Watching series when we were younger, we did not necessarily realize all the mental load that exhausted mothers, children left to their own devices or friends who are very a lot so nice. There are some who deserve a year of paid vacation, their weight in chocolate and a pat on the shoulder to tell them “everything is going to be fine”.
1. Julie dans Desperate Housewives
Throughout her childhood, Julie Mayer had to take care of her daronne who is unable to put one foot in front of the other without crying or putting herself in an embarrassing situation. She had to cook from the age of 5, console her mother every time something bad happened to her and put up with her clumsiness on a daily basis. Julie, you really are a superhero.
2. Laws in Malcolm
When you think about it, the Malcolm series liked to describe Lois as a bad show mother and Hal as a kind and funny dad. Of course, it’s super problematic since Lois does all the dirty work in the shack while her husband plays with a steamroller and her sons throw dirty diapers off the roof. She tried the soft method with Francis when he was little and was forced to change strategy when he almost set the house on fire.
3. Fiona dans Shameless
If mental load had a face, it would be Fiona Gallagher. The girl has to take care of her five brothers and sisters but also of the house. She could have left town and let her alcoholic father and drugged mother run the smala, but she knew the siblings would end up in a home. So she gets up every morning to do odd jobs, pay the bills, prepare meals and go to parent-teacher meetings. We love you Fiona, you did well to flee.
4. Fezco in Euphoria
Fezco is the best male character of Euphoria (must say that it was not complicated) and all the fans of the series love him. Fezco is a nice guy who always keeps his cool and protects the people he loves because no one else is there to do that. He takes care of Ashtray, of course, but also of Rue and luckily he is there.
5. Claire in Modern Family
As in all family sitcoms, there is a role of mother who likes to yell at people and control everything (we love it) and in Modern Family, it’s Claire Dunphy. The character of the funny and not very responsible dad is provided by Phil, her husband, and Claire must take care of the daily life of the family. We pity her.
6. Lynette dans Desperate Housewives
Lynette is unlucky, she inherited the most unbearable series children that exist. She had to give up her career to become a housewife and spend her days cleaning up vomit and chatting with the neighbors while her husband has a blast in seminary. We want to cry for her every episode but Lynette remains strong, what a woman…
7. Tony dans 13 reasons why
In 13 Reasons Why, Tony is a friend of Clay and Hannah and it is he who is responsible for passing Hannah’s audio cassettes after her suicide. You will tell me, it’s already a fairly substantial mental load but that’s not all. Tony works after school to help his parents and ends up taking care of his father’s business alone when the whole family is expelled from the country. He also has to take care of his little sister, who was born in the United States like him, and visits her very often at her aunt’s and uncle’s because he cannot take care of her on his own.
8. Marge in The Simpsons
Poor Marge… how not to pity her? In The Simpsons, Homer doesn’t even have the role of the nice funny dad; he’s just stupid, lazy, alcoholic and irresponsible. It can’t be easy for Marge to take care of all her children alone and keep the house from falling apart while making sure Homer doesn’t kill Bart by strangling him.
9. Effy in Skins
We often think of Effy as a brat, a teenager who turns out badly and spends her time doing stupid things, but it wasn’t always like that. In the first two seasons of Skins, we see that Effy is a caring young girl who takes care of everyone at home and especially her brother after his accident. If she hadn’t been there, Tony would surely have remained depressed all his life.
10. Leonard dans The Big Bang Theory
Leonard’s mental load in The Big Bang Theory is special because it concerns his relationship with his friend and roommate, the good Sheldon. We love Sheldon, of course, but any normal human would have fled this apartment from hell a long time ago. Only Leonard can put up with Sheldon’s indecent demands while taking his daily insults.