And for that matter, he fakes being a good husband and father. Tell me, how does he do that? One could argue he does it for the siblings by letting them do whatever they want, but we already pointed out how that makes zero sense. Not to mention, we see no evidence that he tries the same with Zoey. It would just take one line to have her mention that he tried bribing her into good behavior and resented her when she saw through it, but we get none of that.
It is very irk-some, because PC was a teacher and she must've taught a few kids who had issues at home (and instead of making a woefully dumb and shallow portrayal of Zoey's problems, why not just SHOW them?!). I can *kinda* see Zoey resenting her siblings because they might be shallow and into violence and meaningless sex--but they manage to hide it by appearing competent, getting good grades and overshadowing Zoey with their success in school.
Favoritism in families happen, but it's often because of a specific reason (whether Zoey was the oldest and her stepdad couldn't get along with her except with younger kids (or vice versa, stepdad was able to get along with older stepkids swimmingly, but he may have met Zoey when she was really young and thought of her as a dirty and rude kid that needs disciplining). Or that Zoey's siblings ARE the biological kids of her stepdad, so he favors them because he's more emotionally invested on their upbringing and thinks he knows how to parent them right compared to Zoey his step-daughter, etc).
Like, I've known people who even remarried guys who didn't know they HATED kids until it was too late. Like, my dad's stepdad found kids 'too stupid and nasty' but loves his estranged son unconditionally (whom he wasn't even there to raise for the majority of his life--so there was no embarrassing/frustrating moments he went through in raising his biological son (or even seeing him at his worst) because he wasn't even there when his son needed guidance and discipline). So he hated his stepsons and constantly brought up the failures that my dad and his brothers made AS KIDS, while not realising that kids just aren't perfect.
All PC and Kristin had to do is to pick one logical reason, stick with it, and avoid name-dropping brands or making eyeroll-worthy insults. It's really not difficult, especially when I've read fanfics written by *teenagers* pulling it off.
Sorry for the long-ass comment
It is very irk-some, because PC was a teacher and she must've taught a few kids who had issues at home (and instead of making a woefully dumb and shallow portrayal of Zoey's problems, why not just SHOW them?!). I can *kinda* see Zoey resenting her siblings because they might be shallow and into violence and meaningless sex--but they manage to hide it by appearing competent, getting good grades and overshadowing Zoey with their success in school.
Favoritism in families happen, but it's often because of a specific reason (whether Zoey was the oldest and her stepdad couldn't get along with her except with younger kids (or vice versa, stepdad was able to get along with older stepkids swimmingly, but he may have met Zoey when she was really young and thought of her as a dirty and rude kid that needs disciplining). Or that Zoey's siblings ARE the biological kids of her stepdad, so he favors them because he's more emotionally invested on their upbringing and thinks he knows how to parent them right compared to Zoey his step-daughter, etc).
Like, I've known people who even remarried guys who didn't know they HATED kids until it was too late. Like, my dad's stepdad found kids 'too stupid and nasty' but loves his estranged son unconditionally (whom he wasn't even there to raise for the majority of his life--so there was no embarrassing/frustrating moments he went through in raising his biological son (or even seeing him at his worst) because he wasn't even there when his son needed guidance and discipline). So he hated his stepsons and constantly brought up the failures that my dad and his brothers made AS KIDS, while not realising that kids just aren't perfect.
All PC and Kristin had to do is to pick one logical reason, stick with it, and avoid name-dropping brands or making eyeroll-worthy insults. It's really not difficult, especially when I've read fanfics written by *teenagers* pulling it off.