“Parenthood” vs. “Parenthood”

"Parenthood" 1989

Two extended families, the Buchmans from 1989 and the Bravermans from 2010. Twenty years is not the only difference between the two.

Let us start with the patriarch of each family. 1989’s Frank (Jason Robards) was a tough talking, no nonsense drunk, but 2010’s Zeek (Craig T. Nelson) lives in a more politically correct society where drunks are no longer funny. Frank had a blind spot for his youngest son Larry (Tom Hulce), a loser who found himself in debt and with a son named Cool whom he barely knows. Zeek barely seems to register his youngest son Crosby (Dax Shepard), and Crosby doesn’t seem to resonate much on-screen either (though his current girlfriend is so baby-crazy that she keeps a canister of sperm in her freezer). Crosby finds himself with a young son named Jabbar from a former girlfriend.

The central contemporary fathers are played by known stars. Steve Martin played Gil and Peter Krause plays Adam. Both characters are proud men who want “normal” children, but have to accept something else. Gil’s acceptance seems to evolve from a series of comedic moments, while Adam’s comes through tear-filled moments between his wife Kristina (Monica Potter) and Zeek. It is worth noting the 20-year-old comedic moments were no less real than the weepy dramatic moments of today. In fact, there was a much greater number of one-liners and quips in the Buchman family than the Braverman family, but they didn’t take away from the story.

Gil has a sister named Helen (Dianne Wiest) and Adam has a sister named Sarah (Lauren Graham). Helen and Sarah both have children that they raise on their own. Gil’s sister’s daughter winds up married to Keanu Reeves while Adam’s sister’s daughter doesn’t seem to be of age just yet. Gil’s other sister is married to Rick Moranis and raises a genius daughter. Adam’s other sister is married to a nobody and raises an average daughter who seems to love her stay-at-home dad more than her workaholic mom.

The central theme of both incarnations of “Parenthood” seems to be that having a dysfunctional family isn’t the end of the world (as if anybody has seen a fully-functional family on television since “The Cosby Show” went off the air). But both families react to their respective dysfunction in different ways. When Gil’s kid is found to have psychological issues, Gil goes to extremes to avoid the label of “special ed” for his son. But Adam’s son gets his own label: Asperger’s. Two decades ago, a kid could receive counseling without having to be tagged as ADHD or OCD. Now, every child gets a label.

Towards the end of the ‘89 movie, Frank and Gil had a unique exchange where the father asked the son for parenting advice. Towards the end of the ‘10 pilot episode, Zeek and Adam had a generic exchange where the son asked the father for help. It seems odd that, given the time that has passed, the storytelling has actually reverted. Perhaps subsequent episodes will touch on the larger issues the movie faced (teen pregnancy, abortion, and marrying Keanu Reeves, to name but a few). The big issue facing the teens of the pilot episode concerned getting caught with wacky tobacky (admittedly not a modern euphemism, but the story was equally not modern).

There may be irony that a movie many would probably consider too old to be relevant manages to handle dysfunction with a greater degree of maturity in comparison to its present day television counterpart. In spite of Steve Martin’s levity, there is drama in the film. Which is not to say that the TV series doesn’t have potential. But whereas it is OK for a 20-year-old film to be quaint, a modern TV show doesn’t have that luxury. If they want to do a series about dysfunction, then they need to tackle the issues facing today’s families. They need to do it with humor, but they can’t sugarcoat reality.

"Parenthood" 2010