't his. And as Bella said, she has a Dad - "The guy who didn't sleep for four days straight when I had a concussion. The guy who taught me how to tune up a car so I could be self sufficient. The guy who didn't run when my mother did. " It's gotta take a lot of guts to stay in a family and love a daughter as much as Charlie loves Bella, when he knows she isn't his. I admire him for doing that. He might be Grace's Dad - was that ever questioned? - but he definitely isn't Bella's and I think he's great!

I thought John Calhoun had a little bit too much "I'm a control freak!" thing going on . . . .
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Old 09-01-2004, 08:40 PM
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You think we would have seen more of these people if the show'd been continued?

- Bella's real dad
- Scout's mum
- Jake's dad

And what do you think they'd be like?
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Old 09-02-2004, 10:39 AM
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I think Scout's mom would be the typical Senator's wife (Just like how Scout was like the typical Senator's son...)...Jake's dad--i hope he'd be someone nice and cool, I'm not sure what Jake meant when she said that she didn't have a dad- was he dead?/ did he leave?/has Jake met him at all? As for Bella's dad, I think he'll just drop by every now and then, trying to be the father to Bella...but Charlie will still be more important, of course.

WB should never have cancelled YA. big BIG mistake...
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Old 09-02-2004, 02:50 PM
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You know, in the end of WBSHM when Charlie rips the auction sign off the wall, I think Donna changed her mind because Bella visited her. And that could have been a basic for a good Bella/Donna relationship, even though I doubt that Bella would ever be able to feel for Donna as her real mother. So, as Bella's real dad lives with Donna, I guess we would have seen more of him. The few seconds we saw him, he seemed nice, though I think he could have been a little more ecstatic that he just saw his daughter (for the first time ever?!).

Scout's mum? I have no idea. Though what nki said would have probably been true: A typical Senator's wife.

And Jake's dad? I think he left Monica, maybe even before Jake was born. I don't think he's dead, but he's probably dead for Jake, because he never seemed to be interested in her, maybe because he doesn't know that she exists, or because he doesn't care. I'm not sure if we had seen more of him if the show had continued.
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Old 09-04-2004, 08:44 PM
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Quote:
Originally posted by wolkenfuehlen
You know, in the end of WBSHM when Charlie rips the auction sign off the wall, I think Donna changed her mind because Bella visited her.
I thought that was just Charlie being defiant to the auctioneers.
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Old 09-05-2004, 06:31 PM
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If the show'd been continued I think we would have seen more of Bella's parents. Definitely Donna and Bella's true dad.

Hamilton's parents would have been a good issue too. The triangle Kate-Finn and the Dean

Will's parents would have been great to see. Their relationship should have been more developed.

Scout's mum... I don't really think we would have seen her.

And I agree with Anja abt Jake's dad.

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Old 09-05-2004, 09:04 PM
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Do you think Kate would have run off with Finn eventually? Or broken it off with him for good?
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Old 09-06-2004, 10:37 AM
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I don't think she would've run off with Finn. But I don't think she would have ended the affair either, unless Hamilton or her husband had found out about it. And they definitely would've found out sooner or later.
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Old 09-06-2004, 06:03 PM
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Exactly! Stuff like that always comes to light. I think Anja's right, though - I reckon Kate wouldn't have gone off with Finn, but she wouldn't have broken up either.

Was Scout's Mum ever actually mentioned? Did she get given a name? I'm pretty sure we didn't see her, unless I'm imagining things again . . .
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