The American Dad....

A couple of weeks ago I sounded off on what I had viewed as an eroding image of the American Dad being portrayed in Movies and on TV. Linking in and feeding off of a article from Men's Health magazine, I isolated and highlighted a couple of bad examples. I now would like to look at some positive examples in the Media.
Today, more than ever we are in desperate need of strong father figures (and Mothers too!) in the American home. The assault upon the American family is at an unprecedented scale today. The issue of the family in fact has become a cornerstone issue for the Presidential Campaign of Fmr Massachusetts Governor, Mitt Romney. Fortunately I feel that there are a couple of good examples in TV now, and both may be surprising for you. The first, has his fame from slamming other men onto a canvas mat, to the cheers of millions, and millions of "Hulk-a-maniac's" everywhere. Yes, you've guesses correctly, I'm referring to Terry "Hulk" Hogan.
Many Saturday's in my childhood were spent sneaking over to my friends house so the we could watch our favorite wrestler, Hulk Hogan take on the likes of Andre the Giant, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, The Ultimate Warrior, and so on. Now known as the "WWE" (World Wrestling Entertainment), the World Wrestling Federation built into a behemoth entertainment empire by the McMahon family is on built upon Shock value, storylines, and now a taste of sexuality with its' "Divas." Not really the first choice one might have for looking for a male role model.
With all of this in mind, it was with great skepticism that I watched the first episode of the VH1 show, Hogan Knows Best. My expectations, (one's based upon previous "reality" family shows such as MTV's "The Osbornes") were greatly exceeded as we were exposed to a different view of the Hulkster, one as a very caring and protective Father. From loading a GPS unit on his daughter Brooke's truck so that he could keep tabs on her and her date, to leveling out a punishment on his son for giving their weekend guardian Brian Knobs (Fmr WWE Wrestler), while keeping it a secret that he though the mischief caused by his son was very funny. But as funny as it was, the Hulkster found greater priority in teaching his son responsibility and respect. The entire show itself would never had come to be if it wasn't first sold on him as an avenue to get exposure for his daughter, and now Pop Singer, Brooke Hogan. The whole purpose to the shows existence has been about his children and family, never about him.
The second example for this opinion piece also comes surprisingly from MTV with "Runs' House", a show documenting the everyday lives of the family of Reverend Joseph "Run" Simmons (Of Run-DMC fame) family. Again, we have a father who's priorities are those of raising his children to be one day responsible adults and positive contributors to our society.
I could only wish that Hollywood would wisen up and provide us with more Hulk's, and Rev Run's when portraying the role of the American Dad.