Celebrating Father's Day: The fantastic, the cosmic, and the real

How important is a father's role in raising a child? Even though the era of the traditional “biblical” family is fading, most psychologists and experts agree it's significant. Yes, moms are better at taking care of a little one's basic needs, instilling fundamental human interactions, and other clearly vital skills. But who else is going to teach the offspring important things like how to properly hold a console controller, the right technique for jumping out of a tree, riding a bike with your eyes closed, and so on? Well?

It is scientifically proven that in the lives of the vast majority of beings, the father's role accounts for nearly fifty percent. Father's Day, celebrated this year on June 18th, may not have as long a tradition here as Mother's Day, but I still think we dads deserve some recognition.

History, whether real or fictional, and all of pop culture and fantasy are full of fathers. I dare say, however, that the biggest legends don't exactly approach fatherhood in the best way. Yes, making an offspring can be fun, but what then?

A typical example is Anakin Skywalker. At first, a fairly capable kid with great potential. But once he falls in love and finds out he's going to be a father, he doesn't exactly take it well. You could say he literally loses his mind. Yes, it's more fun on the dark side of the Force. You can throw lightning around, lift colleagues by the throat, and not worry about parenting, child support, or anything else while calling yourself Darth Vader.

In the long run, however, this approach doesn't offer many benefits. What kind of kid grows up from that? Luke Skywalker became a shy boy who spent a suspiciously large amount of time locked up with his droids, and as soon as he got out into the world, he made a move on his sister! Awkward. Plus, when he finds out his daddy is the second-biggest villain in a galaxy far, far away, he doesn't take it well and tries to kill him. In this case, having a father seems more like a disadvantage.

David “Cinzano Bianco” Lister, however, has the opposite problem. Although he was forced to abandon a promising career as a singer in a band fighting crypto-fascism in his youth, on the mining ship Red Dwarf, he worked his way up to the rank of Third Technician, the last living human, and a god to a cat race. And all this despite his parents rudely dumping him in a box under a bar table somewhere.

His parents really slacked off! Lister's father may have been forced to abandon a promising career as a singer in a band fighting crypto-fascism, but he completely neglected his offspring's upbringing. Just think of how many birthdays he missed!

Being your own father definitely reeks of metaphysics. Just the fact that you have to draw your family tree in four dimensions. Just imagine how weird parent-teacher meetings must look! Lister's fate twists back on itself like an Ouroboros, the mythical snake-dragon eating its own tail. Sometimes you have no choice but to be your own parent.

Another example shows that even if you have more parents, it might not be an advantage. It's a whole new level when one of your uncles is your father, the other uncle is a dwarf, and your sister is something like a cousin, or whatever. Family gatherings are one big mess! That's exactly what happened to Joffrey Baratheon, the nicest guy in all of Westeros. Such a Father's Day becomes a literal minefield full of social blunders and faux pas. No wonder poor Joffrey turns into a bit of a bitter king.

There is a simple truth – you just can't choose your parents. Sometimes you can do anything and still never please them. Faramir knows a thing or two about that, as his father Denethor II heavily favored his firstborn son Boromir. He had nothing but words of contempt and mockery for poor Faramir. The nicest thing his father ever did for Faramir was trying to burn him alive.

It might seem like fathers are useless and cause more trouble than they're worth. However, we can easily find a number of opposite, very positive examples.

Leto Atreides from Dune, Mr. Incredible, Rumcajs (even though he forced his family to live in the woods and eat acorns, he acted as a beautiful moral compass). Even surrogate fathers can surprise you. Joel from The Last of Us, the band of teachers around Harry Potter, and others.

I'm lucky that I'm currently surrounded by friends who are exemplary fathers. Our fandom naturally leads to these activities in a way. When a person knows how to play even in adulthood, their children will love them for it. And that's what it's all about!

author Karel Krajča