I was just curious about this. If it has been established that Jack is her biological dad, how come Mary doesn't call him Dad? I know that Michael and Peter are like her other dads and stuff, but I don't understand how that stops them from having her call Jack "Dad". He is involved in her life and such. And she could always call the other two "uncles" or even other versions of "father". Anybody have any ideas about this?
shareYeah. I mean technically she could call him dad. But... I'm not really sure about this--- I guess it might cause too much confussion, since Sylvia and Jack aren't married and Peter and Michael are living with them? Again... not really sure, but who knows?
~~AnniePottsFan
They could have arranged the movie in that way - have Mary call Jack her dad while the other two her uncles - but the one scene where Mary shows her teacher that drawing of her family wouldn't be funny. Confusion in movies is great.
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yeah i think the idea was she didnt love either of the men any more or less. they were all her dad so a level playing field between them and how she bonded with them so, and it would have been odd if she called them all dad. plus it was never a real issue as to who her real dad is so to call one dad would have confused her.
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Because it was written by 2 women, who apparently have little regard for men's roles in kid's live (LOL)...
the plot device was for the little girl to have "3" dads...
I noticed she did mention to her teacher that one of them was her biological father.
I don't think He told her.
He mentions she is the most perfect thing he ever did in his entire life.
She asked him what he means.
He said Someday i'll explain that to you, but right now i think you should go back to bed.
She loved all of the m equally so there was no kind of need to name one single one dad.
shareSpoiler
And he should have fought for custody of Mary, when he found out about edward's plan.
yeah but jack would have been the first to admit that he simply couldn't be the father that Mary needed. He loved her, completely but he knows that he simply isn't able to give mary what she needs.
And I think Mary thought of all three men equally, jack was only her biological father after all. The other two had brought her up just as much as he did, probably more in Peter's case
ya great gullah!!!!
And he should have fought for custody of Mary, when he found out about Edward's plan.
I guess the matter is open to interpretation. I always thought the writers was trying to show a different kind of family instead of the traditional family unit. I think around the time of the movie was made movies seemed to try to break boundaries outside of the traditional family. Also as you stated her father was always portrayed as not soo solid. Even in 3 men and the baby he was always uncertain what was best for Mary when Sylvia was leaving with her. Sure he loves her but he's more a bachelor and not a Family man like Selleck. Also, in some families, children do call their parents by their first name. I think in the instance with Jack. He is her father but he doesn't necessarily act as one so hes just Jack.
shareWell she refers to Jack as her biological Daddy, and to Peter and Michael as Honorary Daddy #1 & #2 which i thought was more appropriate given the circumstances of their domestic set up. I'm sure that is something that would have changed also had they made a third to reflect what would have been her older age.
shareI think girl didn't called Jack Dad, because the script were wrote the way, that little girl didn't get confused. From what I saw in the movie all 3 man loved her unconditionally, but only Peter acted like real father to her. Jack loved his daughter with no doubt, but he didn't act like Dad at all. Yes he was close to her and gave her kisses and presents, but we all can See he was more "uncle" to her than the father. Peter not just cared about girl, he was a man to whom girl came with serious talks, who was sick worried about her, and who tried do everything that girl didn't get hurt. If Jack would love the girl like father would, he would do everything possible or impossible to prevent this marriage or taking girl out of USA. But he just accepted what Sylvia told and this is it. From my opinion Jack was some kind of man-kid who surfing through life without worry about anything but fun. He also tried to prove he is a real actor and this was more important to him than good where been of his daughter.
shareBasically Sylvia and Jack seemed to really want to be good parents, but they both had the devotion to their careers that made them just a little too selfish to be the primary caregiver. Jack didn't even return from his movie shoot when the baby was left with him in the first movie, and Sylvia...well, she seemed to try hard, but she did leave Mary for a long time, and she was willing to uproot her entire life twice in five years (first movie and second).
shareThis always kind of bothered me. Yes, all the men play a huge role in her life and all love her equally but when it comes down do it Jack is the biological father. I don't even know if they mention it in this movie. Do they? Cause we all know this from part 1. It just seems weird. He should have a little more say, authority or somthing of some sort.
shareTo answer your question...Mary knows in the second movie that Jack is her biological daddy because she mentions it to a teacher; however, she doesn't necessarily understand completely the connotation of that. I do agree he should have more say in her life, but he has always been about running away from any kind of responsibility. In fact, in the second movie, he admits that to Peter, saying that Peter was the "poppa bear" more than he was.
shareOnly in the movies. When I first saw it, I had to rewind when Mary called Jack "Jack" instead of dad. The other two men could have been called "Uncle". It was dumb- Ted Danson's character was the real father- wouldn't he want to be called "Dad"???
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