Great Circle

For about thirty years, fathers have been getting a bad reputation via fictional media.

From the self-centred incompetents Homer Simpson & Tim the Toolman to the evil fathers of John Lock (Lost) & Luke Skywalker (you know the black-armoured dude in the Star Wars filums?) to the just plain yobbos like Al Bundy, not to mention the missing fathers from about 20 years of Disney films – these are the role models many of us have had to guide our own fathering by.

When you really take a look at the abundance of these Bad Dad characters, it seems Baby Boomer and Gen X screenwriters really have it in for the role of father.

And so the character of Jonathan Kent in Smallville (above) is a refreshing break with this ‘tradition’. Thoroughly engaged with his son (Clark), in love with his wife (Martha),putting his money where his mouth is,physically strong, acting on his values, holding his clearly-communicated values up to his son and holding Clark to keeping them, protective and wise, imperfect and wounded, charitable and willing to fight when necessary – he may be fictional but that’s the kind of character I can aspire to as a Dad.

And he marks a turn in the tide of father characters as movies like Barnyard revive the concept of the noble Dad, which gives me hope that our generation can revive the practise of it…

And then there’s perhaps the greatest true story of fatherhood on the face of the planet. If you’ve never heard of “Team Hoyt“, it’s time you visited this page which carries both the story as told by Sports Illustrated and an incredibly moving video piece at the bottom of the page. Dick Hoyt is truly a Dad that Dads can aspire to…