I have mixed emotions about the T-Mobile “Creepy Dad” commercial. On one hand, it’s nice to see a father portrayed as being caring, protective and involved, like most dads are. It also shows a strong father-daughter bond.
On the other hand, it promotes the idea that teenage boys are a hazard to teenage girls. There’s some truth to this, but there’s some truth to just the opposite, too.
A teenage girl can falsely accuse a boy of assault or rape and set him up for vigilante retribution, expulsion, or criminal prosecution. She can decide she wants a baby and put him on the hook for 18 years of child support. Yes, this is something of a paranoid and extreme interpretation, because only a small percentage of girls would do that to a boy. On the other hand, only a small percentage of boys would harm or assault a girl, too.
Perhaps it’s just something innate in fathers. The other day I allowed my neighbor Julio, who has a girl my daughter’s age, to take my daughter with his family to see the Christmas lights up on the windy roads at Griffith Park late at night, a very unusual move for me. Before they left, I put my arm around him and said, “Julio, I love you but if my little girl doesn’t come back safe and sound, you’d probably be safer not coming back at all.” He nodded and said, “I have a daughter. I understand completely.”
To watch the ad, click here or see below. Thanks to Robert, a reader, for sending it to me.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ltYQlFuzrg]