Fanons that I abso-to-the-lutely HATE is when people say that Gerald doesn’t love Sheila or Kyle, or that he’s a terrible husband and father.
Look, I will say he was a pretty shitty husband/father in S20, but I think a lot of people ignore that's presented as an aberration (and yes, it's a very bad one, but like... look at Sheila as well) in his behaviour, rather than the norm (compared to Randy, who is consistently presented as a hedonistic manchild, Stephen, who's consistently presented as a cheating closet case, and Stuart, who's consistently presented in a deeply violent and volatile relationship). For the last decade, Gerald's been essentially the slightly quirky/pretentious and decent dad he was pre-S20 (and in fact Help my Teenager Hates me remains imo one of the most wholesome episodes... and it revolves heavily around Gerald and Kyle's relationship!) and yet people treat that as his baseline and not one of his worst moments.
Additionally, saying he doesn't love his family is such a wild accusation, because the thing he was scared of most in S20 was, in fact, losing his family. He was very specifically concerned about Sheila finding out and leaving him/losing his family, and his primary fear was about being alone, rather than necessarily any broader political issues/concerns strictly about appearances.
That being said, it's also worth remembering that this show is an absurdist satire, not a grounded drama. Stan's caused natural disasters. Kyle goaded Garrison into nuking Toronto. Ultimately imo, Gerald is a pretentious dick who thinks he's better than everyone else, but he is a pretentious dick who loves his family.
He was also willing to give up his PC and switch to a Mac in order to save his son's life. That alone makes him one of the best parents in South Park. /hj
