A Reddit post asking people to name a movie parent they thought was wrong as a kid but right as an adult has drawn a wave of agreement, with commenters rallying behind Charlie from Twilight, King Triton from The Little Mermaid, and Steve Martin’s character from Father of the Bride. The post on r/AskReddit has collected hundreds of comments, each one a fresh take on a parental figure the viewer now understands.
The thread asks readers to name a movie parent they watched as a teenager and later realized was the sensible one. The results show a common pattern: the adults who seemed overprotective or unreasonable turned out to have been right all along.
Charlie From Twilight
One of the earliest responses focused on Charlie, the chief of police father of Bella. Commenters argued that he was the only reasonable character in the film. A second commenter added that his job made the situation worse, since he was watching one of the cases he worked on play out in his own home.
A third commenter pointed out that Charlie encouraged Jacob when he forcibly kissed Bella, and that Bella broke her hand punching him. The poster noted that the kiss was validly motivated by hatred of Edward, and that the father’s reaction was the sensible one.
“Him being the chief of police makes it a hundred times worse: he’s watching one of the cases he works on in his job play out in his own house.”
The thread’s discussion of Charlie suggests that viewers now see his concern as grounded in both his personal relationship with Bella and his professional responsibilities.
King Triton From The Little Mermaid
The next name raised was King Triton, whose objections to his daughter Ariel’s plan to become human drew strong support. One commenter wrote that Triton was right and Ariel was still a child, while another agreed that his intentions were sound.
But the discussion also noted that his methods backfired. One user argued that yelling at a teenager that their plans are stupid and childish is not helpful, even when those plans are indeed stupid and childish. Another pointed out that destroying all her shiny things was a bad parenting move.
“Yelling at your teenager that their plans are stupid and childish isn’t going to help anyone, even if their plans are stupid and childish.”
The thread’s takeaway on Triton is that the king’s instincts were right, but his actions pushed Ariel toward the prince.
Steve Martin From Father of the Bride
Steve Martin’s character faced a $250-a-head wedding for 572 guests, a total of $143,000 in 1991, which the commenter calculated as almost $352,000 today. Commenters argued that the family’s treatment of the father as cheap was absurd, given the scale of the event.
The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the claims made by commenters in this Reddit thread. The details above reflect responses shared on r/AskReddit and represent the opinions of individual Reddit users.
Other Parents Named
Other commenters defended Mrs. Banks from Mary Poppins as a woman literally running a home, managing kids, and fighting for women’s suffrage while her husband complained about his tea. The dad from Beethoven, Tom Hanks’s character from Sleepless in Seattle, and the mom from A Christmas Story all drew defenders as well.
The Pattern of Adult Empathy
The thread shows how audiences age into empathy for parental figures. Characters who seemed overbearing as a kid now look prescient. Viewers return to these films with life experience and recognize the adult logic they missed earlier.
Charlie’s concern about Edward, Triton’s worry about Ariel’s plans, and Steve Martin’s frustration with the wedding budget all read as reasonable adult reactions now.
The Daily Dot’s inability to verify the claims means the numbers and opinions are unconfirmed, but the pattern is consistent across the comments. Each commenter is making their own argument about a movie parent they now understand.
Source material: “‘The Boring Parent Was Right’: Internet Is Revisiting the Movie Parents They Thought Were Wrong as Kids. Turns Out They Were Right,” The Daily Dot.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.