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« Wife Swap
December 18, 2006: Roy/Maness
I’m a big fan of happy hours and having fun, but Frankie Roy needs to figure out some kind of balance, because her house is a mess. I would’ve reacted the same way Angel did when she walked around the Roy house and saw: dog poop with mold on it, mold in juice glasses, a dead rat on the carpet. Any one of the above would be gross, but all three of them spell a whole lot of filth that no family should be living in. Dead rats and dog poop are not good to have around the house, and I’m not surprised that J.P. doesn’t want to bring girls home.
Frankie is proud of having a fun house where her kids don’t have any rules except to go to bed at 10 o’clock, but she has to step up a little bit more and at least pick up dead rats from the floor. And she lets J.P. play computer games for six or seven hours a day, which is so not healthy for him. J.P. said he wanted his mom to be harder on him about his schoolwork. He just wants to be pushed a little, and Angel did that for him.
But Angel telling him that she’d pay for his first semester of school if he continued on to college seemed just a little bit condescending to me. I understand where the gesture was coming from and that she wanted to inspire him to get motivated about his education, but there’s another way to motivate him other than offering to give him money for school. His parents are supposed to be encouraging him and giving him the tools and help he needs to move on to college, so when Angel told him that she’d pay for his school if he made it there, it felt like she was being uppity about it and making his parents look like they can’t afford to pay for his education.
Angel Maness is a know-it-all, and she likes the sound of her own voice. She makes her husband Blake ride in the backseat of the car because she doesn’t like his driving, and she picks out his clothes for him. And who picked out his clothes for him before Angel? His mother. So Blake’s never dressed himself, and Angel pushes him around because she’s controlling. I can understand why Angel saw the dog poop and made a face; but when it came time to tell her what kind of mess she was making of her own family, she wasn’t receptive. She makes her husband and son, Blake Jr., wear bracelets that say, “Failure’s not an option.” She makes her son train, but what’s he training for? He’s 11 years old. He should be having fun with other kids his age.
I felt for Frankie at the table meeting when she confronted Angel about how she pushes Blake around. Frankie told Angel, “You’re condescending.” And Angel responded, “I’m vocal.” She’s so vocal that her husband feels safer talking to a cardboard cutout of his wife than talking to his actual wife. He won’t talk back to her. And he felt all kinds of anxiety when he was told to shop for himself. He’s just a mess, and neither one will understand that.
When Frankie tried to talk to him about how Angel is pushy with their son Blake Jr., Blake Sr. went off; and then Frankie started cursing, and all hell broke loose. Blake even called 911 and wanted Frankie out of the house. I’m not even sure how the fight escalated to the point of Frankie's spending the night in a hotel. But the next day they made up and apologized, which seemed kind of forced. I think they made up for the camera’s sake, and it wasn’t very genuine.
I’m just glad that Frankie took up some cleaning at the end of the hour, and that her family really wanted to keep the house clean after Angel left. I wasn’t surprised to see that Snowball the rabbit was sent back to the pet shop, and I think it’s kind of weird that the Manesses kept the cardboard cutout of Angel so that Blake Sr. could yell at it.
I think the families learned something about each other. And now J.P.’s excited about going to college to get a degree in video-game design, and he’s banking on Angel’s promise to pay for his first semester. I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure Angel’s going to pull through with that promise.
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Dec 18, 2006 10:25 PM
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The only thing I could think besides the fact that the Maness family has MASSIVE issues is that, this is the 2nd epi of this show that shows black women married to white men where the wives are like slave masters. The other one I saw the wife was waited on hand and foot and the kids and husband did everything. Clean, serve her food, everything. Actually I think there was another epi w/ a mixed race family and the mother was more like Angel Maness.
As a black woman who dates interacially that really annoys me. As much for the fact that these women are like that as for the fact that everytime there is a black woman/white man she is some type of major control freak. I don't watch the show that often only when I catch it unexpected like last night so maybe there are other interacial couples that are more balanced. I just haven't seen it.
I could never respect any man black or white that would let me walk all over him to the point that those men allowed their wives to walk all over them. Total lack of respect for their men and themselves.
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Dec 19, 2006 1:35 PM
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