Mr. Bender Defender (my dad)[]
Mr. Bender is the father of John Bender, and the husband of Mrs. Bender. John explained that he is a deadbeat, alcoholic father who doesn't care for his wife and son. For Christmas, he gave John a pack of cigarettes. He grabbed him and yelled: "Hey, smoke up, Johnny!"
During lunch, John imitated his father's abusive personality, and he even showed everyone a cigar burn on his left forearm, explaining that: "This is what you get in my house when you spill paint in the garage."
While everyone was sitting in a circle during group therapy, Andrew described his own father, and John answered: "I think your old man and my old man should get together and go bowling."
Trivia and Allusions[]
- In the original script, Mr. Bender was supposed to drop off his son in a rusty old tow truck, briefly quarrel with him, and then send him off with a sack lunch, and scream: "You are a waste of lunch meat!" This means we would have seen what Mr. Bender looks like. Instead, the script was changed, with John walking to school alone without lunch.
- In a 2015 interview with Judd Nelson, (who was 25 at the time), stated that: "I'm now that kid's dad!" This means that if we were to film something with Mr. Bender today, directors would probably hire Judd Nelson for the role of Mr. Bender (and probably Avan Jogia or Blake Michael for John Bender).
- Mr. Bender is the perfect example of a common TV trope - A parent, typically the father, who is alcoholic, and due to the alcohol, gets drunk and is physically abusive to his respective kid, and also his respective spouse. Typically, the abuse from the alcoholic parent leads to the kid becoming mean and/or aggressive. Other examples, besides Mr. Bender, of the alcoholic parent TV trope, are:
- Harrison Thompson from Marvel works--Harrison Thompson works as a cop for the NYPD, a job that puts stress on him. Thompson, to cure the stress, turns to alcohol. Unfortunately, this only makes him drunk and alcoholic, so at home, he is physically abusive to his son (presumably out of being drunk), Flash Thompson, leading to the latter becoming an aggressive bully at school.
- Oscar "Butch" Bowers from It--Butch Bowers is a police officer, and the alcoholic father of bully Henry Bowers. Presumably out of drunkenness, Butch physically abuses Henry, as well as forces the latter be "manly" (the outdated gender stigma of "tough male, weak female"). This abuse is what makes Henry become an aggressive bully.