A Fizziepop Take: Let's talk about the parental units of Big Mouth
The Gloubermans:
Ok, so the Gloubermans are an extremely fucked up family, and I think that has a lot to do with the verbal and emotional abuse of Marty Glouberman. While we never see Marty put his hands on his son or his wife, we see in almost every episode he’s featured in that the man is controlling and almost never has a positive or nice word to say to his wife, son, or really anyone for that matter. We see in the planned parenthood episode that Marty was once a compassionate man, and Barbra does mention in a later episode that he had once been kind and gentle, which leads me to believe that Marty’s personality change didn’t happen until a few years into their relationship, possibly not until their son was born. I think Marty and Barbra never talked about starting a family that was more than just the two of them, and I think that Marty just kinda went with it when Barbra got pregnant with Andrew because she was happy, but I think there’s a lot of resentment about the way their lives changed after the birth of their son,causing the personality shift that birthed the Marty seen in the show. I think Marty’s personality shift is what caused the shift we see in Barbra too, as we see her being a fun-loving woman in the planned parenthood flashback, but see her portrayed as a woman who is not only afraid of everything. Between Barbra’s fear of everything and Marty’s abuse, I think Andrew’s inability to connect with people in a normal way makes a lot of sense.
The Glasers:
Greg and Shannon Glaser are honestly one of the healthiest parental units in Big Mouth.This may seem odd since this couple is broken up, but I think that as parents, they are a pretty healthy example of good parents. Greg truly loves his daughter and he does what’s in her best interest when it truly matters, and so does his ex wife. Have they both made mistakes where Jessi is concerned? Yes…. Have they also both been there for her when she really needed them? Also yes. From making sure she gets into therapy, and making sure that she has a safe home with both of them in their perspective houses, to just trying to be good co-parents, these two are genuinely trying their best with their daughter and I think that’s actually pretty awesome.
The Birches:
Ok, so here’s the thing…. The thing is that I cannot stand Elliot Birch. The dynamic between Elliot and Diane started out being a really healthy one in the first couple of seasons, with the couple being loving towards each other and their children, but slowly became more and more toxic as the show progressed with Elliot becoming obsessed with his wife to the point that it became his whole personality. Elliot is an example of how lenient parenting can cause spoiled children (*cough cough* Nick), and I think this can cause resentment for the other parent when they act as an actual authority figure and hand out actual consequences for actions that require consequences. Diane on the other hand I think became more of a hardass with her kids, Nick specifically since he’s the youngest and the most likely to push boundaries in ways he may not fully understand the consequences of yet. I think that these two are very much a yin/yang dynamic, but I don’t think they could do it as a single parent or as co-parents since we do see the communication break down a bit in season 6 of the show. While I don’t think that this slight communication issue spells doom for the Birches as a couple, I do think that it shows that Elliot may not be able to communicate when it comes to the children if he and his wife were to split and have to parent separately, which I think says a lot about the way that Elliot and Diane parent. I also think that Elliot’s parenting style likely changed somewhere between the couple having Judd and Nick since Judd has an extremely different personality and overall vibe from his younger brother… While this could just be attributed to him being older and being the oldest of his siblings, Judd gives off the vibe of having been raised by different hands than those who raised Nick and I think that it’s likely that Elliot was still holding on to that “hard daddy” persona he got from his own father. I think with Leah, Elliot had a more moderate approach, but completely lost all sense of what was too hard vs what was too soft when it came to parenting and went full on “soft daddy”, leaving his wife to be the sole authoritative parent by the time Nick came around.
The Bilzerians:
Jayzerian Ricflarian Bilzerian, one of the most neglected children in the show. The Bilzerian family is deeply flawed and I believe all of that stems from the abuse by Guy Bilzerian. While most of what we know about Jay’s family is through bits of what Jay has told his friends about his home life and the few glimpses of his parents throughout the seasons, it’s very clear that Jay and his brothers are extremely neglected. The state of the Blizerian house is less than ideal, and it’s clear through the way Jay’s two older brothers treat him that there’s no real consequences for any type of behavior, leaving them all to fend for themselves while their dad sleeps around (and fathers what looks like hundreds of kids) and handles all of his dirty dealings, and his mom drinks until her body is likely filled with more alcohol than blood. Although Lola Skumpy is extremely neglected, I would argue that Jay is more neglected because Lola’s parents aren’t even in the house, her mother is usually touring with a band so she’s likely not even in the same state as her daughter most of the time, but Jay’s parents are around… Jay’s mom is literally in the house with him most of the time, but she’s too drunk to really parent any of her kids. The fact that both of Jay’s parents are around but not truly present with him is more than likely a large reason why he is the way he is. With his only constant role models being the man who fathered tons of other kids and takes care of none of them and the woman who didn’t even notice her youngest child ran away, it’s pretty clear that a lot of his creepy and weird habits come from watching the people who “raised” him.
The McDells:
Overall, Matthew’s parents are actually pretty healthy, both as a couple and as parents. I also love the fact that they kinda flipped it to show a softer side of his father since a lot of portrayals in media show it being men and fathers that aren’t as supportive of their kids coming out as LGBT, especially with sons. I do think that Kimberly and Edward love their kids, and despite the issues Kimberly has with Mattew’s coming out and her being uncomfortable when he brings a partner over for the first time, she and her husband really do try to not only accept that their son is gay, but they go out of their way to try to make sure he knows that he’s loved regardless and even talk to his younger siblings about it and remind them that they would still be loved if they were LGBT too. I personally think they’re one of the best couples and parents in the show and I would love to see more of them in the final season.
The Foreman-Greenwalds:
What can I say about the parents of Missy Foreman-Greenwald? Honestly, I think these two might genuinely be the best parents on the show. The couple is raising a strong-willed, intelligent daughter in a household that seems to constantly be supporting the development and growth of her mind. Is the whole new age hippie stuff annoying? Hell yeah, but Monica is genuinely a supportive mother and Cyrus is genuinely a man that Missy can look up to who embodies traits that she can compare to her future partners to steer her in the right direction when it comes to love. I also love the realism in this couple since we see the struggles of them having a biracial daughter in the season 4 episode “The Hugest Period Ever” when we learn that Monica doesn’t really know how to manage black hair. We also see how hard the couple tries to be there for their daughter when she develops a hate worm and becomes a beast that they are actually a little scared of. While they aren’t usually fan favorites in the show, I think it’s safe to argue that Cyrus and Monica are pretty good parents.
The Skumpys:
What can you really say about someone who is never there? We've gotten some mixed messages over the seasons about Lola’s parents, but one thing we know for sure is that she primarily lives alone in the condo she calls home. Cookie Skumpy is described as a party girl who is rarely home and when she is, has men in and out of her life frequent. The only lore we have about Lola's dad? The primary thing we've learned is that she's never met the man…. These two are definitely tied with the Bilzerians for worst parents in the show.
