This Is Us: Jack Pearson, the Dream Dad

In This Is Us, Jack Pearson shows us us what it is to be a dream dad — and why this achievement has such far-reaching significance even after we’re gone. Support ScreenPrism on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=7792695​

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Transcript provided by Youtube:

00:01
It’s easy to dismiss the wholesome TV dads of past eras,
00:08
as simple and uninteresting.
00:11
Modern audiences seem more into the entertainment of
00:13
watching a nightmarish father spiral out of control.
00:17
But in This is Us, it’s refreshing to return to the positive side of
00:21
the father story in the character of Jack Pearson.
00:24
“My husband is a freaking superhero.”
00:27
Jack the superhero dad reminds us of the power of
00:30
earnest stories about good parents.
00:33
He’s selfless, humble, and totally devoted to his wife Rebecca
00:37
and their three kids.
00:38
“Jack, your back was built to carry your son through life.
00:43
Are you willing to hold him up, no matter what comes his way?”
00:51
“Yes.”
00:52
Jack may seem too good for this world.
00:54
“Even when I watch Tom Hanks, I sit there and I think to myself,
00:58
‘He’s not so great.’
01:00
And who does that?
01:01
Who watches Tom Hanks and thinks, ‘You know what?
01:03
I’m married to a man that’s better than that.’”
01:05
But his character touches us because he’s
01:06
not effortlessly perfect.
01:08
We see that he works really, really hard
01:10
to be this person for his kids.
01:12
“I got three of you, and I’m trying.”
01:14
Jack shows us what it is to be a dream dad —
01:17
and why this is an achievement with far-reaching significance
01:21
even after we’re gone.
01:22
“And if it’s the last thing I do,
01:24
I’m gonna make you proud of me.”
01:25
Before we go on, be sure to hit subscribe
01:27
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01:31
We can thank Jack for making the Pearson family what it is.
01:36
He’s the one who pushes for kids in the first place.
01:39
“We always say we’re gonna talk about it in the future,
01:41
but it’s the future now, Bec, and I want kids.”
01:44
And after Kevin and Kate’s triplet dies,
01:46
he’s the one who suggests adopting Randall.
01:49
“He pushed a stranger on me.
01:51
And that stranger became my child.
01:56
And that child became my life.”
02:00
He hated his life before he met Rebecca,
02:03
when he scraped together a living working odd jobs
02:05
and was totally directionless.
02:07
“My life before I met you, Bec, it wasn’t great.”
02:12
So in starting a family he finds his life’s purpose.
02:15
“When I held you, for the first time,
02:19
right here in this hospital,
02:22
it hit me like a bolt of lightning.
02:24
You were my purpose, Kevin.”
02:27
His family is his everything.
02:29
Nothing gives him the same sense of pride and fulfillment
02:31
as his wife and kids.
02:33
He’s had a paternal instinct since childhood,
02:35
when he’d look after his little brother Nicky
02:37
in place of their dad.
02:38
“Don’t worry Nicky, I’m not going anywhere.”
02:43
Other husbands on the show experience lust
02:45
“What would I do without you?”
02:48
or go golfing to escape their home lives.
02:51
“Five blissful hours, where your wife won’t tell you that
02:54
you’re holding them wrong or feeding them wrong
02:57
or just being generally wrong.”
02:58
But Jack doesn’t have a wandering eye.
03:02
“Enough!”
03:03
He wants to be with Rebecca even when she’s having
03:05
pregnancy mood swings and forgetting his birthday.
03:08
“I just keep thinking about my wife and how
03:10
I just want to get home to her,
03:14
hang out with her, make sure she’s okay.
03:15
Which is crazy, because she’s at her absolute worst right now.
03:19
I mean, like, Exorcist level bad.
03:22
But I still don’t want to escape her.”
03:25
He doesn’t get resentful when fatherhood interferes
03:28
with his dreams for himself.
03:29
He works long hours at an uninspiring job to pay the bills
03:33
without ever complaining.
03:34
And he genuinely enjoys the hard work of parenting itself.
03:37
“Yeah, breathe.
03:38
You’re putting too much
03:39
pressure on yourself, son.
03:40
Everything’s gonna be fine, just breathe.”
03:42
He loves swooping in with a romantic grand gesture.
03:45
He initiates family rituals that they’ll remember forever,
03:48
like the “Big Three” rhyme.
03:50
“First came–”
03:51
“Me!”
03:52
“And Dad said–”
03:53
“Gee!”
03:54
“And then came–”
03:55
“Me!”
03:56
“And Mom said–”
03:57
“Whee!”
03:58
“And then came–”
03:59
“Me!”
04:00
“And we said–”
04:01
“That’s three.”
04:02
“Big Three?”
04:03
“Big Three!”
04:04
And when the family’s Thanksgiving plans go awry,
04:05
he invents new holiday traditions
04:06
that Rebecca and the kids still follow in the present day.
04:09
What’s revolutionary about all this is that Jack teaches us
04:12
to take pride in family as an achievement,
04:15
as opposed to buying into the idea that a man needs to show
04:18
his success through his career and material possessions.
04:22
Being a good father means finding purpose, achievement,
04:25
and joy in your home life.
04:27
“That’s when I knew exactly when I wanted to be when I grew up.
04:30
I wanted to be the man that made you happy.”
04:36
“Jack, look at me,”
04:39
One of the show’s main themes is that we’re
04:42
a product of our pasts.
04:44
Every episode cuts between past and present to emphasize
04:47
how old iterations of ourselves inform who we become.
04:50
The Big Three as adults are always reflecting
04:53
on their childhoods and trying to replicate —
04:55
or at least honor — their parents’ example.
04:58
“I would marry a man like Dad.
05:00
I would be a mom like Mom.”
05:02
We know how much personal history influences
05:05
all the characters —
05:06
so we’re in awe when Jack’s able to resist his.
05:10
“You are a miracle.
05:12
You know that, Jack?
05:14
Coming from your dad and being the dad that you are,
05:17
you are a freaking miracle.”
05:19
He rejects his traumatic past and the influence of
05:22
his abusive, alcoholic father.
05:23
It’s even more impressive that he manages to become
05:26
such a great role model and adoring family man
05:29
because he never had anyone like himself to look up to.
05:32
“Coming from the family that I did, I definitely
05:35
never saw myself having kids.
05:37
But then I met you.”
05:40
But eventually we start to see that Jack isn’t invincible,
05:44
and he hasn’t fully escaped his trauma.
05:46
“Let your father out, Jack.
05:47
Let him out.
05:48
Doesn’t that feel good?”
05:49
He does feel the aftereffects of growing up in
05:52
a toxic environment and fighting in Vietnam.
05:54
He just puts on a brave face for his family.
05:57
Because he’s determined not to burden them with his pain.
06:00
He swallows his pride and asks his terrible father for money
06:03
when he and Rebecca need to buy a house.
06:06
But he doesn’t admit this to Rebecca until years later.
06:09
“I was embarrassed that I couldn’t provide for us without him.”
06:14
We only find out that Jack has a brother in season two.
06:18
But he never talks about Nicky and their time together
06:20
in Vietnam,
06:21
so it’s unclear what became of him.
06:24
And Jack battles alcoholism for months without his family
06:26
knowing a thing.
06:28
“I have a problem, Rebecca.
06:32
And I’ve hidden it from you
06:37
for a very long time.”
06:39
Jack is trying so hard to be strong that he goes up
06:42
against all his problems alone
06:44
and still wants to lighten everyone else’s load.
06:47
“I would take this on for you.
06:49
Ok?
06:50
I would take on this and anything else if I could.”
06:55
“It’s such an interesting color on this guy,
06:57
who’s been so perfect all along.
06:58
And I think that’s a big part of where wer’re going in this season
07:00
is showing how difficult it is to be a good man,
07:03
and how difficult it’s been for him.”
07:05
He needs to learn to be more open about
07:07
his own pain and trauma.
07:09
His struggle shows that it’s important deal with the past
07:12
in a conscious way
07:14
as you’re creating your own stable family model.
07:16
“I never wanted to disappoint you.
07:19
But I have to be honest with you guys,
07:24
because I need you guys.”
07:25
But even if it’s unhealthy the way he tries to
07:28
handle everything on his own,
07:30
it’s hard not to love him for fighting so hard
07:32
to be the good, positive man.
07:37
Just as being a good father is an achievement to celebrate,
07:40
we come to see that the stakes of fatherhood are really high.
07:43
Jack’s influence shapes his kids’ entire lives,
07:46
long after he’s gone.
07:48
This is Us is known for its tearjerker moments.
07:51
And the most heartbreaking twist of all is when we learn that
07:54
Jack died when his kids were teenagers.
07:57
He dies doing what he always does —
07:59
putting everyone else before him.
08:01
When the family house catches fire,
08:03
he risks his own life to make sure Rebecca and the kids
08:05
get out safely.
08:07
He even runs back inside to rescue Kate’s dog,
08:10
a moment that epitomizes the kind of dad Jack is.
08:13
He seems to be alright afterwards, but smoke inhalation
08:16
sends him into cardiac arrest
08:18
and he dies at the hospital.
08:20
His death is essential to the show’s story.
08:22
We might even compare it to the death of the third triplet —
08:26
although it’s devastating, it also makes the Pearson family
08:29
what it is,
08:30
and sets each character’s development in motion.
08:34
The Big Three’s grief over losing their dad
08:36
and their efforts to honor his memory
08:38
are what made them into these complicated, fascinating people.
08:42
Ironically but fittingly, Jack’s positive influence in life is
08:46
what helps the kids cope with his death.
08:49
“You know what he’d want for you?
08:52
Everything.”
08:54
“Yeah, for you too.”
08:59
More than anything, the Big Three want to make him proud.
09:02
They want to live up to his expectations and example.
09:05
“Now, you are Jack Pearson’s son.
09:08
You have him inside of you.”
09:12
So his memory is enough to inspire them to be
09:14
the bravest, kindest people they can be.
09:17
And pieces of Jack’s personality live on in his children,
09:21
more than they know.
09:22
“My dad, he’s not with us anymore.
09:25
He’s not alive, but he’s with us.”
09:28
In Kevin, we recognize Jack’s tendency to repress his feelings
09:31
and numb himself.
09:33
We could even draw a parallel between
09:34
the slow reveal of Jack’s past
09:37
and not knowing that Kevin has an ex-wife
09:39
until late in the first season.
09:41
Meanwhile, Randall has Jack’s generosity and dedication to family,
09:45
“His vice is his goodness.
09:49
It’s his compulsive drive to be perfect.”
09:52
We see this when he takes in his biological father
09:55
and later decides to foster a child.
09:57
Kate was Jack’s favorite, so she’s defined by
09:59
her special bond with him,
10:01
her determination to be worthy of his faith in her,
10:04
and the guilt she feels over his death.
10:06
“It’s my fault.”
10:08
The Big Three’s hallucinations or dreams about Jack
10:11
tell us that a parent figure is still ever-present
10:14
in his kid’s lives after he’s gone.
10:17
In Jack we see the impact an inspirational paternal figure
10:20
can have on our lives.
10:22
And only a superman like Jack could make fatherhood look so easy.
10:26
“All I ever wanted to do with my life was
10:28
be half the dad he was.”
10:30
I’m Debra.
10:32
I’m Susannah.
10:33
We’re the creators of ScreenPrism.
10:35
If you like our videos, please subscribe.
10:38
Down there!

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