Why do people say ChiChi is uncaring?

[KameRule]

If I were a woman, I'd be bitchy if I lived with a guy with superpowers yet had to live in the wilderness and survive off of a radish farm.

[dbzfan7]

She's not uncaring, but she's kind of missing the big picture. Like what Gyt Kaliba said, she'd rather keep Gohan back and basically screw over the earth. I understand her concern, but Gohan has to help out so he can protect the people and the future he and Chi Chi want to make happen.

[MediaFanGirl93]

She's not uncaring, but she's kind of missing the big picture. Like what Gyt Kaliba said, she'd rather keep Gohan back and basically screw over the earth. I understand her concern, but Gohan has to help out so he can protect the people and the future he and Chi Chi want to make happen.

I completely agree with this. "Irrational" may be the word you're looking for. However, in fairness to Chi-Chi, that whole scene is played for laughs (even though it's not a funny joke).

[Cursed Lemon]

Chi Chi isn't uncaring. She's just marginally psychotic.

[ABED]

I do think Gohan's desire to be a scholar was foisted on him by his mother. He's not resistant to it, but that doesn't strike me as something a child would choose, especially at four.

Eire, there's probably truth to those reasons, but it doesn't make it much better. She still doesn't make important decisions like marriage on how she feels as much as how she thinks she's supposed to.

If I were a woman, I'd be bitchy if I lived with a guy with superpowers yet had to live in the wilderness and survive off of a radish farm.

But does it make sense to be bitchy to someone like that if you married them knowing that? BTW, they didn't survive off of a radish farm. They lived off of what Goku hunted and Gyumao's fortune.

[Twinbee_Mk_II]

For me, I think what explains Chichi's character best is the Cell arc. When you watch it, you realize that, even with all her yelling and screaming about this and that, she lets Gohan go off to do these things in the end. Cell arc is the best example, as she knows they have to go off to fight like this. She doesn't like it but she knows it has to be done. Cause of that, I view her flip outs as just her way of copping. She's a woman who lives more by her emotions than her brain, and that leads to her being very flighty as we see. The Buu arc is another example. The threat is over, and she instantly lets up on Gohan as a result. Goten and the loss of her husband only push the point home more. Laugh as we may at Chichi's reaction to SSJ, to her she sees it as a sign of all that fighting that took her family away from her for so long, so it's only natural that she'd not want Goten using it (even if it's also meant for the obvious delinquent gag). I used to very much dislike Chichi, but my recent watch through of the entire series has given me a new outlook on her. She's just a housewife who wants her perfect life, and if she has to deal with world destroying monsters to get there, so be it. I think what could have helped though is seeing more of Chichi during down time or quiet moments. We don't get to see much of that in DB, so we see little of calm "normal" Chichi in DB. In the end she's just a woman trying to keep a hold of what little life she's managed to make for her and hers, and damned if anything is gonna take that away from her.

[DarkPrince_92]

She wants the best for Gohan. Hit the books, get into a good school, get a job, live a better life than her and her bumass husband. This is what mothers do. She feels its inappropriate for a child to take on that much responsibility. Which is true. I wouldn't my kid to get drafted into the army at age 5, would you? I don't care how strong he might seem.

I don't hate on Chi-chi like I used to. Same reason I don't hate the wife from Breaking Bad, she's only doing what a normal person would do. There's nothing wrong with how Chi-chi handles things.

[ABED]

She wants the best for Gohan. Hit the books, get into a good school, get a job, live a better life than her and her bumass husband. This is what mothers do. She feels its inappropriate for a child to take on that much responsibility. Which is true. I wouldn't my kid to get drafted into the army at age 5, would you? I don't care how strong he might seem.I don't hate on Chi-chi like I used to. Same reason I don't hate the wife from Breaking Bad, she's only doing what a normal person would do. There's nothing wrong with how Chi-chi handles things.

Not all mothers do that and it's not up to her to decide what constitutes a good life or better life for Gohan. It's good that she wants for him to be educated but there is a limit, and there's something to be said for having fun and free time as a child. It's not ideal that Gohan takes on that much responsibility at such a young age, but this isn't like a child being drafted. Gohan is a fighter that can actually change the outcome of a battle of that magnitude. The situation sucks but the blame should be on the invading Saiyans, not Goku, nor Piccolo.

Chichi and Skylar are completely different. While I certainly don't think Skylar's actions are in any way worse than Walter's, she does some heinous stuff.

[DarkPrince_92]

Not all mothers do that and it's not up to her to decide what constitutes a good life or better life for Gohan. It's good that she wants for him to be educated but there is a limit, and there's something to be said for having fun and free time as a child. It's not ideal that Gohan takes on that much responsibility at such a young age, but this isn't like a child being drafted. Gohan is a fighter that can actually change the outcome of a battle of that magnitude. The situation sucks but the blame should be on the invading Saiyans, not Goku, nor Piccolo.

I generalized the typical mother in the household mentality, they obviously aren't all like that. And why wouldn't one take their mothers advice, considering they have more life experience than a child. She want's Gohan to have options later in life, and a good education is typically the first step. He was a sheltered boy, but he lives in the middle of nowhere, so it's not like he has much choice. She did try to get him into schools. Gohan is smart enough to make choices, and can rebel against his mother if he feels differently. I mean... he managed to go to Namek against his mother's will at age 5. If he wanted to do something different he would have.

Anyway, I wasn't really saying Gohan being involved the fights is the exact same as being drafted, but not far off. And you're right Gohan's power comes in handy for the team, but even if Saiyans are invading the Earth, why is it his duty to take them on? And I know, it's either people fight, or it's the end of Earth. Not that he didn't hold his own out there, but he really shouldn't be out there. I don't really blame anyone per say, what has to get done, has to get done.

If anything, it built Gohan's character.

[Ashelia]

I don't see Chi Chi as uncaring in any way as she clearly cares about her family or even as a bitchy. We just don't get to see a lot of downtime with her where she's calm we just get skewed extreme snapshots, this happens with nearly everyone. I'm sure anyone's mother would look less than stellar if they were mainly captured at their most emotional and dire moments.

Yes Chi Chi was not exactly smart for marrying Goku, Gyumoa failed horribly here as Chi Chi seems to think she can change Goku but this lack of forethought and yelling doesn't diminish her love. For two people who barely understood the concept of marriage, they did pretty good I say. One son is a scholar and the other is...uh...a playboy? Gigolo? Layabout? What does Goten do? I don't know. Either way there's clearly love and best interests at heart when it comes to Chi Chi, not just "Fuck off its my way or the highway".

If I were a woman, I'd be bitchy if I lived with a guy with superpowers yet had to live in the wilderness and survive off of a radish farm.

Lol as much as I agree with this if I had such a husband I kind of feel that Chi Chi's irradiation is based in truly thinking Goku is capable of being a bit more conventional but to her he just refuses to get it. At some point I think she learns that Goku isn't being a uncaring wild dumbass on purpose (though some may disagree) and does accept that she can't change him nor should she.

[ABED]

And why wouldn't one take their mothers advice, considering they have more life experience than a child. She want's Gohan to have options later in life, and a good education is typically the first step. He was a sheltered boy, but he lives in the middle of nowhere, so it's not like he has much choice. She did try to get him into schools. Gohan is smart enough to make choices, and can rebel against his mother if he feels differently. I mean... he managed to go to Namek against his mother's will at age 5. If he wanted to do something different he would have.

Anyway, I wasn't really saying Gohan being involved the fights is the exact same as being drafted, but not far off. And you're right Gohan's power comes in handy for the team, but even if Saiyans are invading the Earth, why is it his duty to take them on? And I know, it's either people fight, or it's the end of Earth. Not that he didn't hold his own out there, but he really shouldn't be out there. I don't really blame anyone per say, what has to get done, has to get done.

If anything, it built Gohan's character.

She didn't give him advice, she told him what to do. Since he's in the middle of nowhere, it would've been a better idea to give him both an education and not shelter him from the wilderness.

I didn't mean to imply that it was Gohan's duty to take them on. It's not, especially that young, but since the choice is fight or die, he should bite the bullet.

[MediaFanGirl93]

I think the problem most fans have with Chi-Chi is how she loves to priorities Gohan's education above the existence of the entire planet. Granted Chi-Chi's concerns are valid, but she needs to know that no earth means no education for little Gohan. It doesn't help that the anime made her a lot annoying with all her yelling and harping. Now to say Chi-Chi is uncaring is extremely unfair.

I don't hate on Chi-chi like I used to.

Ditto.

[ulisa]

I would call ChiChi many things but uncaring isn't one of them. She's my least favorite character but I don't hate her, at least not as much as I used to. If anything, I'd say ChiChi cares too much to the point that she becomes overbearing and smothering.

She wants to protect her child. I can understand that. I don't think anyone can fault her for that but she is so overprotective that it ends up being counterproductive. I remember when I saw the Saiyan saga for the first time, I was baffled as to why Gohan, despite living in the mountains, knew nothing about surviving in them. ChiChi has so much focus on the academics that she neglects the other (and arguably) more important lessons. "A child educated only at school is an uneducated child."

I also have to agree that it feels like Gohan's "I want to be a scholar" mindset was more his mother's desire than his own. It sounds rehearsed every time he says it and Gohan genuinely seems to enjoy the sparring and protecting others. Personally, I would have liked to see Gohan mix the two as an adult, perhaps by researching and studying different forms of utilizing ki and teaching others how to use it, maybe as some kind of martial arts teacher. I feel THAT would have made a lot more sense than how he ended up being written.

Honestly, my main problem with ChiChi is that she didn't even give Gohan a chance to explore other options. If he showed interest in anything besides studying, she shot it down. Gohan wants to please his parents. After having an interest shot down so many times, a kid is going to stop asking. Gohan even seems afraid of her to the point that he doesn't want to involve her in certain aspects of his life and to me, that says a lot. Personally, I always saw Gohan more attached to his father than to his mother.

I will agree that ChiChi's priorities are very out of whack. She doesn't seem like she comprehends the reality she lives in most of the time. I think she was more in love with the idea of being in love and with the "fairy tale happy ending" than with Goku. I think she got this idea in her head of what her life should be and so she is extremely protective of maintaining that ideal, even if it makes no sense logically. I think Goku's death in the Cell Games snapped her out of this "denial" phase, hence she seems to be more rational in the Buu arc.

So no, ChiChi isn't uncaring per say but she does have some pretty glaring personality issues that I can understand why she is disliked so much.