"Graduation" - Lois's Expectations of Malcolm

Amigo22

Super Moderator
I saw this episode for the 2nd time last night, and Lois's big rant about what SHE expects that Malcolm WILL do, really annoyed me. It's no wonder Malcolm's childhood was a nightmare, having a mother like that. Sure, all mothers want the best for their kid, but there's a difference between that and having ridiculously high and unrealistic expectations like wanting Malcolm to become President!

And, they COULD have been able to afford to send Malcolm to Harvard where he wouldn't have to spend his time doing all the extra crap he had to do, if she and Hal hadn't been stupid enough to blow all the money Malcolm received in "Malcom's Money". After all, that money was SUPPOSED to be put towards furthering Malcolm's education.
 

tony_montana

Semper Fidelis
I have to agree completely. It's a wonder if Malcolm wouldn't grow up to despise Lois with all his heart. Like Francis.:rolleyes:
I mean, don't get me wrong, I like Lois and she was essential to the show, but her expectations of Malcolm were ridiculous.
 

Amigo22

Super Moderator
Interesting point, since Francis has always been Malcolm's favourite brother, the one he goes to for advice, but Francis's hate of Lois will have been brought on by him being sent to Military School and whatever other punishments he endured as a result of his foolish behaviour.

When Malcolm became a Krelboyne his whole life changed. He was no longer a normal kid living a normal life, which is what he wanted to be. Lois wanted him to live up to his potential, so she was making him do all the extra classes, help Reese and Dewey with their homework, etc, which may have seemed like a good idea to her, but he was only 11 when the series started, so he was still young.

And Malcolm would have basically had to do Reese's homework for him, which would have been easy for him because of his IQ, but just because he's got a high IQ doesn't mean he has to do his brothers' homework for him. In "Pearl Harbour", Hal states that he didn't want to help Dewey with his homework because Dewey has Malcolm correct everything after Hal goes to bed. That's what Malcolm should have been doing. He should have done that with Ira as well, because it was obvious Ira would take Malcolm's work and hand it in as his own.
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
Congrats on your 500 posts Amigo. :)

I actually disagree. To some degree, I suppose that it illustrates the point to which Lois will try to control her kids' lives. But I think it also shows how much she loves her kids. She definitely wants what's best for them, and she's going to do whatever she possibly can to receive it for them. That's the same reason we saw the attitude we did in Lois Strikes Back. And I don't think wanting Malcolm to be President is extravagent at all. Expecting it might be a little extravagent, because that's certainly not easy, but she gave all the reasons why Malcolm would make such a great President. The skills he needs to acquire (namely people skills) he'll learn in college. Harvard was his pick, not his mother's, but she backs him 100%. The scene is great because it concludes everything about the series without actually ending it. The writing is brilliant because it explains why/how everything happened over the last seven years. Life is like a puzzle. Every piece fits together to form who we are; every experience helps to create us; every relationship becomes a part of us. But in the end we have to live our own life.
 

Amigo22

Super Moderator
Lois could have casually mentioned to him in a normal conversational manner that he would make a good president. Just as a suggestion of something he would be good at if while studying at Harvard or a few years into his career he decides Nuclear Biology isn't what he wants to do.
 

Gozatron

New member
It wasnt like Lois said to Malcolm he should become president and help people like himself it was more like:

YOUR GUNNA BE PRESIDENT OR ELSE!!
 

Amigo22

Super Moderator
Gozatron said:
It wasnt like Lois said to Malcolm he should become president and help people like himself it was more like:

YOUR GUNNA BE PRESIDENT OR ELSE!!

That's what I was talking about in my 2 posts.
 

Gozatron

New member
I was watching the video posted two posts above.

I think Lois is making Malcolm do what she wanted to do because she had it planned out so much, she was almost cryign when she said " but they will still look down on you" as in people thought Lois was a peice of crap when she was aat college
 

Malcoholic

New member
Gozatron said:
It wasnt like Lois said to Malcolm he should become president and help people like himself it was more like:

YOUR GUNNA BE PRESIDENT OR ELSE!!
True enough, but the climax of the scene is Lois saying to Malcolm "Look me in the eye and tell me you can't do it!" That means she recognizes that Malcolm has to accept her challenge to strive for greatness--she can't force it on him. Amigo22 makes a very valid point: Lois and Hal have so mismanaged their lives, especially financially, that Malcolm in that scene had every right to say to them--You can't run your own lives, so don't tell me how to run mine! But, to expand on Yardgames' post, I think Malcolm recognizes that Lois is right--that he should strive, as Lois put it, to achieve more than simply prove that he's the smartest man in the world. The broader point of the scene is that Lois is inspiring Malcolm to use his tremendous talents for more than just self-serving goals.
 

Amigo22

Super Moderator
He wouldn't be able to just suddenly become President, he'd have to start at the bottom and work his way up, and it could take a long time and will require a lot of effort.
 

Gozatron

New member
Still even the work he would have to do wouldnt push his skills would it?

He could cure cancer or event something that could get stop global warming
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
Go watch the clip again. He does work his way up. He starts by earning scholarships and fellowships from Harvard, then works with a foundation, then governor of a midsize state, then President. It's not that Lois demands it; she expects it because, as Hal explained, he kept upping the ante and has proven that he can do it.
 

Amigo22

Super Moderator
Almost every thread I start becomes a debate between who agrees and who doesn't. I shouldn't have created the thread in the first place. :mad:
 
yardgames said:
It's not that Lois demands it; she expects it because, as Hal explained, he kept upping the ante and has proven that he can do it.

I have to say that I disagree with that statement. During the filth scene, the following conversation tidbit occurs.

Malcolm: What if I don't want to be president?
Lois: It's too late for that -- you're gonna do it!

This seems to indicate a sort of control, not just an expectation. That said, I am not attacking Lois. Although I disagreed with her at the beginning of the scene, it's clear by the end that Malcolm has taken on the challenge. In a way, that scene affirmed (at least in my mind) that despite the frequent mishaps, Lois knows what is best for her children, which seems to be a pretty constant theme.
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
True, she demands it there. But what she's really doing harps back to a season six episode whose name embarassingly escapes me at the moment where Malcolm wants to learn to play the guitar. Lois tells him he'll never be good at it and then Malcolm asks if she says he would be good at a bunch of other things and she answers yes or no. She knows he'll be a good President, assumes he knows as well, and as such can expect that from him.
 
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