But it’s not a complex dynamic, the new guy is bad and MM is justified in wanting to remove his daughter from the new guy’s presence.
The character isn't introduced as bad, he's just introduced as a liberal shmuck who has ingested a bunch of Vought propaganda. And because he's dating MM's ex, there's not much MM can do to remove his daughter from the step-dad without picking a fight with his ex-wife, something he wishes to avoid in no small part because it would be traumatic for his daughter.
MM’s ex-wife has chosen a bad partner, and endangers their child through her refusal to break up with the new guy.
MM isn't in a position to force the issue without becoming the kind of thuggish authoritarian he's explicitly against. Hence the complexity of conflict. The "Superhero" approach of flying in, announcing you know better, and beating up anyone who disagrees - no matter how deserved - is something to which he is morally opposed.
It could not be more divorced dad fantasy fodder if they tried.
The setup is a classic divorced-dad trope, but the character is designed in opposition to the trope. MM embodies a host of tropes more commonly seen in maternal characters.
The character is introduced as misguided, and then within one more appearance is going off on fascist conspiracy theory tangents.
He's not presented as a unique individual instance, but a token representative of a much larger social movement. And, from a storytelling perspective, removing him from the relationship functionally removes him from the plot which undermines the whole point of his introduction. He's supposed to represent a source of conflict, not a trivially solvable problem that you can moralize over later.
It is 100% the classic divorced dad trope
Its far closer to a divorced mom trope. MM fills a maternal role in the story and attempts to resolve conflicts in line with motherly characters. He's non-confrontational, risk-averse, compassionate, and empathetic.
The character isn't introduced as bad, he's just introduced as a liberal shmuck who has ingested a bunch of Vought propaganda. And because he's dating MM's ex, there's not much MM can do to remove his daughter from the step-dad without picking a fight with his ex-wife, something he wishes to avoid in no small part because it would be traumatic for his daughter.
MM isn't in a position to force the issue without becoming the kind of thuggish authoritarian he's explicitly against. Hence the complexity of conflict. The "Superhero" approach of flying in, announcing you know better, and beating up anyone who disagrees - no matter how deserved - is something to which he is morally opposed.
The setup is a classic divorced-dad trope, but the character is designed in opposition to the trope. MM embodies a host of tropes more commonly seen in maternal characters.
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He's not presented as a unique individual instance, but a token representative of a much larger social movement. And, from a storytelling perspective, removing him from the relationship functionally removes him from the plot which undermines the whole point of his introduction. He's supposed to represent a source of conflict, not a trivially solvable problem that you can moralize over later.
Its far closer to a divorced mom trope. MM fills a maternal role in the story and attempts to resolve conflicts in line with motherly characters. He's non-confrontational, risk-averse, compassionate, and empathetic.