In Defense of Becky Conner
Okay, so âspoiled bratâ is the most common term used to describe her and, firstly, I must say I really donât understand where the âspoiledâ part comes from at all because what did she ever get, want or demand that the other two kids didnât get or want at some point as well? Only THREE instances of her really acting spoiled come to mind.
1. Her dress for the dance that she pouted over not getting and she apologized almost immediately (that same day) for that and told her mom she didnât have to buy her a dress at all and that sheâd just use a dress she already had. Roseanne did end up getting her the dress but Becky did not expect it and she agreed to do everything her mom asked of her for 6 months.
2. She got designer jeans once, when Darlene and DJ also got presents from a tax return, which she was also very grateful for.
3. She got her momâs old car, that was later passed down to Darlene (Darlene didnât get anything the time Becky got Roseanneâs old car but she ended up getting that car later anyway). Becky also worked to help pay for a new car (Which I donât remember if she ever actually got).
There were other small instances of wanting one thing over another or âOh, God not meatloaf.â lol but she never actually made Roseanne give in to her demands (except in No Talking) and usually got over it quickly. So I donât fully understand where âspoiledâ even comes from? Donât spoiled kids actually get the the things they express they want? I donât think wanting something makes one âspoiledâ. Spoiled is when you are so used to getting your way and the things you want that you expect nothing else.
For the brat part, I think people are really hard on Becky. They always focus only on her remarks to Dan after he loses the bike shop and the whole No Talking episode as defining moments of her character when, in reality, these were her at her most extreme (instances few and far between). They also tend to completely overlook the fact that she also did a LOT for her family without expecting anything in return, sure, she grumbled about it the whole way but she DID it. She ran errands for her mom constantly, did all her chores, babysat, offered to help Darlene with her homework and boy troubles. Yes, she was bratty and moody sometimes, but it was nothing outside of the realm of the average teenage girl. Most of the time she was well behaved, did exceedingly well in school and got NO recognition for it. A fact they acknowledge in Stressed To Kill, where Roseanne wants to go all out and have a party for Darlene getting a B on her history paper (a paper Becky wrote for her). While Becky gets A papers routinely and no one makes a big deal out of it because itâs just whatâs expected of her. And when she finally is offered a reward for her doing well, what does she ask for? Nothing selfish, nothing expensive, she just wants to be allowed to invite Mark to share Thanksgiving dinner with her family.
Now, I admit, her blow up at Dan after losing his business was out of line because he was hurting too and their family was in peril but I do understand her being extremely upset about working so hard in school and then not even getting a heads up that she wouldnât be able to go to college. Why they never actually told her that her college fund was gone is beyond me because they do make it sound like she had one at some point and it probably wouldâve been good to have a talk with her about it before she starting filling out college applications and on top on that, her boyfriend loses his job because of it.(which I think was more or less the straw that broke the camels back)
She wasnât upset because âBoo hoo he doesnât have money to take me outâ she was upset because the loss of his job meant heâd need to leave town to find work and sheâd never see him again. This wasnât some flash in the pan high school romance, this is the guy she ended up marrying and she went with him because she didnât want to hold him back from a good job opportunity and she didnât want to be a burden to her struggling parents anymore (doesnât sound very spoiled or selfish to me). She even says when she comes back that she thought she was doing them a favor by leaving because she felt like she was âjust another mouth to feedâ.
I think the real problem with Beckyâs character though is that we just never got to know her as well as we did Darlene or even DJ, toward the end (interacting with others outside of their family life). I wish we did get to see a better look at Becky and Markâs relationship before they eloped, like we did with Darlene and David, because I feel like a lot of people underestimate how much those two meant to each other because we rarely got to see them interact alone, as a couple. Unless they were fighting and we only saw that because thatâs when Roseanne wants to get involved.
Itâs easy to label Becky as the âbratty daughterâ based on the 3 or 4 episodes that are keen on showcasing that aspect of her character but there was a lot more to her than that which is, for whatever reason, rarely acknowledged. Imo, there are actually more episodes of Darlene being unreasonable, unhelpful and outright bitchy than Becky but those episodes are balanced by others where she is not. Whereas Becky never got that balancing out. I donât know if it was because Lecy left the show for a while or if they actually wanted to pigeonhole Becky as the âbratty oneâ but it always struck me as very unfair that this is the opinion that most people have of her as a character.
