Was Bobby Self-Centered, Naive Or Both?

[Billy Wall]

Watching the first season episodes of when JR "kinda" frames Cliff for the murder of July Gray and Pam leaves. Pam, for obvious reasons, says that she can't fathom sitting across from JR. Bobby doesn't understand and tells her she should come back after giving some "you knew I was a Ewing when we married and I'll be a Ewing until the day I die" speech. As if Pam is supposed to forget what his brother did to her brother.

Then there was the time when Jenna returned (the first time). Newly married Bobby is spending an awful lot of time with his ex. And then he gets mad at Pam for getting upset about it. At the end of the episode, he tells Pam that he made a DECISION between her and Jenna. WHAT?!?! A decision between your WIFE and ex? I would think most women would not have taken kindly to hearing that.

I'm sure there's other examples, but particularly in the early seasons, Bobby could be very self-centered. Even Sue Ellen in a roundabout way called Bobby self-centered to his face. Or maybe it's just me, do you think Bobby was naive, self-centered or both?

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

When you've been the company pimp for years, it messes a boy up. And if you add Pam's honkers into the mix, what was he really to do??

 

[Seaviewer]

I'd say both. He could often be self-centred but was too naive to realise it.

 

[CeeCee72]

I'd say self-centered and self-righteous.

He was the favorite son and horrible spoiled. Bobby thought the world revolved around him. He treated both Pam and Jenna horribly through the years. He was a bad husband, because he always put his needs first (not to mention there were multiple times when he was less than honest about his own actions and feelings).

 

[Barbara Fan]

Bobby 1st time round was dream boy
Now im Older and wiser he was self righteous, rather annoying and hot headed and used his fists a bit too much

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

I dunno. Pam kept running off whenever the Ewings turned out to be Ewings (and were pretty mild, JR included, compared to the real rich) and then she eventually ran off with the baby he'd just bought in order to keep her off rooftops.

And Jenna kept running off and/or getting herself kidnapped every time she was about to marry him.

So I'm not sure the ladies deserved that much better treatment from Bobby than they got.

 

[Taylor Bennett Jr.]

I dunno. Pam kept running off whenever the Ewings turned out to be Ewings (and were pretty mild, JR included, compared to the real rich) and then she eventually ran off with the baby he'd just bought in order to keep her off rooftops.

And Jenna kept running off and/or getting herself kidnapped every time she was about to marry him.

So I'm not sure the ladies deserved that much better treatment from Bobby than they got.

I thought he was pretty awful in the Morgan Fairchild episode.. but in his defense (minus the horrible communication with Pam and “hanging out with Jenna is my business, not yours” entitlement) he thought Charlie was his daughter.. although why wasn’t that on his mind all along?

Otherwise, I agree.. I felt like the writers went overboard with the “a couple can only be on good terms for a handful of episodes at best” approach, and they almost always had Bobby’s partner be the flaky one.. kind of a cheap way to create drama.

 

[Chris2]

I’m gonna tell Bobby about this thread and how you’re piling on. And he‘s gonna take you all apart.

I think the worst think Bobby did was toy with Jenna’s feelings. Pam did the same thing with the Pornstache, but he was pursuing her, and he would have had his millions to keep him warm after Pam inevitably dumped him, if he hadn’t died first.

But Jenna was resisting Bobby at first and she was poor by Dallas standards, so getting dumped sucked more for her. Plus Bobby dumped her after he was already engaged to another woman, so that was low class. Miss Manners would not have approved.

 

[Taylor Bennett Jr.]

I’m gonna tell Bobby about this thread and how you’re piling on. And he‘s gonna take you all apart.

the thing is… did he ever actually take someone apart? He handed out some quick impulsive pummelings here and there, but I don’t recall any threat-following full-on takeaparts…

 

[Pandora]

I’m gonna tell Bobby about this thread and how you’re piling on. And he‘s gonna take you all apart.

I think the worst think Bobby did was toy with Jenna’s feelings. Pam did the same thing with the Pornstache, but he was pursuing her, and he would have had his millions to keep him warm after Pam inevitably dumped him, if he hadn’t died first.

But Jenna was resisting Bobby at first and she was poor by Dallas standards, so getting dumped sucked more for her. Plus Bobby dumped her after he was already engaged to another woman, so that was low class. Miss Manners would not have approved.

He could have gotten unengaged prior to sleeping with and getting engaged to Pam. But not Bobby.

 

[Bobby Southworth]

Bobby was both. At least he was likable in the earlier seasons, though, in spite of these flaws. Later he kept the self-centered, but lost the naive.. I guess that's kind of natural progression, but one would also hope becoming less self centered would be as well.

 

[Jock Ewing Fan]

It is a little complicated. In general, Bobby tried to do what was right. He knew what Jock and JR were doing, and sometimes he disagreed.
I think he let Pam get away with far too much - Pam was far more self-centered than Bobby.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

A lot of Pam's neurotic, ambivalent self-centeredness came from that she was also the most inconsistent of the major characters -- she had to be the catalyst for a lot of the things the writers wanted to do, so her motives and reactions could flip in a way the viewer might be less likely to accept from the other characters.

Somehow, that mostly worked because Pam was "the outsider" in the family.

 

[Pandora]

Bobby was both. At least he was likable in the earlier seasons, though, in spite of these flaws. Later he kept the self-centered, but lost the naive.. I guess that's kind of natural progression, but one would also hope becoming less self centered would be as well.

Well I believe Bobby was Miss Ellie's golden boy. He still maintained his naivety regarding Jenna .... he seemed completely unable to comprehend that she would not want him around after he dumped her.

 

[Billy Wall]

Another example was in the episode "Election." Granted, the Ewing's was perfectly in their right to use Cliff's past to sabotage his senate bid. But for Bobby to act so damn cavalier by saying "it's politics" is extremely hypocritical coming from him because we know he would have lost his mind if Cliff did something like that against one of them. And if that wasn't bad enough, he goes over to Cliff's headquarters and virtually demand that Cliff forgive Pam. It almost felt like Bobby was low key gloating.

 

[Laurie Marr]

I was always under the impression that Bobby was Jock’s favourite, Gary was Ellie’s favourite, and JR was no-one’s favourite.

 

[CeeCee72]

I was always under the impression that Bobby was Jock’s favourite, Gary was Ellie’s favourite, and JR was no-one’s favourite.

No doubt. But after Gary left, Ellie switched her mother-smothering to Bobby.

 

[Pandora]

I was always under the impression that Bobby was Jock’s favourite, Gary was Ellie’s favourite, and JR was no-one’s favourite.

There is something dysfunctional about everyone's attitude towards JR. Every third episode it seems there's a screaming tantrum over something he did, yet they are all willing to keep living with him and off the money he brought in with his various shady dealings. There is lots of carrying on every time JR does something bad to Sue Ellen, yet Bobby's abandoning of a pregnant Jenna Wade still gets a Your wedding was beautiful from a glowing Miss Ellie.

 

[Billy Wall]

There is something dysfunctional about everyone's attitude towards JR. Every third episode it seems there's a screaming tantrum over something he did, yet they are all willing to keep living with him and off the money he brought in with his various shady dealings. There is lots of carrying on every time JR does something bad to Sue Ellen, yet Bobby's abandoning of a pregnant Jenna Wade still gets a Your wedding was beautiful from a glowing Miss Ellie.

I've said it before, the entire family, especially Bobby, enabled JR. JR was right in the thick of the Red File drama and partly responsible for Julie's death, but good old Bobby made damn sure Jeb and Willie Joe went down for it and covered for JR.

 

[lbf522]

First of all, it was delusional and naive of both Bobby and Pamela to believe that they could end the Barnes-Ewing feud by them being married. Jock cheating Digger and refusing to do right by him is the cause of the feud in the first place.