What the hell was wrong with those parents?!!!

I wasn't allowed to "date" or even go in cars with boys. The only exception was a boy in the neighborhood was allowed to drive me to school but that wasn't until I was 17. I could go to a dance but I had a strict curfew of 10-11 and my dad admitted to following me there to make sure I went there. I had a boyfriend from 16-19 but I had to lie and sneak around. When they found out, all hell broke lose. They took the landline phone and Internet modem to work with them so I couldn't use it or contact him. I would use the Internet at the library and found ways around it.

The thing is - my parents were not and are not religious freaks. This is just how some parents are with girls. And when they aren't that way, if something happens to the girls, society says "well why weren't they keeping a better eye on them? Why were the girls allowed to be out that late? I'd never let me daughter leave the house dressed like that."

I think the religious aspect of this could be wiped away completely, because what is shocking is not that the daughters were isolated and protected in this way... No... The shock is that it isn't actually that shocking for girls to be treated this way. It isn't the parents alone, it's society as a whole that treated the girls like they didn't deserve free will, they cut down their tree, they controlled their movements, took their records, and when they got a taste of freedom, they were abandoned on a football field.

I think it's more about the Holy Madonna vs the Slut narrative then the parents

Parenting is seriuos business. Sadly because any shmuch is allowed to have children, most people have to live horrible childhoods as their incompetent parents try to ruin their lives as best they can. Behaviuor like the parents in this movie is surprisingly common.

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Applied Science? All science is applied. Eventually.

Yes, the parent's were unrealistic and infantilizing the girls, trying to keep them frozen in a pre-pubescent state. The mother seemed to have some strange sadistic pleasure from burning Lux's records. The book goes into far more symbolism and metaphors, this film only lightly touched on them.

The parents were the source of all the girls' anguish. Seriously: Tossing "Hotter Than Hell" into the fire? At least she spared "Rocks."

I can't begin to speculate on the reasons for the parents' horribleness, but this is one seriously messed-up family.

Both parents were awful parents when it came down to it; but the mom was the worse one of the two.

The Dad ultimately when it came down to it tried very hard to help them and had good intentions (ex: the party and the dance,) but he just wasn't man enough to handle his role and maintain the family. He had a hard time communicating with them and everyone else and I think deep down he was a little crazy too himself. For one he had the vision of the fence when he went into Cecila's room. Then later on once they locked the girls up he was just chatting with plants like they could talk. It made him look loony and then he just ignored his boss about keeping them out of school. He got himself fired and it didn't even bother him.

The mom ultimately was the problem here. Everything post homecoming is all her fault. Ceclia's death wasn't her's but the other daughters death's she had a huge role in incluencing. She went full on loon and just became all evil. First was the records which was just childish and a way to get back at Lux. Then came keeping the girls out of school knowing it would hurt her hubby's job; she just didn't care she wanted to humiliate them. She used being religous as an excuse to be a dictator; but when it all came down to it she wanted to put her will on the whole house. Because the Mr was such a pushover she had to take total control; she went WAY too far with it. She was still in denial after their deaths. She couldn't get over the fact that they killed theirselves due to her. "We gave them all the love," yeah right..

But they did let them date that one disasterous time to the prom. I think taking them out of school and confining them to the house was much more harsh. Lots of families forbid or restrict dating to teens, but cutting off all social ties is insane. The parents were brainwashed by cult like beliefs.

They had no school girl friends either.