That's not to say these aren't great families.
It's just that some have darker "issues" than others.
When you're living in a certain atmosphere every day, you tend to not notice a family dynamic that isn't as normal as it should be.
It takes stepping out into the world and seeing other's dynamics at play to make you think... "Hm. Maybe WE have a problem."
That can be a harsh truth to grasp.
Redditor m1ntb3rrycrunchh wanted to hear about the moments when people caught on to their family's "oddities," so they asked:
"What made you realize that there was something 'off' about your family?"
"When I realized I didn’t wanna bring my friends or future partners around them because I was afraid my family would be mean to them."
- moonsonthebath
Bill Murray Fight GIF by Saturday Night LiveGiphy
"I realized my family was off when my mom encouraged my brother to in the street life, not for financial reasons, but genuinely just so she could brag (I don’t even know how it’s something to brag about but hey, ghetto communities) that her son was out there 'running s**t.' I only realized it was f**ked because of the TV shows and movies I saw of the family and friends trying to get the main character to LEAVE the street life, not join it."
- RScudda
"I went to a friend’s house after school one day, and her mum called us down for dinner. I was astonished that the whole family sat down at the table and ate together, and chatted and joked and laughed. They actually seemed to be ENJOYING each other’s company. There was no tension, no one was yelling or being sullen, and no hint of threat in the air. Just a simple fun dinner. Apparently, they did that every night! Shocking behavior. I privately thought her family was really weird for that, but once I started making more friends, I began to realize it was MY family that was ‘weird.'"
- saludpesetasamor
"When I heard a classmate's mom tell my parents about how much she adored me and how much I lit the room up with my personality, and that she was glad I was friends with her daughter. I never heard anyone in my family speak with that level of positivity and depth about anyone, including family. I was confused as to why I could leave an impact on essentially a woman I interacted with in passing, but my parents couldn't even remember what grade I was in."
- 3D_Otters
"The first afternoon I spent with my best friends and now partner's family, I was six years old, and I fell and scraped my knee, as six-year-olds do. His dad rushed over and helped me up, telling me it’d be okay, I was okay, and that we’d go clean it up inside. I had never had an adult clean my cuts before. No one had ever taken care of me before, not since I was old enough to feed, dress, and bathe myself. I realized then that my parents were supposed to take care of me."
- tired-activist-s**t
"Seeing families hug each other. We’re a family that does not touch."
- Dejanerated
"Same here, I think I saw my parents hug twice and kiss once. No one ever hugged me. It took me a while to figure out how to do it, even now I'm weird about PDA and hugging other people, though I certainly want to be normal about it. Just stuff like giving my partner's mom a hug goodbye."
- Its_Curse
Season 4 Hug GIF by The OfficeGiphy
"I got to go over to a few other people's houses and realized that most people's houses really, basically, do look like the ones on TV. Sure the furniture may be cheaper, or maybe there's a little clutter, so more in the territory of Married: With Children, or Roseanne. But yeah all these other houses more resembled the houses on TV than my own. It turns out most parents aren't hoarders."
- PinkNGreenFluoride
"When I was probably about 7 or 8 I realized that other families spent time together on vacation… like, they would go do activities together and their kids didn’t just spend time hanging out with staff or locked up in the hotel room. When I was a kid and we went on vacation, it was clear that it was my parents who were 'on vacation,' we just got the privilege of tagging along. Our job was to spend as much time away from them as possible, and not need them for anything."
"Then I realized other families also spent time together when they weren’t on vacation. Like, I never realized that other families went for walks, or played together, or played sports together, etc outside of daily survival activities. I thought kids playing basketball with their dad was only a thing that happened in movies."
- sabdariffa
"When I was at my friend's house they just grabbed snacks from their pantry. The one at my house was always locked, and we were not allowed to get anything out of it. Things would rot."
- NoExplnations
"My mother would hide food and snacks from us and even lock up the cabinets and fridge. We would be super hungry. We would catch her eating a sandwich or burrito from the deli or taqueria, and she would basically feed herself first and give us the last bite."
- Sprinkles41510
"The day my mother insisted I go to the bank with her, I didn't feel like going but she wouldn't take no for an answer. I was 18, and I accidentally slammed my thumb with the car door, it was bleeding and the nail was coming off so I got out to go take care of it and she was so angry that I wasn't going after all that she burned rubber leaving."
"No concern about me whatsoever, then or later on. I didn't have my keys though so I was locked out. I had to walk a mile to the neighbor's for help with my thumb. When I told them what happened, the look of horror on their faces told me none of that was normal."
- LucilleBluthsbroach
"The first time. (This was in the '80's) We were doing a unit on the census so we filled out a census form. I knew I had a big family. But under 'number of telephones in the home' mine was 14 the next highest was 6."
- GlassCharacter179
Love And Hip Hop Reaction GIF by VH1Giphy
"After my grandma passed away, I realized something that made my family weird: on my dad's side, we just don't do Death. No obituary, no funeral, no Facebook post. Just the legal stuff, and notifying family and the person's friends, cremate/bury, and ta-da! Zero fanfare."
"It's not the weirdest thing, but it's not something any of us were raised specifically to do or believe. It started, as far as I can remember, with my great-grandma and just... continued. Everyone on that side is super neurotic too, not quite enough to be bipolar, but enough to notice and trace through the lineage... lol."
- hereticallyeverafter
"When I spent an afternoon at my friend's house when I was about eight. Her dad randomly asked us if we wanted to do anything fun and he ended up teaching me how to play Monopoly and how to ride a bicycle. It was then that I realized that spending quality time with their kids is something that normal parents do. In our house, my parents would never do anything with us during their free time outside of going to the mall and eating out."
- yodelingllama
"I watched Full House as a kid. Every time the kids got in trouble the guardians would calmly talk to them and give out some sort of punishment. I always thought I wished my parents would be like that all they did was scream at me until I cried if I did something bad. It took me until my 30s to realize that Full House was 100% fictional. Parents did actually gently punish their kids."
- LittleRileyBao
"My friend's moms didn't start undressing and rolling around on the floor in front of the TV when they didn't get enough attention."
"That was odd to me."
- Unusual-Shopping1099
Performing Mtv GIFGiphy
"I always knew something was off in my family. I finally found out that my father had a mistress in another town. But with six kids to raise, my mother couldn't justify divorcing him. She only had a high school education."
- Distinct-Car-9124
"My parents are good people. But they don't have any friends. Self isolated in my opinion. Like they raised good kids and instilled morals in us kids but are ghosts in the community. Kinda weird to be social outcasts yet upstanding citizens."
- -Bk7
I do love it when some good, deep secrets are spilled. And y'all did not disappoint.
A sad life fact from all of this is that certain people should've never and should never procreate.
Bad parenting does so much damage.
People should be required to prove they're fit to care for other humans.
I hope everyone here has or will be able to find some kind of solace.
The therapy bills from this thread could keep the profession alive for generations.
But after well-known British-American journalist Mehdi Hasan stated he supports Palestinians, conservative mouthpiece Ryan Girdusky responded:
I hope your beeper doesn’t go off."
The comment referred to the September attack on members of Hezbollah in Lebanon in a targeted strike allegedly carried out by Israel using explosive pagers—also called beepers—and walkie-talkies. The attack killed dozens of people and injured hundreds more.
Hasan asked CNN host Abby Phillip:
Did your guest just say I should be killed on live TV?"
You can see the moment here:
While discussing the fallout from Trump’s Madison Square Garden MAGA rally, Hasan began:
If you don’t want to be called Nazis, stop doing—"
But Girdusky—who publicly supports Trump—interrupted:
You’re called an anti-semite more than anyone else at this table."
Hasan, who is Muslim, replied:
I’m a supporter of the Palestinians, so I’m used to it."
Which is when Girdusky said:
Well, I hope your beeper doesn’t go off."
Hasan asked:
Are you a racist, violent person, inciting violence against me?"
Another panelist could be heard saying:
That’s disgusting."
Trying to save himself from his own words, Girdusky then claimed Palestinians and Hamas sound the same.
He told the panel:
I thought he said Hamas. I apologize."
After a commercial break, host Phillip apologized and said Girdusky was dismissed from the panel.
CNN released a separate apology and stated Girdusky was banned from returning to the network, writing:
There is zero room for racism or bigotry at CNN or on our air. We will not allow guests to be demeaned or for the line of civility to be crossed."
Abby Phillip shared the official statement on X and clarified that Hasan chose to leave during the commercial break when Girdusky was asked to leave, but Hasan was welcome to return.
Panelist Ashley Allison also weighed in on what happened on X and in a more detailed reel on Instagram.
@ashleyrallison/X
As expected, Girdusky took to X to cry victim with the "it was a joke" excuse, posting:
You can stay on CNN if you falsely call every Republican a Nazi and have taken money from Qatar-funded media. Apparently you can’t go on CNN if you make a joke. I’m glad America gets to see what CNN stands for."
But aside from his fellow MAGA minions, people weren't very sympathetic to Girdusky's plight.
@icypurpleize/Threads
@jvinsocial/Threads
@cherryvondollz/Threads
@jacorree2023/Threads
Relatively unknown right-wing pundit Girdusky founded the 1776 Project PAC, which supports school board candidates who oppose progressive curricula, such as teaching anything historically accurate but critical of actions taken by White people, Critical Race Theory, and accurate gender science.
1776 is a White nationalist dog whistle that was seen being used often during the violent insurrection former Republican President Donald Trump incited in January of 2021.
Girdusky wrote on his PAC's website:
Progressive activists within our public education system were using their positions to indoctrinate children. Even conservative communities in red states were not immune from this growing epidemic."
His 1776 PAC targets White supremacists and Christian nationalists desperate to maintain ignorance of facts in public education, preferring the myths, lies, and legends of the whitewashed history and health sciences they grew up with and cling to.
Girdusky's ties to Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance were quickly exposed on X.
@JemSinger/X
Girdusky is also linked to far-right White supremacist, Christian nationalist, Neo-nazi leader Richard Spencer.
Spencer created the term "alt-right" and was described as a "suit-and-tie version of the White supremacists of old, a kind of professional racist in khakis."
While Girdusky has tried to deny their association, Spencer confirmed it himself.
Mainstream media pushes the both sides model for their coverage and commentary, but maybe it's time to stop extending invitations to the bottom of the barrel.
As Journalist Wajahat Ali wrote on The Left Hook:
If you invite a panelist on your cable news show who is defending racist jokes and previously wrote for Richard Spencer, an actual Nazi, then you shouldn't be shocked when he uses your privileged platform to spout offensive racist hate against your guests."
Lizzo deadpanned:
"Guys, my worst fear has been actualized. I've been referenced in a South Park episode."
"I'm so scared. I'm going to blind-duet to it right now."
South Parkis well-known for its cartoonish embodiments of celebrities and political figures and roasting them in over-the-top skits opposite their foul-mouth, beloved main characters.
But South Park shocked everyone when they didn't incorporate Lizzo herself but rather the "essence" of Lizzo.
Throughout the blind duet, Lizzo looked up at the segment of the South Park episode in shock, at times covering her mouth and at other times with her mouth simply hanging open at the audacity.
The segment starts with two women walking together, with one woman confiding:
"I'm telling you, Sheila, these new drugs are pretty amazing. I was feeling so ashamed of myself, watching Randy go outside and exercise all the time and not eating as much. But I just don't have the same kind of willpower he has!"
Sheila then asks her friend, Sharon, what she was taking, guessing Ozempic or Mounjaro, to which Sharon replies:
"Oh no! I talked to my doctor, and he said insurance would only pay for those if I have diabetes."
"Now there's a whole new obesity drug for those of us who can't afford Ozempic and Mounjaro. I've controlled all of my cravings to be thinner with 'Lizzo'!"
In a pop-up advertisement of the "Lizzo" medication, the screen reads:
"Once-Weekly Lizzo: This is a prescription used along with listening to her songs and watching her music videos to become happy with how you look. Available by prescription only."
@lizzo/TikTok
The South Park episode went on to describe the pretend medication's impact:
"Now you can feel good about your weight, and it's 90 percent cheaper than Ozempic!"
"In case studies, 70 percent of patients taking Lizzo no longer care about how much they weigh."
"Lizzo helps you eat everything you want and keep your physical activity to a minimum!"
"Forget about obesity. Ask about the power of not giving a f**k, with Lizzo!"
You can watch the video duet here:
Lizzo took the segment in a positive and empowering way.
"That's crazy! I just feel like, d**n, I am really that b***h. I'm really that b***h."
"I really showed the world how to love yourself and not to give a f**k, to the point that these men in Colorado know who the f**k I am and put it on their cartoon that's been around for 25 years."
"I'm really that b***h, and I'll show y'all how not to give a f**k, and I'm going to keep showing you how to not give a f**k. Oh, oh, oh! Oh-Lizzo!"
But of course, she still had to get back at South Park somehow. Though she did blind-duet the video back in May, sometimes the best revenge is one that takes a while.
Last week on her popular Instagram profile, Lizzo appeared in a rectangularly-shaped, Ozempic-esque costume with a measuring tape wrapped around her waist to make her appear snatched in the costume.
But the packaging had been changed to "Lizzo," with promises for improved self-love, a loss of guilt, gained confidence, and side effects that include "a smile on your face and a pep in your step."
The caption of the post simply read:
"Ok, Halloween... You can start now."
But Lizzo didn't stop there. In another post, with a series of photos and videos, Lizzo wore the costume while holding large slices of pizza, taking an XL-sized limo, and sharing the spotlight with someone in an inflatable Cartman costume from South Park.
You can see that post here:
And Lizzo of course had to do a dancing video in the costume, with the theme song for South Park's Lizzo prescription in the background, before flipping off the camera.
Fans absolutely ate up Lizzo's trolling of South Park.
Reactions like this are worth the wait, and this is the sort of costume that core memories are made of.
While some might have taken the South Park segment badly, it was heartwarming to see Lizzo put such a positive spin on its message and to continue to advocate for body positivity.
