History Analysis / GoofTroop

'''Definitely a woobie''': Fits all the criteria perfectly including gaining the unconditional fandom alternate name "Poor PJ."

Pistol theoretically should have the same sort of chance for PJ to be TheWoobie, raised in the same environment and reguarly exploited by her father for chores. But nope. There are a variety of factors at play that make Pistol the ''least'' likely candidate out of all of the others. She's a CheerfulChild, rarely seen without a smile on her face. While her home-life isn't ideal, when it comes to a choice of PJ or Pistol, [[TheFavorite Pistol tends to come out on top,]] [[BrattyHalfPint she's considered something of a little brat]], and her position as the youngest child gives her [[TinyTyrannicalGirl some degree of power]] which she has taken advantage of. More so than anything, Pistol can't be the woobie because she's ''happy.'' In comparison to other characters, she has had a pretty satisfying life that even Max might envy. And this is why we only feel sorry for her in a couple of episodes at most.

When it comes to suspicions of physical abuse, it's not a huge leap to make. Not only is Pete typecast as an antagonist across his history as a Disney character, but he is consistently a short-tempered, oafish, menacing brute rarely deserving of any respect or sympathy. Violence is not a speculation but something that comes naturally to him, and for him not to inflict physical abuse on others would require a level of self-control that we ''know'' he does not possess. Even without explicit displays of physical abuse he has been seen handling PJ roughly for his age, especially considering PJ is his own son.

Of course, as the page itself says: "There's a simple reason for this with the consistently abusive parents - the abuse is a big part of the series or movie, and if Social Services did step in and take the kids away, they'd probably never let them go back." We know this, but since this show plays AbusiveParents so seriously and realistically (not as a HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood), it just makes SocialServicesDoesNotExist's use more obvious, much like on the show with a similar (though less immediate) attitude, ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'', which notably had people asking about poor Helga and Stoop Kid not getting rescued on its {{Headscratchers}} page ''twice''.

In ''AGoofyMovie'' he doesn't bring up Pistol at all. She's gone, and he doesn't care in the slightest. And that wouldn't be an issue but for that ''AGoofyMovie'' is canonically a sequel to ''GoofTroop.'' Who ''does'' he take on his road trip? It's PJ.

Ah, the wife. That's right, Pete does love Peg. We see it quite often, in fact. She's certainly not vulnerable either - she's attractive, has a good job, is aware that her husband's job is to decieve and manipulate people (he sells used cars, dammit). Pete was a big boy when she fell for him, so it's not his looks she's attracted to, and even if he could stand to shed a few pounds she never asks it of him. Sometimes he's disappointing, but she loves him. There's NoAccountingForTaste, right?

Seeing as Pete doesn't grasp the difference between fear and respect, it's likely that the love he feels for his wife becomes one with the way he's sometimes afraid of her. He will actively throw himself on his knees and grovel for her forgiveness sometimes. It's just further strength added to the arguement that Pete cannot recognise the difference the difference between fear and respect - only this time applied to him. This makes it likely that he had a fearful and highly controlling mother, which in some ways makes him almost a tragic villain.

Ah, the wife. That's right, Pete does love Peg. We see it quite often, in fact. She's certainly not vulnerable either - she's attractive, has a good job, is aware that her husband's job is to decieve and manipulate people (he sells used cars, dammit). Pete was a big boy when she fell for him, so it's not his looks she's attracted to, and even if he could stand to shed a few pounds she never asks it of him. Sometimes he's disappointing, but she loves him. [[NoTasteInMen Whatever does she see in him?]]

Well, it's not tough to see that Peg is completely the dominant one in their relationship. In fact it would scare off most men. But Pete loves and adores her. He worships her from head to toe, he's admitted he's lucky to have her, he would do just about anything for her... and he's kind of afraid of her too. Peg's no bully, but she keeps Pete right under her thumb, partly because she knows he needs to be kept there.

Seeing as Pete doesn't grasp the difference between fear and respect, it's likely that the love he feels for his wife becomes one with the way he's sometimes afraid of her. He will actively throw himself on his knees and grovel for her forgiveness sometimes.

!! SocialServicesDoesNotExist

Despite the existence of "Date with Destiny", it seems that most of the time Social Services ''Really'' Does Not Exist, considering that Pete has done all of the following things and not gotten in trouble: admitted to doing many abusive things in the middle of a hospital, and if we take his word for it, actually sent a kid to obedience school once ("Axed by Addition"), said he would treat his neighbor's kid like his "own son, only better" in the middle of a courtroom, with the son right there to scowl at him for the comment ("Bringin' on the Rain"), verbally abused his son in front of public officials ("Tub Be or Not Tub Be"), let his eleven-year-old run his used car dealership for a day ("To Heir Is Human"), and gotten caught in the act of child labor violations ("Mrs. Spoonerville"). Whether you believe Pete needs parenting counseling or that there's no hope and PJ should be taken away immediately, ''something'' should be done.

Of course, as the page itself says: "There's a simple reason for this with the consistently abusive parents - the abuse is a big part of the series or movie, and if Social Services did step in and take the kids away, they'd probably never let them go back." We know this, but since this show plays AbusiveParents so seriously and realistically (not as a HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood), it just makes SocialServicesDoesNotExist's use more obvious, much like on the show with a similar (though less immediate) attitude, ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'', which notably had people asking about poor Helga and Stoop Kid not getting rescued on its {{Headscratchers}} page ''twice''.

Now, there's another possibility and that's that Social Services ''does'' exist. This too is disturbing, but TruthInTelevision that the fear and mistrust an abused child feels, leads them to simply not trust anybody enough to tell them. When he likes, Pete can put on an excellent act of being a loving, devoted father. At 11 years old, and without friends, PJ might not know his situation is abnormal, or how to report his problems. We don't see any physical scars on PJ. He wears long sleeves and a neck-high sweater most of the time anyway. Thus far, it's all been going on behind closed doors.

Claims of Pistol being The Favourite may be entirely wrong. If Pistol was the favourite, wouldn't Pete spend more time with her? Wouldn't he play with her more often, read to her on demand, take her on these character-building trips? But in "Pistolgeist" when Pistol asks Pete to read to her (and keep in mind that she went to Peg first), he dismisses her off-hand, since he is watching the ball-game. His words are shocking. "Ask PJ, he hates these things." He's explicitly telling his little girl that the ball-game is not only more important to him, but more important to ''anybody!'' How could he say that to his own daughter? Upon going to PJ, we learn that he's read to her many times before - this is not a one-off. And when Pistol throws a tantrum, who responds? It's ''Peg.'' And in "And Baby Makes Three" it's no better - PJ is going through his long list of chores given to him by Pete, and the next chore is... playing with Pistol. That's right, Pete considers playing with Pistol a chore. And Pistol informs us that this is no one-off either - that PJ was more fun when he was younger. When Pete has to make a nursery, he turns Pistol's bedroom into the new nursery without a second thought.

In ''AGoofyMovie'' he doesn't bring up Pistol at all. She's gone, and he doesn't care in the slightest. And that wouldn't be an issue but for that ''AGoofyMovie'' is canonically a sequel to ''GoofTroop.'' Who does he take on his road trip? It's PJ.

: Pistol - The Favourite?

Effectively, if you were to ask Pete who his favourite was, it's likely that he'd name PJ. He may find PJ disappointing, but he'd much rather spend time with his son and 'educate' him, than waste any time on his daughter. True, Pistol isn't verbally abused, nor is Pete as heavy-handed with her, but that's more because Pete spends less time with her. What irony, that Pete's attention results in PJ being even more poorly treated than his emotionally neglected sister.

Claims of Pistol being TheFavourite may be entirely wrong. If Pistol was the favourite, wouldn't Pete spend more time with her? Wouldn't he play with her more often, read to her on demand, take her on these character-building trips? But in "Pistolgeist" when Pistol asks Pete to read to her (and keep in mind that she went to Peg first), he dismisses her off-hand, since he is watching the ball-game. His words are shocking. "Ask PJ, he hates these things." He's explicitly telling his little girl that the ball-game is not only more important to him, but more important to ''anybody!'' How could he say that to his own daughter? Upon going to PJ, he tells us that he's read to her many times before - this is not a one-off. And when Pistol throws a tantrum, who responds? It's ''Peg.'' And in "And Baby Makes Three" it's no better - PJ is going through his long list of chores given to him by Pete, and the next chore is... playing with Pistol. That's right, Pete considers playing with Pistol a chore. And Pistol informs us that this is no one-off either - that PJ was more fun when he was younger. When Pete has to make a nursery, he turns Pistol's bedroom into the new nursery without a second thought.

If you were to ask Pete who his favourite was, it's likely that he'd name PJ. He may find PJ disappointing, but he'd much rather spend time with his son and 'educate' him, than waste any time on his daughter. True, Pistol isn't verbally abused, nor is Pete as heavy-handed with her, but that's more because Pete spends less time with her. What irony, that Pete's attention results in PJ being even more poorly treated than his emotionally neglected sister.

Claims of Pistol being TheFavourite may be entirely wrong. If Pistol was the favorite, wouldn't Pete spend more time with her? Wouldn't he play with her more often, read to her on demand, take her on these character-building trips? Pete might not be as heavy-handed with Pistol, but that's more a result of him not spending much time with her at all. In "Pistolgeist" when Pistol asks Pete to read to her, he dismisses her off-hand, since he is watching the ball-game. His words are "Ask PJ, he hates these things." How could Pete say that? He's explicitly telling his little girl that the ball-game is not only more important to him, but more important to anybody! How could he say that to his own daughter?

Other motivations across the series appear to be that Pete wants PJ to succeed to make himself look good, or believes PJ's failure implies that he is somehow inferior. Note that PJ calls his father 'sir' on a regular basis when they speak. Max has never done this with Goofy.

As for Pistol, her being his 'favorite' is not as clear as it might seem. While as a girl and the younger child she is certainly handled more delicately, Pete has also tricked ''her'' into doing endless chores for a few cents alongside PJ, and generally seems disinclined to listen to her or spend time with her at his inconvenience - in "Pistolgeist" he refuses her request to read to him in favour of watching the ball game, in "Baby Makes Three" he isn't even listening when she asks him for a baby brother, and prepares to turn her room into a nursery for the new baby, while planning to move her in with PJ. Other times he sees playing with her as a chore to be delegated to PJ. The irony is that he ends up spending more 'father' time with PJ, but is more abusive to him in the process.