"My father was always telling himself no one was perfect, not even my mother"
About this Quote
A joke that lands because it smuggles a whole family power structure into one clean line. Broderick Crawford’s quote isn’t just a wisecrack about marriage; it’s a portrait of how people survive domestic mythology. The setup is the classic self-soothing mantra: “no one was perfect.” The twist - “not even my mother” - reveals the real problem: Mom has been treated as the one exception, the household’s unofficial saint. Dad’s “always telling himself” isn’t philosophy, it’s damage control. He’s negotiating an impossible standard inside his own home.
The intent feels like affectionate deflation with a sting. Crawford frames the father as both practical and faintly beleaguered, a man who needs to rehearse imperfection like a prayer because the family narrative keeps insisting on Mom’s flawless authority. That’s the subtext: idealization is a kind of tyranny, even when it’s wrapped in love. To admit “not even my mother” is to commit a small act of heresy against the family’s internal PR machine.
Context matters, too. Coming from a mid-century actor whose persona often traded in gruff realism, it reads like a backstage aside: the public loves icons, but the private world runs on comic corrections. The line also flips the usual cultural script of paternal pedestal-building; instead of worship, Dad’s resistance is cautious, almost strategic. It’s funny because it’s human: perfection isn’t rejected on principle, it’s rejected because living with it is exhausting.
The intent feels like affectionate deflation with a sting. Crawford frames the father as both practical and faintly beleaguered, a man who needs to rehearse imperfection like a prayer because the family narrative keeps insisting on Mom’s flawless authority. That’s the subtext: idealization is a kind of tyranny, even when it’s wrapped in love. To admit “not even my mother” is to commit a small act of heresy against the family’s internal PR machine.
Context matters, too. Coming from a mid-century actor whose persona often traded in gruff realism, it reads like a backstage aside: the public loves icons, but the private world runs on comic corrections. The line also flips the usual cultural script of paternal pedestal-building; instead of worship, Dad’s resistance is cautious, almost strategic. It’s funny because it’s human: perfection isn’t rejected on principle, it’s rejected because living with it is exhausting.
Quote Details
| Topic | Father |
|---|
More Quotes by Broderick
Add to List
