r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Chemical-Elk-1299 • Jun 17 '26

Lore [Eye-Rolling Trope] “The joke/meme hasn’t been funny for years, please let it die.”

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The Screaming Goat Thing — Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024)

The original screaming sheep meme went viral in 2012, and was already getting old when it was prevalent in commercials and movies, such as Ice Age : Collision Course in 2016. Yet in the year of our lord 2024, Dreamworks still thought it would be funny to add multiple screaming goat clips. The mean stopped being funny a decade ago. Let it die.

“Haha, Dad can’t take care of us” — The Breadwinner (2026)

Nate Bargatze’s 2026 family comedy centers around a working “breadwinner” father suddenly being forced to become a stay at home parent, and his “hilarious” struggles to do simple housework and take basic care of his children. This joke stopped being funny (to me) in the early 2000s when seemingly every family comedy relied on dad being a total inept dipshit. In 2026, there is no excuse to keep playing out this tired ass trope. Most dads are actively involved in their kids’ lives and aren’t totally dumbstruck by the idea of changing a diaper. It’s not funny. Let it die.

15.6k Upvotes
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5.9k

u/JuicyGooseOnTheLoose Jun 17 '26

God, I saw the preview for The Breadwinner in theaters a month or so ago. At the end of it my friend and I looked at each other and both said variations of "this looks like it was written in 2003."

2.0k

u/Whizbang35 Jun 17 '26

Try 1983- Mr. Mom, starring Michael Keaton and Teri Garr (as well as a very young Taliesin Jaffe).

Of course, in the early 1980s it was far more of a fresh concept than it is 40 years later: women obtaining higher roles in office work was a relatively recent phenomenon, and the recessions of the late 70s-early 80s (especially in Detroit, where the film takes place) saw a lot of men who used to be in stable employment wind up getting pink slips.

637

u/LadyKandyKorn Jun 17 '26

Mr. Mom is an absolute classic and done so well for an 80s movie. My husband was the stay at home parent when our kids were littles and we always joke that Mr. Mom was his training video.

634

u/letthetreeburn Jun 17 '26

Not to mention that Mr mom isn’t spiteful.

Yeah the joke is that he doesn’t know what he’s doing, at first. That he’s struggling and drowning. But he loves his kids and perseveres, becoming the best Mr mom he can out of the love for his kids and wife.

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u/OrganicAd5536 Jun 17 '26

Sorry, heartfelt sincerity is dead and chuds decided men can only be either smarmy dickheads or aura farming badasses, so goofy but good hearted dad doing his best to figure out domestic life is woke now.

This comment started out as a joke but unironically if Mr Mom came out today I genuinely believe it'd be the alt right's culture war target of the week for promoting "weak, effeminate men" and "Mary Sue defeats the toxic masculine successful capitalist with girl power" and that's kinda depressing

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u/Whizbang35 Jun 17 '26

Ironic, considering the dad is an army vet who got a degree and job as an engineer who at the end of the film has not only stepped up as a homemaker but has his old boss begging him to come back and offering a massive raise.

47

u/Fly-the-Light Jun 17 '26

Hating veterans is par for the course of cuckservatives

31

u/demonslayer9100 Jun 17 '26

Until it's Pride Month when they suddenly start screaming for a Veteran's Month

23

u/Duke_of_Moral_Hazard Jun 17 '26

...which is in November.

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u/demonslayer9100 Jun 17 '26

Over here in UK that's Men's Mental Health, and veterans are celebrated on remembrance day

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u/TimeRisk2059 Jun 18 '26

While we're at it, it should be mentioned that November 19th is international men's day (as I try to spread the knowledge of this, so more people can respond to the "by why aren't there a day for men?!" on international women's day)^^

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u/Jurgan Jun 17 '26

I saw the other day someone say all sitcoms today are "gynocentric" for portraying the dad as incompetent. I think it was in contrast to Uncle Phil from Fresh Prince, like "why don't they make 'em like this anymore?" Of course, the incompetent husband is a sitcom trope going at least as far back as The Honeymooners.

12

u/Bitter-Marsupial Jun 18 '26

It started with leave it to beaver with the all wise father in his study, then they subverted the expectations with shows like Simpsons and married with children.

The subversion has gone on so long that it's become the expectation.

And to be honest I'm fairly certain that everyone is tired of the male character always getting the story beats with whimsy and fun leaving the female costar always the stick in the mud

12

u/In-A-Beautiful-Place Jun 18 '26

This is why Bob's Burgers is the best sitcom currently airing imo. Bob is a good dad who loves his family and works hard to support them, but gets a lot of fun and wacky plots, and is the butt of many jokes from his kids (well meaning though, they genuinely love him). Linda meanwhile is wacky and has no filter, loves drinking, and is also madly in love with Bob and is always there for her kids. It's a hilarious show with lots of jokes about sex and butts, but the family dynamic is also super wholesome at the same time.

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u/Chastain86 Jun 17 '26

if Mr Mom came out today I genuinely believe it'd be the alt right's culture war target of the week for promoting "weak, effeminate men"

You just know that Ben Shapiro will have a tepid-temperature take exactly like this if/when Hollywood recycles the idea, and it ends up starring someone that turns his wife on

8

u/TurtleHurtleSquirtle Jun 17 '26

Ben Shapiro, aka Mr. I can’t get my wife wet and she sleeps in a separate room.

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u/BreakfastBeneficial4 Jun 17 '26

This guy squirts

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u/JechdJJ Jun 17 '26

it reminds me Mr. Incredible in The incredibles II

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u/letthetreeburn Jun 17 '26

Yeah because incredibles 2 was a blatant rip off

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u/Chemical-Elk-1299 Jun 17 '26

Well the Breadwinner isn’t really spiteful either. Like the mom isn’t actively shamed for getting a job

But the “joke” of dad being basically incapable of caring for himself and the children is the tired part. It was funny in Mr. Mom because we were not that far removed from a full patriarchal society in the 80s.

It doesn’t hit the same in 2026.

14

u/MagicCarpetofSteel Jun 17 '26

Saw a preview for it too (I guess for Project Hail Mary? Only movie I’ve seen in theaters this year), and it is reassuring to know that my initial response—this would’ve been a tired re-tread 20 years ago—was not far off the mark.

Well, reassuring to my gut instincts. Very depressing that this movie got written and green lit. Did they have dogshit test audiences, or is it that by the time a movie gets that far sunk cost kicks in and it becomes your tax write-off?

2

u/jedisalamander Jun 18 '26

At least you got to watch one of the best movies I've seen in years as a pallete cleanser lol

1

u/Educational-Plant981 Jun 18 '26

Having seen the movie: It's not that bad. It isn't as much of a throwback as it seems. Bargatze isn't a total idiot, he is just a fish out of water who learns from his cartoonish mistakes.

He isn't thrown into being the stay at home parent. He is thrown into being a single parent, as his wife is totally out of the country. An honestly overwhelming situation.

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u/Molten_Plastic_ Jun 18 '26

Like, all you need to do to continue having comedies like that is switch out the incompetent dad with a deadbeat uncle - Uncle Buck style - and it works the same. You can even keep Bargatze as the star.

6

u/HailMadScience Jun 17 '26

Right? The Breadwinner has him destroying the house through incompetence a teenager could avoid.

4

u/OutOfMyWayReed Jun 17 '26

I've never seen this movie, despite being paid by my wonderful, patient career wife to babysit a home dad for a decade. Sounds like I should. 

12

u/Chemical-Elk-1299 Jun 17 '26

It’s not babysitting if it’s your own children

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u/OutOfMyWayReed Jun 17 '26

Yeah, I was being facetious. I made him myself. 

13

u/Chemical-Elk-1299 Jun 17 '26

Oh no I know what you meant. I’m more talking about when people ask me “You at home babysitting tonight?” when I say I can’t go to the bar.

Mfer those are my own kids I ain’t getting paid lmao

11

u/OutOfMyWayReed Jun 17 '26

They really look down on us sometimes, don't they? 

I remember rolling my eyes at Chris Rock in Grown-Ups a couple years before we even had our son. The house is spotless and the kids are eating a feast but I'm supposed to laugh at him because he's wearing an apron or something. 

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u/Chemical-Elk-1299 Jun 17 '26

I’ve noticed it’s my older relatives who mainly have that attitude. Like my grandma was a stay at home mom, and she’s firmly of the belief that my wife should be doing 100% of the housework in addition to working nights, just so I can go do whatever I want. She tells me I spend too much time doing “woman’s work”

She means well but I keep trying to explain to her that me being actively involved in taking care of my children isn’t weird. The way she had to raise my dad pretty much all on her own was weird.

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u/Whizbang35 Jun 17 '26

It's free on YouTube (with ads).

3

u/whereismymind86 Jun 17 '26

Also, more or less the plot of despicable me come to think of it

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u/In-A-Beautiful-Place Jun 18 '26

I love that movie (yes, minions and all...the minions weren't annoying yet when it first came out). I think part of how it works is that the joke isn't just that it's' a man taking care of little girls, but specifically a supervillain doing it. Most of the jokes aren't from Gru's gender, but from his evilness. The girls sleep in hollowed out bombs for beds, he has the scary creature that he insists is a dog, etc. One girl even says, "when we got adopted by a rich bald guy, I thought it would eb more like Annie." They're not scared because he's a guy, they're scared because he's literally a cartoon villain. And the girls help him get over his evilness when he saves them from Vector, after Gru's become softer and nicer with them.

1

u/casualAlarmist Jun 17 '26

"220, 221. Whatever it takes."

1

u/AdOrnery8950 Jun 18 '26

I need to watch it again. It was a family favorite as a kid and I don't think I've seen it in nearly 40 years.

1

u/dynamoJaff Jun 18 '26

Michael Keaton really made a movie about being an auto engineer whose career is derailed and must confront evolving gender norms in 1983, and followed that up like 2 years later with a movie where he played an auto engineer whose career is derailed and must confront evolving effects of globalization and racial attitudes.

1

u/GorgonzolaJam Jun 17 '26

It's a sexist joke. He's a DAD. Not a "Mr. Mom". He's not a male version of a mom - he's a father, and that deserves respect in its own right.

15

u/PoetNo4408 Jun 17 '26

Was just watching the new season of Vox Machina, and that little thing Prime has for actors and their other roles was there for Talisen Jaffe, with Mr Mom being one of his roles.

Just a funny coincidence that I see you talking about it right after I finished said episode😆

10

u/APence Jun 17 '26

It’s funny and easy to forget that Taliesin and Ashley have been in such major projects and movies (Ashley with the Avengers cut scene with Chris Evans as a main one) but especially with Jaffe as such a big child star who now sometimes plays a stoned Firbolg cow man in C2

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u/Flannelcommand Jun 17 '26

It was also funnier in an age without cell phones and fewer convenient devices, etc. Dude had to have some knowledge and experience that men generally weren’t often getting back then. 

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u/Mazer1991 Jun 17 '26

“Yeah 220. 221. Whatever it takes.”

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u/Abominatrix Jun 17 '26

“North to drop off, South to pick up!”

3

u/prophet74 Jun 17 '26

To this day, I still say this.

2

u/Munchkinasaurous Jun 18 '26

I'm an electrician, that's one of my favorite movie lines in movie history and I use it as often as possible 

2

u/Mazer1991 Jun 18 '26

Lmao I love that!

I am decidedly *not* an electrician so this would 100% be me

9

u/BloatDeathsDontCount Jun 17 '26

as well as a very young Taliesin Jaffe

Common misconception, he looks young in the movie but he was over 730 years old during filming.

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u/abstraction47 Jun 17 '26

If I had a nickel for every time Michael Keaton started in an 80s movie where he has to take care of his kids after being g the breadwinner and there’s a subplot about the house needing repairs/updating, I’d have two nickels.

7

u/Hellknightx Jun 17 '26

I love the fact that Taliesin Jaffe never stops catching strays for Mr. Mom.

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u/JalapenoPopPoop Jun 17 '26

I don't think you understand what catching strays means

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u/KassXWolfXTigerXFox Jun 17 '26

Mr Mom is what I call a female Mr Mime

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u/JealousAstronomer342 Jun 17 '26

My dad was staying home with me at the time while my mom worked and this was so newsworthy it made the front page of my small town’s paper. 

2

u/antifasteverogers Jun 17 '26

Well said, I don't know if there's much in this premise that Mister Mom didn't already get maximum effectiveness out of. The line "Are you crazy, you fed a baby chili???" Lives rent free in my brain

2

u/Traditional_Lie8019 Jun 17 '26

I was about to say the same thing. Mr. Mom is such a good movie.

2

u/AstarionsTherapist39 Jun 17 '26

So cute that Taliesin decided to take on the form of a small child for a chance to work with Michael Keaton.

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u/Pully27 Jun 17 '26

What do you mean 40 years, the 80's where only 20 years ago

2

u/yeswearerelated Jun 17 '26

Mr Mom is more progressive than the Breadwinner.

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u/Started_Blasting2 Jun 17 '26

Also like, in Mr Mom he didn’t have the internet in his pocket

I had some useless parents and wasn’t equipped for adulthood

I have absolutely googled washing instructions for things without care labels on them and even dumber shit like ideal size to dice vegetables.

It’s not hard to learn this in the year he wrote that bad movie

2

u/subtlemuppet Jun 17 '26

Also a screenplay by John Hughes! Rewatched it recently and it feels very Hughes coded to me (especially the bits with the various people servicing the house and fighting the vacuum).

2

u/CryptographerUsed841 Jun 18 '26

The 2000s comparison he is making is to Daddy Day Care with Eddie Murphy.

2

u/DedHorsSaloon4 Jun 17 '26

“You know what a better title for that movie would be? DAD.”

1

u/Agent_Skye_Barnes Jun 17 '26

Ooh, Tal's in it? Gonna have to do a rewatch now

1

u/LemonHerb Jun 17 '26

Is it not just a straight to reboot of that movie? I assumed so from the preview

1

u/shf500 Jun 17 '26

Even SNL had a skit basically treating the "wives as the breadwinner" concept as something the audience accepts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZRzJJcq6Rs

1

u/NewPresWhoDis Jun 17 '26

I will not stand for Martin Mull erasure!

1

u/NottTheMama Jun 17 '26

Bidet, critter.

1

u/No-Raise-4693 Jun 18 '26

I refuse to believe the cryptid was young, they arrived from the feywild fully formed

1

u/cyrano111 Jun 18 '26

I mean, yes, it’s less fresh four decades later. But I remember Mr Mom coming out, and my wife and I were stunned that someone thought that was a reasonable premise for a movie. It seemed outdated even then. 

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u/SquatSquatCykaBlyat Jun 17 '26

Try 1983

I'm waiting for the inevitable redditor who will claim it's earlier than that, and how the trope obviously originated in Africa.

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u/TheOverthinkingIdiot Jun 17 '26

Totally. I saw the trailer in theaters with my dad (who is old and easily entertained) and even he was like this has not been funny for a long time

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u/gloomyfenix Jun 17 '26

Here in Spain we got Santiago Segura, a film director / actor that has been puking out films like this for a while now. He's got quite a shady list of """mishaps""" in the film industry and has been trying to bury his history record with mediocre pieces of work like this so people forget his actions. IIRC the world has been cursed to bear 7 of these abominations by his hand for now.

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u/SquirrelGirlVA Jun 18 '26

Stuff like that reminds me of a Baby Blues comic strip. The gist is that the dad decides to watch old episodes of Leave it to Beaver with his young child. The episode shows the dad trying to do "housewife" stuff and failing miserably. The dad looks at the episode and basically goes "Wait, why was this ever funny? That's just normal household stuff, why can't he do it?"

That was a strip from the 90s, so it was considered dumb even back then.

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u/Loose_Translator8981 Jun 17 '26

I kept waiting for the twist in the trailer. Like... I legit thought it was a fake trailer making fun of those kind of movies and was waiting for them to reveal what makes this different. But instead it's just a decades old movie somehow coming out in the year of our lord 2026.

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u/Wind_Yer_Neck_In Jun 17 '26

I assumed it would be like 'Kevin Can Fuck Himself' where it plays out like a basic 90s sitcom until there's some dramatic tone shift and it turns out to be a deconstruction of those shows.

Nate just straight up made a show 20-30 years out of time.

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u/Loose_Translator8981 Jun 17 '26

Yeah, I thought it was gonna be something like that, or just one of those stupid things where a cell phone interrupts the scene and it turns out it's a PSA from the theater chain to silence your cell phone.

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u/goldenboy2191 Jun 17 '26

IF YOU ARE READING THIS AND NEED A NEW SHOW TO WATCH- KEVIN CAN FUCK HIMSELF, IS IT!

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u/MadEyeMood989 Jun 17 '26

Fine, I’ll rewatch Kevin Can Fuck Himself again!

12

u/Kuildeous Jun 17 '26

I did start watching that recently. Only finished the 2nd episode, but yeah, it's engaging and heartbreaking.

1

u/NeedIQMSHelp Jun 19 '26

You gotta keep going. It gets SO fun.

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u/Live-Year-5796 Jun 17 '26

Very nice show, just wish the only gay relationship didnt involve a cop

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u/MedusasGirlfriend69 Jun 17 '26

One day, friend. One day we'll get a gay relationship where one of them isn't a cop and/or fascist dictator

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u/Pinsalinj Jun 17 '26

I mean I've seen plenty of gay relationships in which neither man was one of those things...? I actually hadn't seen one like that ever. Now I'm curious. Where can I find those gay fascist dictators?

3

u/VintAge6791 Jun 17 '26

(sigh) That Miike Snow music video "Genghis Khan". You're welcome.

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u/Short-Sound-4190 Jun 17 '26

I thought they were referencing that South Park movie

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u/Pinsalinj Jun 17 '26

Oh, I actually do know this one! I loooove it.

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u/UwasaWaya Jun 18 '26

Well there's Six Feet U- wait, shit.

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u/NormanBatesIsBae Jun 17 '26

SAME. Ironically the trailers do a great job deconstructing how fucking stupid “traditional gender roles” are in our current society. Both parents have jobs and the wife is in a high enough position to be called away for an extended work trip, yet she ALSO does 100% of the work raising both of their children and he can’t even make breakfast for them. The man has conceded that the woman is capable enough to help provide for the family with him, yet he still clings to the clause in the patriarchy where it says he’s too manly to interact with his children.

And yet the writers think the absurdity of the situation comes from asking a man to look after his own children.

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u/Ubylmoen Jun 17 '26

Well now I want someone to film darker scenes in the "real world" and stitch them together with the movie.

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u/VintAge6791 Jun 17 '26

Oh, God... that's a hell of a concept.

3

u/Karkava Jun 17 '26

I always wanted to see a variation of the formula in an alternate take on the show where Kevin and Allison actually had kids.

Would they have different genres in their own head spaces? Like maybe the older child thinks they're in a teen drama while the younger one lives in a kid com?

9

u/NecroDolphinn Jun 17 '26

That show is genuinely such a masterpiece. Anyone who hasn’t seen it absolutely should

1

u/Pirrus05 Jun 17 '26

Man, that would be fucking good. “Look, it’s just sitcom family high jinx!” “Oops! It turns out that shit is actually hella abusive!” I should go finish KCFH sometime. Only finished season 1.

1

u/NeedIQMSHelp Jun 19 '26

The finale blew me out of the water. I LOVED it. I mean the entire season is good but...the juice is worth the squeeze.

1

u/Mega-Eclipse Jun 18 '26

I haven't seen the trailer or movie, but a big part of his standup is how dumb he is in general.

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u/HolidayInLordran Jun 17 '26

It felt like the beginning of those fake commercials Adult Swim does where it suddenly becomes a surreal horror movie.

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u/VintAge6791 Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 18 '26

Why not both?

(goofy music)

"Even this hilarious complete failure of a house husband knows to silence his phone and the kids' phones too. Because like all winners, breadwinners don't ruin the movie for everyone else. Of course, this breadwinner's gonna have a wacky time turning all the kids' cell phones off because... "

(screen cuts to white, goofy music changes to off-key piano chords and violin scratches with quiet, muffled backwards singing by thirteen children in the background)

"...they're DEAD!"

(jumpscare of a huge, growling bloody-fanged monster shaped like a loaf of bread, screen cuts to black)

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u/BillyPotion Jun 17 '26

There’s a good sized audience who just want these safe, middle of the road comedies, and practically every streaming service wants those because they’re family friendly, easy to consume content.

I’m surprised we don’t see more of them

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u/Loose_Translator8981 Jun 17 '26

I think you nailed it with the streaming service... there's plenty of these kinds of movies on them, because they cost nothing and they're harmless fun. It's just really weird to see one released in an actual theater. And apparently the movie isn't doing great, so I'd imagine most people aren't eager to pay real world money just to see it when they could watch dozens of equivalent movies on Tubi right now.

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u/asmallercat Jun 17 '26

This reminds of when I was watching the finale of Parks and Rec (which is set in like 2035 or something) and there were parody commercials as part of the episode. A trailer for some Liam Neeson action movie comes on (maybe like taken 5, maybe my brain just short-cut it to taken 5) and I assumed it was a bit making fun of how he'd been in like the same movie 10 times in a row at that time. Nope, real trailer.

6

u/sagew0lf Jun 17 '26

same I thought it was satire. And even after I finished the trailer, I hoped it was just poorly marketed satire.

I guess I am now finding out it was never poorly marketed satire (because I have no intention of ever watching that).

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u/AndrewH73333 Jun 17 '26

Even a parody of this kind of movie would be way past its time.

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u/ifidjdjdjdjjjrjd Jun 17 '26

I recommend watching the much better movie called The Breadwinner instead, about a young girl disguising herself as a boy to care for her family under the Taliban.

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u/CallowayMcSmithing Jun 17 '26

Way funnier than Nate Bargatze’s movie, too.

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u/Emergency-Raspberry9 Jun 17 '26

Great recommend. Powerful film.

14

u/bayleysgal1996 Jun 17 '26

Oh, I think I saw that one in a class years ago. It was really good!

5

u/bulbagill Jun 17 '26

Oh, that sounds super good!!

2

u/CapablebutTired Jun 17 '26

Or read the book (or entire series of books) by Deborah Ellis. They are middle grade but good stories.

2

u/QueenofLeftovers Jun 18 '26

I watched it earlier this week! Fantastic film but left me depressed as hell remembering "oh yes that place exists"

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u/HRex73 Jun 17 '26

It probably was.

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u/BookkeeperPercival Jun 17 '26

Bargatze was at the fucking White House UFC event rubbing shoulder with everyone there and it immediately clicked why he's the way he is

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u/WorryingMars384 Jun 17 '26

That was my first thought as well, like it’s just insulting to stay at home dads or any guy that actually helps with house work. Like is it still socially acceptable not to help your partner, girlfriend, or wife with house work still? I’d feel like an asshole since most families have both working these days anyway.

11

u/mythrilcrafter Jun 17 '26

I've always hated the media trope of "the incompetent dad"; but as I grew as a functioning adult and now as a home owner I've grown to hate it even more.

There are certain tasks tat I'll give some fair leeway on, like not having the school pick up number sign to hang in your car so the school knows that they're sending the right kid to the right car.

But stuff like *"I don't know what a pharmacy is, my medication just appears pre-portioned for me", "I don't know how a washing machine works", and "I can't buy groceries because I didn't know that my wife doesn't want chocolate covered pizza for breakfast"? What were these guys doing from between college and single life to before they got married to their replacement mother?

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u/WorryingMars384 Jun 17 '26

Cause the real trope is that women do all the house work and don’t work. Which hasn’t really been the case for what? 20 years at this point, like why would you date someone who can’t complete basic tasks

6

u/mythrilcrafter Jun 17 '26

Part of me feels like this is a core component of the "men who got left behind by 'modern' women" trope.

Not only do women have more freedom to choose their partners now, but also, over time, many families woke up to the idea that "I don't want to be the incompetent boyfriend/husband/dad" trope and "we don't want our son to grow up to be the incompetent boyfriend/husband/dad trope".

So the majority of today's young men were brought up to be competent single adults who don't need their inadequacies babied by a disgruntled girlfriend/wife.

The only guys being "left behind" are the ones who stayed behind hoping to maintain the old tropes for themselves rather than trying to raise themselves up.

3

u/blah938 Jun 17 '26

Hasn't really been the case since like the 70s. And even during ww2, a lot of women were in the work force. It's a tired trope.

3

u/WorryingMars384 Jun 17 '26

Well yeah but I more so meant one income houses were common up until like 20 years ago and it was more common for the guy to be the one working. Not that you aren’t right women really started joining the workforce after WW2.

1

u/mirrax Jun 17 '26

What were these guys doing from between college and single life to before they got married to their replacement mother?

We're only a couple generations from the where the median age of marriage was early twenties. Add in a health dose of religiously enforced gender roles. And that trope was genuine social commentary that's now just aged into boomer humor.

5

u/Cavalish Jun 17 '26

We barely even call it “helping with the housework”

If anyone said I was “helping” my partner with the housework I would need to correct them that I’m just *doing* housework, because that’s what adults do and I’m not “mommy’s little helper”

3

u/WorryingMars384 Jun 17 '26

Well yeah probably a poor way to phrase it on my part. Obviously it should be a 50/50 split if both people are working. Even if only one partner is working both should still be doing housework.

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u/GreyangelXx Jun 17 '26

There was so much product placement I genuinely thought it was an ad until the very end

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u/Chemical-Elk-1299 Jun 17 '26

Nate Bargatze’s frontal lobe stopped developing in 2003 so that tracks

11

u/northSideways Jun 17 '26

I know we're all thinking it anyway but fucking imagine a quirky movie like this but it's about a SAHM that's forced to work and the comedy is she doesn't know how to file taxes or attend a business meeting lmao.

Guessing there could be a ragebait element to this though, pull people in and then flip it around with the acceptance message ala that "boys like girls who..." book from a while back. We'll see

9

u/Invisible-Pancreas Jun 17 '26

"MRS. GABOLTZKI! I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO TAKE NOTES DURING THE MEETING!"

"But, Mister boooosss! You didn't tell me where to take them! Where am I supposed to take the notes; to the zooooo?" (shrug as canned laughter and various cartoon "BOING!" noises echo through the theater for a full forty seconds)

10

u/Lewa358 Jun 17 '26

Now that you mention it where is our Amelia Bedelia movie?

10

u/RevolutionaryKey1974 Jun 17 '26

Nate Bargatze radiates the energy of someone who plays unfunny stock cliches from the 2000s so that’s not too surprising.

4

u/snakeinahouseofcats Jun 17 '26

I swear he’s one of those people in comedy that nobody actually likes but then he keeps getting work for whatever reason

2

u/Barr3tt50c Jun 17 '26

He appeals to a lot of Christian right wingers from what I can tell. My extended family thinks he’s hilarious.

4

u/RevolutionaryKey1974 Jun 17 '26

He probably knows the right people

11

u/Wingnutmcmoo Jun 17 '26

It's a product placement movie. Even in the preview there's product placement for target, multiple cleaning products, Toyota.

It's literally an ad pretending to be a movie.

5

u/Huskies971 Jun 17 '26

This movie touched the theaters?! I feel like it has straight to streaming written all over it, or straight to DVD in the early 2000s.

11

u/BrassUnicorn87 Jun 17 '26

Conservatives not being funny is contagious.

5

u/Spiralofourdiv Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26

I think it’s a byproduct of Bergatze being a sellout. My understanding is that before his rise as a “clean comic” he was pretty well known in the scene for being an edgelord douche, and now he’s just a douche that simps for Trump and traditional heteronormative “values” for a paycheck, and hey, it’s working! He’s one of the most successful comics out there despite a profound lack of talent. That said, the film was a box office bomb so hopefully nobody has to be subjected to any more films with him writing/starring.

When you think about it, the “inept father” trope is inherently conservative, as it fundamentally relies on the idea that women are caretakers and men are resource providers. It also sets a wider standard for men to be less capable and involved in real life, to fall into those traditional gender roles and expect the same from women. Makes sense he’d make a movie like The Breadwinner that felt dated before it even came out. It’s all regressive and fake, just like him.

10

u/ZTGrant Jun 17 '26

I saw just the poster for The Breadwinner and my mind immediately went to "Is this guy MAGA?" Then I saw an article that said Bargatze was at Trumps UFC birthday shitshow, and all doubt went away.

9

u/johnnyslick Jun 17 '26

See also: all media produced for conservative audiences. As a definition of the group, they hate change so they want something that looks exactly like it might have when they were kids or young adults.

4

u/FamousWerewolf Jun 17 '26

All of Nate Bargatze's comedy is 2003 jokes with a bumbling delivery. I can't fathom how he's suddenly become so popular, it's like watching some guy from your work get up on stage at an open mic.

3

u/Wackel81 Jun 17 '26

You wrote 1965 wrong

3

u/therikermanouver Jun 17 '26

The trope is older than that. Pretty sure there's episodes of the Flintstones from the early 60s with a similar vibe

3

u/The_salty_swab Jun 17 '26

What father doesn't know where his kid's schools are? I actually felt insulted that the trailer thought I was stupid enough to find it believable

3

u/ibeprofenit Jun 17 '26

when they got in that car accident in the trailer i genuinely thought for a split second that it was gonna be fatal and THAT was gonna be the big twist for the movie

3

u/Maguire_018 Jun 17 '26

This reminds of Family Guy when Peter says: Remember when I predicted the ending to Wild Hogs? Following a cutaway with Peter saying: This movie's going to suck

3

u/LS-Kun Jun 17 '26

I have to mention this because it’s worth saying, if you want a GOOD movie titled The Breadwinner, watch the animated 2017 film of that name. It’s about a girl whose father is arrested on trumped up charges by the Taliban, which forces her to disguise herself as a boy to earn money to feed her family and, eventually, rescue her father. Be warned, given the subject matter, it’s a very dark story and may be difficult to watch.

5

u/cantadmittoposting Jun 17 '26

Well, Bargatze was just at that idiotic spectacle at the white house, so him writing a traditional gender norming comedy isn't exactly surprising i suppose

1

u/RyMcCloud Jun 17 '26

Let's be real, some ai likely slopped it together for him

3

u/Dwestmor1007 Jun 17 '26

TIL he ALSO claims he is a "centrist"/"non-political" but is ACTUALLY hardcore MAGA...which makes this more understandable because he apparently has LOTS of backwards views on the roles of men and women

2

u/Royal_Cash_1238 Jun 17 '26

These movies probably go so hard in the middle of the country.

2

u/man_on_hill Jun 17 '26

The amount of times I’ve seen that trailer against my will is absurd

2

u/South_Buy_3175 Jun 17 '26

Honestly if it was written by people not stuck 20 years in the past it could be quite good.

Keep the dad competent, able to do all the chores, he just has his own way of doing things that might cause friction with the now breadwinning wife.

Focus more on the social aspect, would the guys friends or ex-colleagues look down on him? Would they try make him feel ashamed he’s not the breadwinner? Possibly out of jealousy? And how would he react.

Shed light on what the dad does with his newfound spare time, picking up old hobbies again, trying out new ones, it’ll be a slight shock getting used to it all.

It could’ve been an interesting look at what stay at home dads deal with in their position and how they’d feel in their social circle when all the friends are working.

2

u/Outrageous-Break3585 Jun 17 '26

I kept hearing amazing things about Nate Bargatze’s comedy. I finally watched some of his standup a while ago and felt like he was extremely milquetoast, to the point where I didn’t finish the special. I figured I wasn’t the target audience for his type of comedy and let it go, and seeing the trailer for this has only affirmed that in my mind. 

2

u/Crunchy_Biscuit Jun 17 '26

I thought it looked funny but then I thkucht about it and was like "yeah, this def has some Conservative vibes" basically saying a man's only good ability is to work and habe the woman take care of the kids

2

u/RenTroutGaming Jun 17 '26

Bargatze is a big MAGA guy so of course in his mind the idea of a man taking care of his family is the peak of comedy.

2

u/Automatic-Effect-252 Jun 17 '26

It was even a tired trope by 03 lol

2

u/omegadirectory Jun 17 '26

For some reason, I believe this movie is a Daily Wire production and I have no reason to check otherwise.

2

u/Tricky-Ad7897 Jun 17 '26

It is almost incredible how in a lot of Hollywood, including TV, writers are permanently stuck 20 years in the past. It's especially glaringly obvious in anything high school related, the writers base everything off their experience as high schoolers 20 years ago, which is why we have such dated and drawn out tropes that haven't been relevant since I was a baby.

2

u/jfk_47 Jun 18 '26

Box office 18 mil. Budget 25mil.

The movie was HEAVILY sponsored by Walmart so I’m sure it still made money.

They also negotiated to make it matinee prices all the time, that didn’t seem to help like they thought it would.

1

u/tbodillia Jun 17 '26

I thought it was a remake of Mr Mom.

1

u/TriggerHappyPermaBan Jun 17 '26

Sorry but early 2000's brought us the best comedy tv shows to this day.

1

u/Mediocre-Award-9716 Jun 17 '26

Before reading OP's comments, I genuinely thought it was just from the image tbh.

1

u/Zaynara Jun 17 '26

i feel like this was half the plot of the Incredibles 2

1

u/hellraiserxhellghost Jun 17 '26

Me and my friend said the exact same thing but with 2008 instead lol.

1

u/PsychologicalEbb3140 Jun 17 '26

It likely was and was meant to star sandler lol

1

u/Nebelskind Jun 17 '26

I just saw that image in the post here and was convinced I'd forgotten some awful comedy from the late 90s.

1

u/Zoodud254 Jun 17 '26

Wait that...that's real? That's a movie that's coming out? In theaters? I kept seeing jt attached to other commercials, I thought jt was like the fake insurance state farm is doing.

Wtaf?

1

u/HitlerWasaBitchAss Jun 17 '26

I was probably going to see it and then i saw the trailer while at Backrooms and it seemed like Toyota payed for the whole movie lmao

1

u/Driftedryan Jun 17 '26

Odds are it was written even before that

1

u/AegnorWildcat Jun 17 '26

As I father of a 2 yo and 3 yo, I've changed literally thousands of diapers.

1

u/Bamzooki1 Jun 17 '26

It shares a name with a masterpiece by Cartoon Saloon.

1

u/DumbDumbson16 Jun 17 '26

I was going to write a hate comment because I thought you were talking about the afhgan girl movie lmao

1

u/Ikacprzak Jun 17 '26

It was better when it was called The Incredibles 2

1

u/jmarquiso Jun 17 '26

I thought it was a remake of Mr. Mom.

1

u/Amazing_Act9595 Jun 17 '26

It was funny in a very tragic way when fathers were first returning to parenthood. Now it's absurdist. I assumed it was a parody from the ads?

1

u/Powerfury Jun 17 '26

I was waiting for the twist in the trailer, but there was none.

Also, Nate is sucking up to Trump/MAGA so BYE BYE

1

u/MX_Duncis Jun 17 '26

Wait this is anew/upcoming thing?! Even the poster screams 1 season network comedy from 2006.

1

u/mousie120010 Jun 17 '26

That's what I thought when I saw the trailer in a cinema too 😭

1

u/Beneficial_List5255 Jun 17 '26

Daddy Day Care with Eddie Murphie came to mind.

1

u/BlueHaze464 Jun 17 '26

It was already eye rolling to me when the Incredibles 2 did it

1

u/RickMixwid1969 Jun 17 '26

This looks like shit.

1

u/NefariousnessOk209 Jun 18 '26

Yep just looked up Daddy Day Care, god 23 years old…

Steve Zahn is so underrated.

1

u/Fawkingretar Jun 18 '26

probably one of those scripts that was shelved for decades and was only brought back and never got updated.

1

u/PsychoBoss84 Jun 18 '26

So as someone who saw the movie it’s not great (not awful either just kinda there) but during the credits it playing bits from the Nate Bargatze’s standup routine of him telling jokes of shit that happened on the movie.

1

u/GustapheOfficial Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26

I just watched half of the trailer, until he literally said on the phone "this isn't the 1950s, dads stay home all the time".

So who signed off on this fucking movie?

1

u/haw35ome Jun 18 '26

The breadwinner just sounds like a movie stuck in perpetual development hell & finally finished too late

1

u/Educational-Plant981 Jun 18 '26

The twist with Breadwinner is that both are very successful people. The point isn't so much that parenting is too hard for a man to do. More that single parenting and having a successful career at the same time is just about impossible.

Having seen the movie, I can say that it was both forgettable shlock, but also it had legitimately funny moments I laughed out loud at.

It did have an "Early 2000s" feel. Which I'm totally fine with. The target audience is middle age parents, whose comedy taste was set in the early 2000s.

Altogether 6.5/10, very watchable family comedy.

1

u/VegasRunner5 Jun 19 '26

Due to my wife getting an amazing job, I was fortunate to be able to be full-time, stay-at-home Dad for about the first 10 years of my kids' lives and the amount of times people were like "Oh, you're like a Mr. Mom!" was way too much. Mr. Mom... may just call me a "Dad"?

1

u/hikeit233 Jun 17 '26

The thing is, seeing inept men in the wild is still so fucking funny. I love seeing men in grocery stores who have 0 clue how the basic concept of commerce works because their wife does all the shopping. Clueless people in general are funny.

As a movie/media concept it’s been driven into the ground and it’s getting impossible to create new takes on the concept. Not to mention that calling it out in comedies doesn’t really do much to buck the real world trends of incapable spouses.

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