One thing I will say about cPhil’s characterisation is that it’s super emblematic of something that doesn’t get shown in media very often, especially not critically, which is the idea that someone can have the best of intentions (and even previously have had a good and formative impact on you) and still be flawed and not a good person to be around or take advice from later in life.
I wouldn’t go so far as to call cPhil abusive, but he has definitely been a bad father and a harmful presence to the people under his care (most specifically to cWilbur and cTommy).
He’s also super removed from the reality someone like cTommy lives in every day.
Due to various circumstances, like his immortality/godlike status, his wealth, and his general - at this point wilful - ignorance, he can quite literally afford to be aloof or judgemental of other people’s moral choices because he himself has never been put in the same position with the same stakes, and he is not sufficiently self motivated or self aware enough to practise the empathy it takes to truly put yourself in another person’s shoes and see it from their perspective.
Empathy and compassion are skills, they are not inherent, they are something that you are taught and that you practise. Having good intentions and wanting to make someone feel better is not the same as having empathy and compassion, and compassion in particular is a trait that cPhil notably lacks/does not practise outwardly.
cPhil is an incredibly interesting (and accurate!) portrayal of both unexamined privilege and toxic mentorship/parenting and I really hope that that will be explored in more depth in canon as we go on.
