// BEGIN editorial data
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movie_parents.sPubDate = "5/29/2007 9:11:01 PM GMT";
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movie_parents.appFooter = "Peter Hartlaub reviews movies and writes about pop culture for the San Francisco Chronicle.";
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movie_parents[i++] = new Array("","Intro","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/z_Projects_in_progress/_Ent/Summer_Movie_Guide_07/Summer_Movies_app_knockedup.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Universal", "185", "298", "", "", "", "", "");
movie_parents[i-1].body = "In the new comedy “Knocked Up,” opening nationwide today, Ben Stone (Seth Rogan) and Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl) show the potential to become seriously horrible parents. At one point during the movie, Stone entertains Scott’s nephew and niece by playing fetch with them. But there’s little chance that either character’s name will ever appear among the Worst Movie Parents of All Time — a group that includes some truly atrocious moms and dads. Our worst and best movie parent Top 5 lists were so competitive, that Bull Meachum from “The Great Santini” and Chris Gardner of “The Pursuit of Happyness” were relegated to also-rans on their respective lists — and the world’s most notorious homicidal ax-wielding father only made it to No. 3. The list is admittedly heavy on men (because we’re close to Father’s Day). ";
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movie_parents[i++] = new Array("","5. Mrs. Robinson (“The Graduate”)","","http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/z_Projects_in_progress/_Ent/Best_Worst_Parents_brill/brill_bestworst_graduate.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "MGM via Getty Images", "209", "298", "", "", "", "", "");
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Sure, it must be boring being the wife of a rich banker — especially after your kids have left the nest. But there’s really no excuse for seducing your daughter’s soul mate, even if she hasn’t started dating him yet. Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft) also loses points for her constant drinking and production of second-hand smoke, which when she becomes a grandmother could potentially stunt the growth of Benjamin Braddock’s already height-challenged children. While you could make some kind of twisted argument that she’s the best mother-in-law, Mrs. Robinson was definitely one of the five worst parents in movie history.";
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How did a character that doesn’t get a second of screen time beat out Joan Crawford in “Mommie Dearest”? You never actually see the father of John Bender, the teen slacker played by Judd Nelson in “The Breakfast Club” (pictured), but the verbal description alone still places him among the worst movie parents in history. The unnamed Mr. Bender buys his teen-age son a carton of cigarettes for Christmas, constantly shouts at his wife to “go fix me turkey pot pie” and burns his kids with cigars when they spill paint in the garage. It’s not mentioned in the movie, but we’re guessing he doesn’t show up to many piano recitals or baseball games either. ";
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movie_parents[i-1].body = "
Where to start ... even before he went mad and chased his wife and kid with an ax, Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) wasn’t much of a father. Torrance got thrown out of teaching for attacking a student, and seemed more interested in slumping over his typewriter with writer’s block than spending quality time with his kid. But his low point came near the end of the movie, when he pursued his son around a topiary maze in an apparent attempt to behead him. No wonder little Danny was writing “Redrum” on the walls in lipstick and pretending like he had an imaginary friend who lived in his stomach. He just needed a little attention (and maybe an exorcism). ";
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It’s impossible to fathom why nobody called Child Protective Services on these people after the first “Home Alone” movie, where they headed to France and left their 8-year-old boy at home to fend for himself against two burglars. Any other parent would count their blessings and put their kid on a child leash until he turned 18, but Kate and Peter McAllister (Catherine O’Hara and John Heard) managed to lose him again in New York in \"Home Alone 2.\" There were three more “Home Alone” movies, but they involved different families — presumably the McAllisters were prosecuted for child endangerment and are still serving time.
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The movies feature many instances of horrible parenting, but we could only find one father who blew up his daughter’s entire home planet. (It’s no wonder that Princess Leia ended up working as a stripper for Jabba the Hutt.) Among Darth Vader’s other poor parenting moves: He sliced off his son’s hand during a sword fight, imprisoned his daughter and turned his daughter’s boyfriend into a human popsicle. Darth Vader apologists like to point out that he turned good at the end, but whatever — the second Death Star was about to blow up with him on it anyway. Darth Vader is the worst movie parent ever. ";
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Jim and Brenda Baker (“Sixteen Candles”); George and Winifred Banks (“Mary Poppins”); Jack and Dina Burns (“Meet the Parents”); Michael Corleone (“The Godfather”); Joan Crawford (“Mommy Dearest”); Henry Jones (“Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”); Mr.and Mrs. LaChance (“Stand by Me”); Bull Meechum (“The Great Santini”); Tom Mullen (“Ransom”); Wayne Slazinski (“Honey I Shrunk the Kids”); Royal Tenenbaum (“The Royal Tenenbaums”); Lila and Henry Wingo (“The Prince of Tides”)";
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movie_parents[i++] = new Array("","5. Bob and Helen Parr (“The Incredibles”)","","http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/z_Projects_in_progress/_Ent/Best_Worst_Parents_brill/brill_bestworst_incredibles.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Disney/Pixar", "209", "298", "", "", "", "", "");
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Most superheroes stay single, or at best father a child out of wedlock, learning about the kid only after he turns five. (You’re setting a really great example there, Superman.) But former heroes Bob and Helen Parr — secret identities Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl — managed to raise three super-powered children in the suburbs in almost complete familial bliss, without anybody so much as missing a meal together. And when the whole clan had to fight evil together, the Parrs did a good job of protecting their kids against those flying saw blades and giant spider robot thingies.
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Sure, we all love our kids. But would you put on a latex mask and pantyhose just to see them a few more hours per week? If your wife dumped you for Pierce Brosnan, would you even be able to stop drinking long enough to walk out the front door? Say what you want about his inadequacies as a husband, you won’t be able to find a more dedicated father than the one Robin Williams played in “Mrs. Doubtfire.” Years before stay-at-home dads became the norm, Daniel Hillard could cook, clean and finish homework — and still have time to start his own children’s television show.
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Most people think of “Vacation” as a wacky comedy, with Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) remembered as a goofball father who kept running off the road and strapping elderly relatives to the roof of his car. But look a little closer, and the film is really a tribute to the struggles of a true family man, as he tries to preserve old-school values that were all but extinct by the early 1980s. While Clark’s love for his children is powerful as he faces many trials on the way to Walley World, Ellen Griswold (Beverly D’Angelo) is the rock, maintaining her composure through each tragedy like a Reagan era equivalent of Ma Joad. ";
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What’s your dad’s name? Tom? Frank? Martin? Imagine how much cooler it would be if everyone called him Furious. Whether you were straight out of Compton or living off a trust fund in Malibu, anyone who grew up in the early 1990s and was allowed to see R-rated movies wanted a father like Furious Styles. He was always spouting wise advice (“don’t respect anybody who doesn’t respect you back...”), he gave Cuba Gooding Jr. stylin’ free haircuts and he could scare away any burglar on the planet with his giant cannon of a handgun. Furious also had a CPA, making him perhaps the only badass accountant in movie history. ";
movie_parents[i++] = new Array("","1. Atticus Finch (“To Kill a Mockingbird”)","","http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/z_Projects_in_progress/_Ent/Best_Worst_Parents_brill/brill_bestworst_mockingbird.standard.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Universal via Getty Images", "209", "298", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
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He was a little bit stiff, made a horrible ham costume and gave his kids weird names (Scout? Jem?!?), but Atticus Finch was still pretty much the most awesome dad ever — in fiction or reality. An unlikely combination of Andy Griffith, Gandhi and Johnnie Cochran, Atticus was the model of single parenthood. He was respected, led by example and always knew the right thing to say. Atticus also ran a tight ship, and no one under his roof questioned that his word was law. And while he had to be the hottest single dad in town (those tight white linen suits!), he didn’t bring home a bunch of trollipy women. Atticus Finch is the best movie parent ever. ";
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Dorothy Boyd (“Jerry Maguire”); James and Mae Braddock (“Cinderella Man”); Gil and Karen Buckman (“Parenthood”); Sarah Conner and Kyle Reese (“The Terminator”); Don Vito and Mama Corleone (“The Godfather”); Chris Gardner (“The Pursuit of Happyness”); Armand and Albert Goldman (“The Birdcage”); Ma Joad (“The Grapes of Wrath”); Ted Kramer (“Kramer vs. Kramer”); Marlin the Clownfish (“Finding Nemo”); John and Holly McClane (“Die Hard”); Reverend Shaw and Vi Moore (“Footloose”); Mr. and Mrs. Parker (“A Christmas Story”); Raymond and Evelyn Stoller (“Breaking Away”)";
// END editorial data