MovieChat Forums > The Cosby Show (1984) Discussion > Theo's new rebuttal to Cliff's statement...

Theo's new rebuttal to Cliff's statement: Millionaires with no college!

posted 9 years ago by stell1837
17 replies | jump to latest

We all know the classic series pilot in which Cliff told Theo the importance of doing well in school to enter college. Cliff then gave Theo an economic lesson using Monopoly money.

When Theo then suggested that he love him unconditionally because they are father and son, Cliff refuted that statement by stating that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life.

The series started in 1984 when things appeared to be more traditional and getting a college degree was very important. But it looks like about a dozen years later, it looks like college appeared to be less and less important with notable exceptions left and right about very successful people without college degrees.

I wonder what Cliff would have responded if Theo gave this argument instead supposing that the series started 30 years later in 2014:

Dad....there are a lot of self-made millionaires and billionaires who do not have college degrees such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Ralph Lauren, Ted Turner, Michael Dell, and Larry Ellison. So I'm confident that I'll do just fine and be financially successful just like these college dropouts.

[–] fspappa 9 years ago

College is the most overrated *beep* institution ever created!! It's not for everybody and what Cliff said to Theo was not only heart breaking but wrong. Cosby is a hyocrite and it shows that trade school and other options are better than college. If I could do it over again, I skip college and go to trade school or work for the government which will give on the job training. There is also joining the services. College gives you coarses that you never need in life and never guarantee you success. To everybody thinking about college, look at the other options I mentioned before you waste $1,000s of dollars on college.

[–] AmyJolamb 9 years ago

The world today has changed a lot since the early 80s. I never would have thought I'd think it was ok if one of my kids didn't go. But I am.

I mean today we have many people with actual successful home businesses.

[–] womenofbocc 9 years ago

Mark Zuckerberg was IN COLLEGE when he came up with Facebook.

[–] marriagesux 9 years ago

I went to a trade school and worked on a skill!!!! Something I can use everyday! I wish for my son to go Trade school instead of college. College is a huge waste of money. imo

[–] AmyJolamb 9 years ago

My oldest is 19 and wanting to major in psychology. I dread to think of the cost. We can't afford it. So far though she is at a local tech school majoring in early childhood education since she wants to work with kids. We've been lucky with grants and scholarships so far. But she knows we can't afford to pay for college. She knows it is up to her.

My sister is 37 and still paying off her college loans. I never went to college. My husband went in the early 80s. He's about 10yrs older than I am. So he didn't have many loans at all. Yet I hear the horror stories from others. One close friend is almost 50 and still paying her loans!!!!
My daughter is aware of this and yet I'm worried this will happen to her too.

[–] R_Kane (15828) 3 years ago

But how can you have that opinion without, you know, NEVER HAVE EXPERIENCED going to college?

You can’t.

[–] marktayloruk 8 years ago

You should love your loved ones unconditionally-it's natural.

[–] lferrigon-1 7 years ago

College is not for everyone. I know that first hand. A for loving your loved ones unconditionally, I agree.

[–] IcingOnTheCake 7 years ago

There are successful people who haven't attended college. There were even prior to this program. It though doesn't hurt to attend. Most parents want their children to attend, if possible. It doesn't hurt to have a college degree to fall back on if something else doesn't work out.

[–] Navaros 7 years ago

It though doesn't hurt to attend.

That's highly debatable. It can be a waste of several years worth of time and energy and tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars (most of which the student takes on as debt that will take decades to pay off in a best-case scenario).

All of that is true now more than ever, as we live in a time where First World countries are regressing into Third World countries that have no good jobs in them.

It doesn't hurt to have a college degree to fall back on if something else doesn't work out.

There are many more degree holders than there are jobs available (especially since 99%+ of corporations have out-sourced all of their jobs to sweatshops in Third World countries), which makes holding a degree meaningless for many people because it's not gonna do jack all to help them get a job.

And the huge debts they have despite their inability to pay them back certainly does hurt.

[–] IcingOnTheCake 7 years ago

Well I did add "if possible". Theo's parents could afford to send him. A college education could help to make more money. What do you believe Theo would have done if he didn't attend college. What job(s) do you believe he would have done?

[–] Navaros 7 years ago

"if possible"

But it is "possible" for everyone to go because the government provides them with loans regardless of their inability ever to pay those loans back. "Possible," however, does not equate to "it's a good idea."

Theo's parents could afford to send him

Sure, but Theo's parents are wealthy, which is very atypical. Most people do not have wealthy parents and therefore have to take on debt to attend college.

What job(s) do you believe he would have done?

Anything. The class status of one's parents, not one's education, is, always has been, and always will remain the single biggest factor in what class status one obtains. Theo could easily have been handed an upper-class job through nepotism-based connections via either of his parents. Alternatively, he could have simply did nothing and lived off of his parents' extremely high incomes.

[–] IcingOnTheCake 7 years ago

I believe everyone should attend if they have the chance, funds, and time. Another career might not work out but it helps to find work if you have a degree. the degree doesn't have to be in any specific field. I know a man with a degree in anthropology who has made a career as a business exec as head of sales for a company. I know a woman who just recently obtained her Master's degree and because of that received quite a break on her auto insurance. Companies see it as a commitment and patience.

Right, Theo's parents could afford to send him.

Not anything. I asked which you believe he would have had. Theo wasn't exactly focused prior to college. I'm guessing he would have had a few jobs, maybe one of them like Denise had after she left college. I don't believe his parents would have allowed him to mooch off of them.
College helped Theo. He could have left early and taken the job with that food company but he didn't.

A college education isn't a bad thing. It can be costly but perhaps worth it to most afterwards, especially those who want careers which require college degrees. One could go later or even a little at a time. No everyone becomes wealthy just for getting their picture taken or whatever. Some people have to actually work. The type of job and the amount of income desired can be the determining factor if someone does have the chance to attend college.

[–] Navaros 7 years ago

That scene is terrible. cliff telling Theo that he doesn't love him because he is his son and that that is the stupidest thing he has ever heard is IMO a freudian slip on cosby's part: he is showing the viewer that he doesn't care about anyone unless he wants to slip them quaaludes and then have his way with them.

[–] marktayloruk (2428) 3 years ago

What I'd like to see is the child of a successful family deliberately refusing to go to college and taking an ordinary job Film /programme would end with successful workaholic parent or older sibling leaving work late at night and finding "unsuccessful " one having a cheerful time with friends.

[–] liscarkat (17177) 7 months ago

My grandfather quit school after eighth grade, learned a skilled trade, started his own business, and ended up the only rich person in my family. He was interested in art, history, and geology, and educated himself by reading books. He could lead a conversation on just about any topic. A college degree wouldn't have made him any more successful, or any more educated.

As Henry Fielding said,

"It is as possible for a man to know something without having been at school, as it is to have been at school and to know nothing."