I bet both of them had really crappy childhoods, in different ways... no wonder John gets it. Gah. *wants to hug both of them*
Actually, that's highly interesting.
I think... my personal, current (read: twenty-four hours old) theory is that John's parents died when he was small, and he was raised by his grandmother. In John's case, I think that he was loved and cared for, in a highly supportive way, but always had *huge* abandonment and control issues deepdown.
For Rodney... I don't think his childhood was bad, per se, but I think that his parents certainly emphasised his intelligence as a Big Thing. I think he was allowed to grow up thinking that his brains were the *only* thing that made him interesting/worthy/loveable and that it compensated for all the other flaws in his personality. I think the hyperbole and the handwaving is old attention-seeking behaviour because he's used to getting his parents' attention when -- and possibly *only* when -- he's proving that he's smarter than everyone around him.
Consider it that Rodney's parents took "encouraging your gifted child" a little too far, and focused solely on Rodney's IQ. (Whereas Jeanie wasn't as bright, wasn't gifted, and got attention for overall personality, which would have annoyed Rodney no end. He would have seen it as direct comparison -- as proof that his personality was flawed because he *had* to be brilliant to be loved and Jeanie barely had to try.)
And, um, what I totally meant to say was "thanks for commenting" but I got distracted with the whole childhoods idea.
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Actually, that's highly interesting.
I think... my personal, current (read: twenty-four hours old) theory is that John's parents died when he was small, and he was raised by his grandmother. In John's case, I think that he was loved and cared for, in a highly supportive way, but always had *huge* abandonment and control issues deepdown.
For Rodney... I don't think his childhood was bad, per se, but I think that his parents certainly emphasised his intelligence as a Big Thing. I think he was allowed to grow up thinking that his brains were the *only* thing that made him interesting/worthy/loveable and that it compensated for all the other flaws in his personality. I think the hyperbole and the handwaving is old attention-seeking behaviour because he's used to getting his parents' attention when -- and possibly *only* when -- he's proving that he's smarter than everyone around him.
Consider it that Rodney's parents took "encouraging your gifted child" a little too far, and focused solely on Rodney's IQ. (Whereas Jeanie wasn't as bright, wasn't gifted, and got attention for overall personality, which would have annoyed Rodney no end. He would have seen it as direct comparison -- as proof that his personality was flawed because he *had* to be brilliant to be loved and Jeanie barely had to try.)
And, um, what I totally meant to say was "thanks for commenting" but I got distracted with the whole childhoods idea.