Well, to be fair, Madison's "parents" (the rich ones) are decent--what little we've seen of Mac's biological mother anyway, as are Mac's adopted parents, for all their shortcomings. What bothers me more about that storyline is that it argues that Nature triumphs over Nurture, and does so in a decidedly unambiguous fashion. The Veronica & Keith dynamic is a little more complex, as while Veronica is Keith's daughter, she's also Lianne's. The Echolls family horror show is a mixed-bag: while Aaron is a classic example of the abused-becoming-an-abuser, I don't think we're being led to believe that it's an inescapable fate for Logan--I mean, there are warning bells, as evidence by Logan's proclivity for violence and impulse control, but I don't think the show is as bleak and nihilistic as to suggest that Logan's beyond saving.

What bothers me more about that storyline is that it argues that Nature triumphs over Nurture, and does so in a decidedly unambiguous fashion.

I don't see this. Please explain?

I don't see this. Please explain?

Mac, despite being brought up by nachos-and-NASCAR parents, turned out like her biological falafels-and-Fellini parents.

But were her adoptive parents discouraging of her academic pursuits? I remember them as decent folk.

From an interview I read somewhere - KB had no idea who was at the door at the time that they filmed that scene.

But were her adoptive parents discouraging of her academic pursuits? I remember them as decent folk.

No, they were definitely decent folk.

So you're saying it wasn't unambiguous, but that the adoptive parents nurtured nature.

the adoptive parents nurtured nature

'xactly.

I like that idea much better. Thanks, Jon. Like Vonnie, I'd always kind of viewed that episode as presenting a rather unambiguous look, in contrast to Veronica's season-long plight of what it would to mean to her if Keith wasn't her real father.

What P-C said. Mac's biological parents' are not only monied, they were cultured, and Mac had all these longings for the High Art and felt alienated by her adopted parents who are more like of monster-truck-rally type people. And Madison, despite being brought up surrounded by books and trips to Europe and so forth, turned out to be a mean, declassé bitch.

I think the message was softened somewhat by the fact that Mac's adopted parents were good people and loved their daughter, even though they didn't understand her, but the whole thing still bugged me. It smacked too much of the romance novel trope of "oh, our heroine/hero was brought up in squalor but still had refined taste and purity of spirits because he/she was actually a son/daughter of an aristocrat, left on the doorstep of the blacksmith as a baby!"

And Madison, despite being brought up surrounded by books and trips to Europe and so forth, turned out to be a mean, declassé bitch.

She was a bitca, but she wasn't a fan of monster-truck-rallys. In fact, she probably would have been less of a bitca had she been brought up by her biological parents, since I think her money played a large role in her bitca-ness.