Why does everyone hate Hank Hill?

It's weird that some people say that being a Republican is enough to make you hated here, because this site actually seems fairly conservative to me. Just look at the complaints about the politics on Family Guy and The Simpsons.

I kinda think it's more like liberals who feel that this stuff is doing a really bad job at expressing their viewpoints.

edited 26th May '14 4:09:33 PM by Aldo930

"They say I'm old fashioned, and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast."

Don't really watch a lot of King of the Hill, but from what I have seen of it, Hank is a self-righteous asshole. And I don't believe his views are ever presented as anything other than the Gospel According To Hank, Without Whom The Sun Will Not Rise.

edited 26th May '14 5:07:37 PM by Eagal

You fell victim to one of the classic blunders!

Same here. The fact is real life political and social issues are a lot more complex than we're the good guys, they're the bad guys. You're hardly a brilliant satirist if all you're doing is taking shots at strawmen. Especially if you're taking the same shots others have already taken to knock down those same strawmen countless times before. Plus it's pretty hard to feel good about being on the same side as someone who while you agree with him or her in principle they come across as being every bit as intolerant and holier than thou as those on the other side.

"If everybody is thinking alike, somebody isn't thinking"- George S. Patton

I feel there are several reasons why people hate Hank. To wit:

• "Texas City Twister": Hank wants nothing more than to get Luanne out of the house ASAP, and tells Peggy to "go to Hell" when she calls him n it.
• "Pretty Pretty Dresses": Hank wrecks Bill's presents to Lenore to get his mind off of them, but it only sends Bill futher off the edge.
• "Sleight of Hank": Hank's marriage is put into jeopardy when Peggy won't reveal a magician's secret to him.
• "Reborn to Be Wild": Hank won't let Bobby join a Bible study group just because they're full of tattoo-wearing skateboarders. It is here where Hank seems to literally act like he's "holier than thou" ("Even Jesus had long hair." "Only because I wasn't his father.")

"YOU FILTHY SWINE!!! I WILL KEEEEL YOU!!!

In the last one, he did admittedly have a point: he didn't want Bobby to treat something as important as religion like a fad.

And in the rest, I think he wasn't portrayed as in the right for it.

edited 28th May '14 4:49:10 PM by Aldo930

"They say I'm old fashioned, and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast."

But even if Hank didn't want Bobby to treat something as important as religion like a fad, the big question is: why did he even need to sent Bobby to the youth group in the first place?

More episodes that shows evidence of Hank being a Jerkass:

• "Naked Ambition": Hank pulling Bill out of his therapy session because Hank, whose mind is stuck in the 50's, views psychiatry and therapy as "useless voodoos".
• "Hank and the Great Glass Elevator": When Hank offered Peggy two different burgers -one grilled in charcoal, and the other grilled in propane- he said "What's it going to be, Peggy...charcoal or me?" The way he said it sounded exactly like an implication that he'd leave her just because she's starting to prefer charcoal over his precious propane.
• "Bobby Goes Nuts": Hank trying to teach Bobby how to "fight fair", even though Bobby had a good excuse for kicking the bullies in the crotch because the bullies who were ganging up on him weren't fighting fair either. As troper Purple Shirt pointed out in his DMOS on that episode: "What he [Hank] should have been teaching Bobby wasn't "Don't kick in the crotch", it was "Don't do that UNLESS YOU HAVE TO [if they're attacking you]"."

edited 29th May '14 11:52:04 AM by Ecclytennysmithylove

"I told you PCs were unreliable." Darwin, The Amazing World of Gumball

Hank is an out of touch stick in the mud, and on more than one occasion, a Jerkass. But again I have to say, look at what he's up against. Any of the other characters might well be right in a given situation, but often enough, even when they are right, they pursue their POV in a way that almost always smacks back at him personally. If Bobby or Peggy are being reasonable or are correct this time, it is the exception. Bobby was right to do all he could to counter the bullies ; Hank saw it as an old fashioned schoolyard one-on-one, though if that existed even in his time is debatable. But Bobby takes from injuring his father that he can now disregard him, just as he did when Hank was scared of the bat. Most of the people Hank knows will draw not merely the wrong conclusion, but the wrongest conclusion possible. He isn't always right, or even the only sane man ; its just that a lot of times, he will put something resembling rational thought into what he's doing. Not all the time, and he has big huge blind spots that infuriate. But by comparison, he looks better by not being quite as nuts.

As to the magic trick, like Peggy hasn't raised the stakes to all or nothing on some very simple things.

Not for nothing, but most of the time when Hank demonstrates intolerance of something, he's pretty clearly portrayed as being not necessarily in the right,. Even further, a lot of issues brought up in the show tend to be if a rather ambiguous nature, and I feel like (when the show wasn't shoehorning in strawmen) the show was pretty good at showing just how complex some issues can be, without squarely putting either side completely in the right or wrong.

Insert witty 'n clever quip here.

Yeah it's one thing to enjoy your job but geez his love of propane crosses right into a fetish.

"If everybody is thinking alike, somebody isn't thinking"- George S. Patton

1) He was clearly portrayed as in the wrong on that one, and learned the lesson
2) That was more Hank being a horrible stand-in for actual psychiatry (we'll address this one in the future where it becomes a legitimate problem). He thought he was helping Bill, and did go out of his way to help Bill even when Bill's breakdown nearly ruined the Strickland Christmas party.
3) It didn't jeopardize the entire marriage, just drove Hank a little crazy. The whole thing was played for laughs and i never saw the abuse angle in the whole "lock her in the trunk" thing, because of how it was done
4) The aesop in the episode was a positive one. Effectively he was concerned that Bobby was embracing Christianity for the wrong reasons (because the folks in the youth group were cool), and afraid that, as soon as they stopped being the "in" thing, Bobby would ditch his faith altogether. Perhaps not logical, but at least well-founded. He just expressed it poorly earlier on.

5) Have to agree on that one. It was one of the times that Bill's Butt-Monkey status crossed over, because something that would really, honestly help him was taken away from him just because his friend didn't believe in it (the humor was more about bill being unable to catch a break, including getting the therapy he obviously needs). Trouble is it comes off as disparaging the fact that Bill needs mental help, when that's exactly what he does need to get over his issues.
6) This helps demonstrate that Hank is Not So Above It All. His propane fixation is portrayed as weird, and Peggy went out of her way to accommodate it because she loves him, just like Hank in other episodes grudgingly endures the bad tendencies of those he cares about. 7) One could almost argue this as social commentary. Hank doesn't understand Bobby's predicament because Hank was never bullied as a child (and was probably doing at least a small bit of bullying, given his status in school). Hank thus can't envision a scenario where you would need to fight dirty to defend yourself against someone who really wanted to abuse you. It's foreign to him. On the flip side, Bobby was portrayed as being in the wrong because he realized that Groin Attack = insta-win for fights against other guys, and then got a high on the idea that violence could solve his problems and began to abuse it. The show did seem to imply that Hank deserved the groin attack when he was taunting Bobby during his boxing lesson, or, if not deserved it, at least got a taste of his own medicine, as it were.

I really don't like Hank mainly for the fact that he's always trying to turn Bobby into himself with being a propane salesman and constantly dismissing his son's future goals.

The vibe I'm getting here is that people don't like characters who are complicated.

That may be the answer to this thread's question.

"They say I'm old fashioned, and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast."

Dismissing legitimate concerns out of hand with "He's complicated! BOOOO!" Seems legit.

You fell victim to one of the classic blunders!

That's just the vibe I'm getting here.

Just because you feel Hank is a self-righteous asshole all the time does not mean he is.

A character like Hank, who does want what's best for the people he knows, yet has viewpoints that might seem a little too alienating, is probably too complicated for a lot of people to empathize with.

edited 30th May '14 2:37:13 PM by Aldo930

"They say I'm old fashioned, and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast."

See previous.

You fell victim to one of the classic blunders!

There are some that feel it is the story that oversimplifies it, unwittingly making complex grey toned characters and then still trying to play the whole thing black and white like there is an obvious right and wrong guy.

I admit that King Of The Hill doesn't bug me as much in this department as many other shows do, albeit largely because I've only seen so much of the show. I've seen some episodes where things seem a bit skewed but there is usually at least some acknowledgement from both sides they aren't perfect (or in cases such as Peggy, they are portrayed as delusional at their own expense). Hank's lack of tolerance can get grating, but it's more a case of Aesop Amnesia.

Self righteousness is a very tough facet to write well. Many writers seem to find that self righteousness isn't as bad an ego problem as general arrogance, and enable it a bit too much. Too many Straight Men are Rightly Self-Righteous. Sure self righteous people are usually well intentioned, but they are still being pompous jerks about it, they need to get over themselves as much as any other Small Name, Big Ego. If they do this too little they become insufferable because they get to live with the delusion they're always right, if they do this too much, it may seem they're treated unfairly because they usually still mean well and risk falling victim to The Complainer Is Always Wrong.

I think this is why so many Straight Men or Author Avatars such as Lisa Simpson and Brian Griffin garner bile. They're right, but that doesn't change the fact they're pushy and holier than thou about it.

edited 30th May '14 4:40:44 PM by Psi001

Found more episodes that shows evidence of Hank being a Jerkass:

• "Meet The Manger Babies": When Bobby suggested that Hank should get a Japanese HD TV, Hank ordered Bobby to go his room. This is a huge contradiction because in the episode "Westie Side Story" (where Kahn made his first appearance), Hank praised the Japanese for making good HD TVs.
• "To Kill a Lady Bird": Hank forbids Bobby from playing catch with Lady Bird because he said she's 91 years old in dog years, so she's too old to play. A second later, Hank plays with Lady Bird where she plays a like a 21 year old dog. Hank, you are such a big fat liar! How dare you lie to your son! >:(
• "Full Metal Dust Jacket": Hank yells at Bobby for reading fantasy novels and suggests that Bobby should read "manly" adventure novels. Seriously, Hank, you are such a control freak! >:(

edited 30th May '14 10:26:28 PM by Ecclytennysmithylove

"I told you PCs were unreliable." Darwin, The Amazing World of Gumball

The first example was just a joke. The third example, Hank is not portrayed as being in the right. Haven't seen the second.

"They say I'm old fashioned, and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast."

Yeah, Hank is often seen as being in the wrong on such issues. Again, he is not a brilliant fully sane hero looking down on the stupidly insane (well, sometimes). He is at best a functional semi-stable man trying to live with the massively less functional and inherently unstable. I still say Hank is even more jumpy and judgmental than he might otherwise be about his family and friends' activities because he knows where they might well take it, again leading to problems for him. Even in the case of Bill's psychology treatments—yeah, raging Jerkass moment, no question. My thing is, even when Bill has something good going on and no one blocks him, he somehow manages to amp it up until he breaks again. I can envision a Bill who's getting better and more stable suddenly deciding he knows enough about psychiatry to start dispensing advice and therapy himself.

edited 31st May '14 7:07:54 AM by Gojirob

Well, the first example was sort of a Canon Discontinuity. And you should really see "To Kill a Lady Bird" so you'll know why most fans see Hank as a Black Hole Sue.

"I told you PCs were unreliable." Darwin, The Amazing World of Gumball

At his worst he probably was. Most of the time, though, he was written well.

"They say I'm old fashioned, and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast."

I like Hank Hill. Since we're talking about how he's portrayed in the show and not some internet meme, Hank is naturally boring.

But in order to like Hank, we'll have to avoid watching the following episodes that show Hank being a complete Jerkass:

• "Husky Bobby"
• "Pretty, Pretty Dresses"
• "Sleight of Hank"
• "To Kill a Ladybird"
• "Naked Ambition"
• "What Makes Bobby Run?"
• "Hank and the Great Glass Elevator"
• "Now Who's the Dummy?"
• "Hank's Choice"
• "Bobby Goes Nuts"
• "Get Your Freak Off"
• "Full Metal Dust Jacket"
• "Reborn to be Wild"
• "Business is Picking Up"
• "Church Hopping"
• "Uh-Oh, Canada"
• "Just Another Manic-Kahn Day"
• "To Sirloin with Love"

edited 3rd Jun '14 5:16:36 PM by Ecclytennysmithylove

"I told you PCs were unreliable." Darwin, The Amazing World of Gumball

I don't know why some people are claiming people hate Hank because he's conservative.

If that was the case, wouldn't every adult character in the show be hated?