Arrested Development and Philosophy_ They've Made a Huge Mistake - Kristopher G. Phillips [23]
Gob’s brush with matrimony is likewise rife with bad faith. We can see this in two aspects of his marriage to the “Bride of Gob,” played by Amy Poehler (the character, although appearing in several episodes, is never named other than Gob’s misguided attempt to remember her name, when prompted by Michael). First, there’s Gob’s continuing insistence that the marriage was consummated, in spite of his inability to remember the event. Then there’s the fact that Gob briefly slips into the role of the ideal husband, or at least of the long-suffering husband.
One of Gob’s previous romantic encounters led to another instance of bad faith. We are not told much about his relationship with Eve Holt beyond the fact that it resulted in Steve Holt (!). Gob’s relation to Steve involves bad faith in two ways. First, there are Gob’s various attempts to deny that Steve is, in fact, his son. In a confrontation with Michael, Gob even denies the validity of DNA tests:
Gob: Hey, can you do me a favor? A young neighborhood tough by the name of Steve Holt will be dropping by, and . . .
Michael: Your son?
Gob: According to him.
Michael: And a DNA test.
Gob: I hear the jury’s still out on science. [“Notapusy”]
Accepting one’s freedom also means accepting the consequences of one’s choices. Gob goes to extremes to deny this particular consequence, however. At one point he goes so far as to dose himself with a Forget-Me-Now (“Forget-Me-Now”).
On the other hand, when Gob does acknowledge Steve as his son, he goes to the other extreme, once again trying to play a role for which he’s unsuited. Like many parents, Gob decides he won’t make the same mistakes his parents did. So, instead of mimicking the absentee parenting of his father, Gob attempts to mimic the parenting style of Ward Cleaver. For instance, in “Making a Stand” Gob opens a banana stand with the help of Steve Holt (!). By including Steve, he’s trying to avoid being the neglectful father that George Sr. was. The trouble is that Gob isn’t Ward Cleaver. He’s an adult in name only.
The examples we’ve considered so far all seem to point to the conclusion that bad faith is, well, bad. But if we look at some of the times when Gob is happiest, or making others happiest, he’s living in bad faith then as well. The example that springs to mind is when Gob plays catch with his father in the prison yard. Gob knows full well that he is not that kind of son, nor is George Sr. that kind of father. Nevertheless, they both have their fun—until Gob gets stabbed by White Power Bill (“Key Decisions”).
Be Yourself, Gob
Although bad faith generally seems to work out for Gob, there’s a reason Sartre labels it “bad” faith. Gob seems happiest when living a lie, but his happiness doesn’t make the lie any more honest. Further, given the number of bad faith scenarios we’ve outlined, it would seem difficult not to live in bad faith. Indeed, it is. Sartre acknowledges as much. He says, “If bad faith is possible, it is because it is an immediate, permanent threat to every project of the human being.”6 In everything we do, there is always the risk of bad faith. It is a constant temptation to simply play our role in life. Consciously trying not to be in bad faith can itself be a form of bad faith. Sartre calls this form of bad faith “sincerity.” If we tell Gob that instead of living in bad faith he should be sincere or just be himself, Sartre will laugh at us in a mocking, French way.
Recall the definition of bad faith: treating a thing that is for-itself as a thing that is in-itself.