the website has been doing a great job giving every HR character a chance at being evil and now I'm saying it's David Hollander's turn
David Hollander as an emotionally unavailable dad bc he's got that hockey locker room misogyny in him even as he tries to be enlightened, he's still a white boomer man.
David Hollander who will yes, dear everything Yuna says and does for Shane, and maybe it makes her want to scream a little bc why is she always the Bad Cop, why is she always the one the school calls to collect baby Shane, why is she always the one who has to remember when Shane's leagues are and wash Shane's gear because she "just does it better honey"
David Hollander who doesn't insta-love Ilya bc he's got some xenophobia in him, Cold-War style, and maybe he's a little judgemental of Ilya's slut-era and also a little jealous because he married his college sweetheart, and he wasn't one of the Cool Guys like Ilya is.
thoughts, comments, opinions? I really love your HR takes, you're always so freaking interesting and insightful!
hm iām not opposed to throwing tomatoes at david hollander but these arenāt the tomatoes i would throw. from what we see of their marriage he seems to be the more domestic one, and also the more touchy feely parent, not that these canāt coexist along with misogyny, but i donāt see it manifesting in a weaponized incompetence kind of way. and then the xenophobia doesnāt land either because he is married to yuna hollander and raising a biracial child which again, certainly does not preclude anyone from racism and prejudice and xenophobia, but ascribing to cold war rhetoric doesnāt seem totally like how that would play out. he would be far more likely to be homophobic than have a problem with shane dating someone russian, i think.
this isnāt to say i donāt think david hollander sucks! i think allowing your autistic child to go through life undiagnosed and unassisted is really unforgivable. and that is JUST as much on david as yuna. but what i see as davidās biggest sin would be his path of least resistance, his yes-dear-ing, his cowardice and fear of confrontation. i think he has let yuna set all the dynamics and stakes of his and shaneās relationship even when he KNOWS itās hurting shane, but he will never stand up for shane in front of shane, only quietly in privateāāa swedish princess, really?ā but only once shane has left the table. so i think yunaās insistence that thereās nothing wrong with their son means david doesnāt push for a diagnosis or accommodations or anything at all. whatever you say, dear.
and then the sexuality thing, i think theyāve discussed that shane is obviously gay, and yuna says itās his business, heāll come to us when heās ready, and david knows thatās probably not true. but david also doesnāt want to talk to shane about being gay. david would be fine if shane never brought it up. heās from a very donāt ask donāt tell generation, where a manās business is his business. itās notable that once pasta dinner occurs yuna is like, okay boys game on, letās discuss You Being Gay. whatās the plan whatās the deal whatās happening. and david is like. āwell i buy that shane is gay, we all knew that. but i donāt for one second think the epitome of masculinity ROZANOV is a fairy.ā david get it the fuck together. can you imagine coming out to your parents and they believe YOUāRE gay but NOT that your boyfriend is. yet another mark in the Everyone On Earth Knows Thereās Something Off About Shane Hollander column. like the audacity. his own parents just quietly accepting that thereās something wrong with shane that nobody ever needs to talk about.