23 Parents From Movies And TV Who Seem Normal, But Are Actually Terrible

There are good parents on screen, and then there are...these parents.

We recently asked the members of the BuzzFeed Community to tell us about terrible parents in film and TV shows, and boy did they bring the receipts:

1. Nick Parker and Liz James (Hallie and Annie's parents) from The Parent Trap.

Disney

"Splitting up twins in a divorce so you can live on two different continents is disturbingly selfish."

—jburnickas

2. Anna and Elsa's parents from Frozen.

Disney

"Why would you have two sisters grow up completely separated from each other and everyone else? At least find some other people for Anna to hang out with so she's not alone all the time. They basically taught their kids to ignore their problems instead of dealing with them, and I don't know how Elsa is expected to run a kingdom after all that."

—lydiah4de4255d0

"They made Elsa totally afraid of her abilities, locked her in a room, and separated her from Anna with no explanation. Shitty parents."

—tabbycat31

3. Dora's parents from Dora the Explorer.

Nickelodeon

"Someone needs to call CPS on Dora's parents for letting that little child run around the world with no supervision!"

—chinar

4. Danny Tanner from Full House.

ABC

"Danny's OCD obsession with cleaning and his constant distrust of his daughters is so worrisome. After re-watching the show a few months back, I’d even call him manipulative."

—KellyLizzyLucky

"He often gives his kids terrible advice, and acts completely clueless about what to do whenever Joey or Jesse weren’t around."

—marchsunshine100

"I'll never forget the episode where DJ and her boyfriend get into the cab of the cement truck in the yard to make out, accidentally turn it on, and fill the kitchen with cement. Danny is like, 'Oh honey, it's all my fault, I didn't give you enough privacy.' WHAT?!"

—wgolden130

5. Eleanor and Frederick Little from Stuart Little.

Columbia/Sony

"All those kids in the orphanage DYING to be taken into a loving home, and they picked a bloody MOUSE!"

—m44f8950f8

6. Ross from Friends.

NBC

"First off, he makes a huge deal out of Carol being with a woman. I understand it was a shock for him, but Carol and Susan were happy and all Susan wanted to do was be a supportive caregiver to Ben, and Ross continues to make her feel uncomfortable and unwelcome in Ben’s life. Plus, Ross is clearly an absentee father. Ben is hardly ever with him. To make things worse, later on in the show he has Emma with Rachel and is shown being with her all the time. He rarely mentions Ben or the fact that he and Emma are brother and sister. Ben doesn’t even come to the hospital when Emma is born or see her after she comes home! It’s like he just forgot all about Ben and started a new life with Rachel and Emma."

—laurell46fddebf6

"There's one episode in particular that has always bothered me. It’s the one where Ross goes on a date in his leather pants. Ben literally never stays the night with him...and the ONE TIME he does, Ross passes him off on Monica so he can go on a date! THE WORST."

—KristyHeath

"Not only did Ross basically always put his son last, but he also flipped out when Ben wanted to play with a Barbie and would rather have a crappy nanny than a manny. He was also very egocentric and insecure about his place in Ben’s life without ever actually working to be a decent parent."

—radicallexicon

7. Linda and Lawrence from Phineas and Ferb.

Disney / ABC

"They never believe Candace and are completely clueless as to what their kids do. Like, come on!"

—justsomeonewholovesacting14

8. Every single parent from Pretty Little Liars.

ABC Family

"Where the hell are the parents? These girls are out running around at all hours of the night being blackmailed and taunted and tortured but not one parent stepped in and said anything!"

—beardifulbeans

"They're aware of what's going on with their kids, but do they ever consider moving or getting a security system for their homes? If they really cared, they would've done more to keep their children safe. Also, I'm not going to talk about how Emily's mom treated her when she came out."

—a_frohlich

9. Mummy Pig and Daddy Pig from Peppa Pig.

Chanel 5/Nick Jr.

"They let her ride down a mountain on a bike with her friends and let her throw tantrums."

—calimorales0711

"Mummy pig fat shames daddy pig constantly in front of the kids."

—lucydraper1976

10. Lacey Hamilton (Jenna's mom) from Awkward.

MTV

"She wrote an anonymous 'care-frontation' letter to Jenna that outlined her 'faults,' and pressures her to do things and change in ways she isn't comfortable. While we do see she loves her daughter (and that she grows from her mistakes), it’s literally her bad parenting that starts off the show."

—alex guerrero

11. Red and Kitty (Eric, Laurie, and Hyde's parents) from That '70s Show.

Fox

"Red is straight up verbally abusive to Eric."

—surfingrocketsagained

"Red and Kitty used up Eric’s college fund and were completely unapologetic about it. Kitty constantly implies that she prefers Eric over Laurie, and Red’s ‘favoritism’ of Laurie is absolutely sexist. She’s nothing in his eyes but an innocent little girl who doesn’t have to work for anything, while he constantly harasses Eric about getting a good education. It’s disgusting. No wonder Laurie and Eric turn out to be such failures."

—Brigare

12. Marlene Griggs-Knope (Leslie Knope's mom) from Parks and Recreation.

NBC

"She made Leslie feel less than and hardly ever acknowledged her accomplishments. Her tough parenting may have contributed to Leslie's drive but it manifested as extreme anxiety, hoarding, and the need to control everything."

—srkallas7

13. Mommy and Daddy from Caillou.

Teletoon

"Caillou is a spoiled brat who isn’t supervised enough, and he's definitely the golden child because his parents let him get away with being mean to his baby sister who isn’t old enough to understand social norms (i’ve been forced to watch this show way too many times while babysitting, lol)."

—miriams4c6f233f2

14. Emily and Richard Gilmore from The Gilmore Girls.

Warner BVros.

"They were not great to Lorelei growing up and even as an adult she still suffered from her upbringing. Emily is incredibly controlling, blackmails Lorelei, and will only help Rory get through school if she come to dinners!"

—rachelm4a67703c6

"Emily went behind Lorelai's back and invited Christopher to her and Richard's wedding anniversary, and encouraged him to try to break up Lorelai and Luke."

—l4d615bb5a

15. Jackie and Kevin Peyton from Nurse Jackie.

Showtime

"Jackie is a drug addict and always high! Kevin takes care of their daughters at his bar during business hours! Both terrible parents!"

—babycannon

"I think the worst part is that Jackie is still a bad parent even when she had periods of sobriety."

—brittanya4ea9eee09

16. Sosuke’s mother from Ponyo.

Studio Ghibli

"She left two five-year-olds alone in an isolated house on a hill immediacy after a huge storm and tsunami!"

—orabgcat

17. King Stefan and Queen Leah (Aurora's parents) from Sleeping Beauty.

Disney

"They know the curse says that Aurora will prick her finger on a spinning wheel on her birthday. So they move her to the woods for 16 years with the fairies for some reason, even though they know the curse won't happen until her 16th birthday. THEN they bring her back to the castle for her birthday! So what was the point of hiding her in the woods for 16 years if you bring her back to the place Maleficent is bound to be waiting?"

—clareamyhewitt4

18. Virna Hunter (Shawn's mom) from Boy Meets World.

ABC

"Everybody always complains about Shawn's dad but his mom is the one who left her son. Then she finally came back only to leave again. She may have written him letters but that does NOT excuse her for leaving him to fight for his own when she knew he had a dad who couldn't provide for him. And then after years she writes him a letter to tell him she's not his biological mother? At least have the decency to tell him face to face!"

—els5831

19. Frank Gallagher from Shameless.

Showtime

"He’s an abusive alcoholic who only treats his kids right when he needs them. Terrible dude but William Macy plays him perfectly."

—MarshallGlaus

20. Phil and Claire Dunphy from Modern Family.

ABC

"They openly favor Alex and Luke to Haley and make Haley feel inferior for not being as academically gifted as Alex. They also constantly put too much pressure on Alex to make enough money to support her siblings one day."

—mattyc3

"For most of the show they ignore Alex and say mean things about her to her face, while they’re always so desperate to get Haley’s approval. No wonder Alex was so mean when she was younger. And Luke is a spoiled brat who is never inspired by or forced to do anything of value by his parents."

—Brigare

21. Judy Geller (Monica and Ross's mom) from Friends.

NBC

"She shamed Monica constantly in every aspect of her life. I have a mother just like Judy and I can confirm that Monica’s self esteem is nearly nonexistent."

—graciej4ce6e4ab6

22. Karen and Ted Wheeler from Stranger Things.

Netflix

"They’re so oblivious to all that is happening. Half the time they don’t even know where Mike and Nancy are. Their kids are fighting the Mind Flayer and almost dying, but they don’t even notice or care. Holly tried to tell her mom that she was seeing the Mind Flayer but she just brushed it off. Seriously, they are the worst parents ever."

—enevries143

23. Kate and Peter McCallister in Home Alone.

20th Century Fox

"Everyone goes on about how terrible they are for forgetting their son, and that's fair enough. But you know what's even worse than that? The mom realizes that's he's been left behind when she's on the plane...with all the other adults...in first class. Where are all the kids? Unsupervised in economy.

Like, that's deliberately bad parenting."

—catkin

Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.

Want to be featured in future BuzzFeed posts? Follow the BuzzFeed Community on Facebook and Twitter!