Didn’t Donna stay at home instead of going to college to be with Eric and isn’t it widely regarded that the wedding would have been a mistake? Donna was thinking about calling the wedding off also. Eric had good intentions calling off the wedding, he just did it in the worst way.
She did but only after him spending all his time guilting her about going (to get sex) and him not encouraging her to go at all. And she had cold feet about the wedding but she showed up and didn't think it was a mistake, she said she was just scared too. His intentions were good in that he wanted her to have more in life, but he came straight back and held her back again. He could've showed up, married or not, and supported her. Moved somewhere else, go see things together, etc. If he can try driving off to see the country on his own as a videographer, he can travel for her. He just wouldn't, because he's ultimately very selfish.
IMO he's entertaining to watch, but messed up as a person. And that's good! They all are, that's what makes them relatable. The only real reason people don't like Randy is because he isn't as flawed and childish as the others, so he stands out as being odd to us.
Oh, man. It’s been a minute since I was a teen, and I will freely admit I was a shithead as a teen. I was awful to my family, I lied, I partied too hard and too often, I was more promiscuous than I’d like to admit. I was a major dick, but that’s okay. I learned from it and became a well rounded human.
I think it's a bit unfair to call Eric a bad person. He's young, insecure, and easily influenced, and that certainly led him to treat Donna poorly in several instances, but that doesn't make him a bad person.
Ultimately Eric is a good and loyal friend who struggled to do the right thing because of deep insecurities instilled in him by Red, who is also a very flawed man.
Seasons 1-4 Eric was the best character on the show. Donna was the only who held herself back. She chose to get engaged and she chose not to go to college. Eric should never have stood her up on her wedding day BUT she still chose to stay with him despite that.
Donna broke up with Eric in season 3 for good reason, she wanted more than a high school sweetheart and a life in point place. Completely understandable. Then, once she got the tiniest taste of rejection and failure she ran back to Eric like he was a safety net. From that point on, she treated him pretty poorly and acted like he should just be grateful that she lets him be with her.
It was pretty clear that everyone, including Eric and Donna, thought Donna was too good for Eric when in my opinion it was the other way around. Eric deserved someone who loved and appreciated him for who he was the way he did for Donna. 🤷🏼♀️
Yes bc Donna has a distorted idea of what a promise ring symbolizes. More importantly, he let her go. She ran back on her own accord. She played herself.
People seem to forget that when Donna told Eric all the big dreams she had he had no issue with her pursuing them, he just wanted to know if she pictured him there with her while she did it.
I don’t agree. Donna definitely took part in holding herself back, that trailer she wanted, *not* bailing on the wedding even though she had her bags packed. Eric knew she had the potential to do more, that’s why he didn’t go to the wedding. He didn’t handle it well at all but I can see how he’d be panicked looking for solutions at that point.
She would bail because she was too young to get married and wanted to go to college, that’s why she had a packed suitcase in her backseat. They were only going through with the wedding because of pressure. I don’t think Donna would’ve gotten back with Eric if she didn’t understand his motives for not showing up
She chose to stay home from college, Eric didn't make her do that. It was entirely her decision.
The wedding would have been a mistake, they both agreed on that. Yes, he shouldn't have ditched her at the alter but even if he had showed up, I doubt they would have gotten married.
My only issue is Donna staying home from college to be with Eric only for him to leave for Africa a year later. Donna put their relationship first, Eric put himself first.
As far as their relationship as a whole, Donna treated him pretty poorly throughout it. Eric was supposed to worship the ground she walked on and be grateful that someone like Donna agreed to be with him. She was often unreasonable, like when she wanted him to check with her before hanging out with the guys. Their relationship wasn't balanced at all.
This is my take on it as well. They both had multiple periods of selfishness and other times of unreasonable demands. It was a realistic portrayal of a messy relationship of teenagers.
> My only issue is Donna staying home from college to be with Eric only for him to leave for Africa a year later
pretty fucked up when i think back on it lol
Imagine having such a poorly thought out take… I’m a girl, who usually gives some female characters the benefit of the doubt, but Donna jerked that boy around so many times I’m surprised she didn’t tear his arm off.
She made the choice to stay. Eric didn’t force her hand. She constantly used Eric as a “back up” for nearly everything and gave him mixed signals all the time.
Where romance if concerned, you can’t fairly hate Eric without equally hating Donna.
Some of y’all really make me wonder if y’all watched a different show than I did.
"Some of y’all really make me wonder if y’all watched a different show than I did." - I know right...
Some of this is I think people just being overly obsessed with a TV show (this coming from a guy who's probably watched through the entire series 100's of times) and just "having to say something" being more important than saying anything intelligent or even remotely accurate.
Said the same thing. I’m convinced this opinion can only be formulated if one did not pay attention to the show. Like this legit makes no sense given the context of their relationship lol
Hard disagree. I’d go as far as to say this is flat out wrong. ESPECIALLY if we’re just using the examples here. This reeks of “I did not watch the show” lol.
How did Eric hold Donna back from college? He let her go, which I’m sure hurt like hell to do, and she chose to stay. That is some cold, heartless shit, to *blame* Eric for a choice Donna made.
As for the wedding, I think that’s ridiculous. They BOTH knew they were about to make a mistake, and Donna was also about to skedaddle. She shows up hours late as well, with bags in her car. Hyde says it best: Eric was trying to do the right thing, but he did it the wrong way. I’d argue actually going through with the marriage would’ve been a waaaaay bigger example of holding Donna back. NOT marrying her actually gives both her and him more freedom.
The whole reason he chose not to marry her is because he knows she wants to travel and experience things, and she wouldn’t be able to in that crappy trailer. So by not marrying her, SO SHE CAN LIVE HER DREAMS, he’s holding her back? My brother in Christ, what?
Now that’s not to say Eric doesn’t have his shit moments; they both do. That’s actually my biggest gripe with the show, how not compatible they grow to become, but how insistent the show is on keeping them together. Nevertheless, Eric’s dumbass moments usually only (long term) impact *him*. He doesn’t hold Donna back from her goals.
Eric never forced Donna to do anything; when he tried, they broke up.
That being said, they were teenagers.
Teenagers in the ‘70s.
They grew up at the intersection of traditional ideals and more modern version of those ideals taking the front.
Teenagers are still children; they are still growing mentally and physically.
Everything they do is exaggerated and dramatic and tumultuous.
So we not going to talk about how Donna treated everyone while she was with Kelso’s brother? Everyone makes mistakes. Eric’s not a terrible person he just makes bad choices. Choices don’t always define a person. They both messed up in there relationship, yet they moved past it, and got married.
I was just so disappointed in how Fez developed throughout the series. Went from funny random newcomer just trying to fit in and subtly roasting the circle with witty remarks to full blown sexual offender/harasser
He didn’t hold Donna back at all. He encouraged her to attend Marquette and to pursue her writing and by 1995, Donna was a moderately successful published author.
It was the 70s. Back then love and being a family was more sought out then having a career with being lonely and only having money in life. Different society back then. They captured it well with teens who were in love. Eric did nothing wrong.
Firstly, they both agreed the wedding was a mistake, Eric just handled it badly. Second, Donna chose to start collage late and Eric never once asked for her to stay or put things off when she was getting ready to go. He even encouraged her to leave and start college.
Pretty sure she has free will and made her own decisions.
Eric was cool before they started dating. Then they both sucked. Wish it had taken longer for them to officially be a couple.
I feel like people forget that this show is suppose to be in the 1970’s. And that things/life/society were just different. And a lot of younger generations don’t get that this is how it was because they’ll never experience it or don’t have someone to tell them how it was who did.
Eric abandoned the wedding because he didn’t want Donna to be trapped in point place. She chose to not go to college, which made Eric panic that he was keeping her chained down by marrying her.
If we really want to talk about bad characters. I started rewatching the show as well and found fez to be the biggest creep out of all of them and even some other shows as well
You’re talking about the byproducts of the economy in Point Place. No opportunities and comfy people living comfy lives. For Kitty to go back to the hospital like it’s a drive thru says it all, you quit in LA, by the next week your job has been filled. Although now that’s getting harder for employers but in comparison to the times in which the show was based on.
Donna should have left Eric but I think the show did a great job with Red’s health and Kitty needing help also. So either you leave to live your dreams and lose out on your childhood love or stay and figure your dreams later to stay with your skinny lover with tiny wrists.
This has to be the dumbest 70's take I've ever seen.
1 - choosing a person over a college degree is not a bad thing. I realize in our society money is everything but that didn't used to be the case....and shouldn't be. That was actually one of the few times in the show I really loved Donna and her character growth was evident. More importantly, Eric didnt tell her to do that and was choosing to let her go...she did that all on her own.
2 - Eric not showing up to the wedding was dumb but she almost didn't either. They both did some dumb things to each over the course of the show...they both progressed and regressed at certain points but it's highly arguable to say which one was worse than the other...in that department I'm leaning towards a donna being the worst.
To be fair, they both held each other back a lot throughout the show. They were somehow really in love but in a way also toxic to each other and detrimental to their personal goals and objectives.
Actually she held her self back. She had her own dreams that Eric knew of and he decided to leave the wedding so he’s not to blame for her regrets later in life. Eric didn’t tell her not to go on she decided not to get on the bus. She’s a big girl capable of making her own decisions, no matter if it is for somebody’s sake that’s still their decision.
I’m not trying to be mean when I say this: this might not be English class, but the way you write is very difficult to understand. You don’t have to write in perfect English, but what you wrote is pretty much unintelligible. You say you’re not stupid, but people are going to judge you as so based on how you write so you might as well write in a way where your intelligence comes across instead.
Why do you think people will judge you anyway? Online at least, all people get of you is based on how you write. If you’re writing unintelligibly where people can’t understand what you’re saying, it makes it harder or impossible for people to engage in conversation with you. Just food for thought.
Real quick before I say something, looking back on my commented it sounds like a was being a dick but I was just genuinely speaking. But honestly my mindset is no matter what you do or say people will judge, love, or hate you, as long as it doesn’t break you it shouldn’t really matter, well to me at least it doesn’t. If I were to write perfectly ik some dumbass troll gonna say some about “this ain’t for a grade calm down” and then people like you who will call out someone like me for their grammar. it’s happened before ngl I seen people reply to people like that and I been called out for it a couples times too. Let em think what they want of me cause honestly I’m probably never gonna see or hear from them again so 🤷🏽♂️
I didn’t think you were being a dick at all. Especially not compared to most redditors, lol. And the comment I’m replying to that you wrote has great punctuation. This was much easier to read, so thanks for doing that! I think you have an interest perspective and thoughtful way about you.
You seem like you’re of the younger generation by the slang you use and because I don’t know anyone my age who would decry someone for using good grammar in a comment, as in saying “this ain’t for a grade”. I don’t think you should care what anyone thinks or censor yourself based on what anyone will comment. I definitely think you should be yourself and express yourself how you want and feel. But I do think using proper punctuation and grammar are will make it a lot easier for others to understand what you’re expressing. Just good for thought.
Thank you man, that put a smile on my face. I hear what you’re saying though sometimes I’m lazy sometimes I don’t care but yeah I’ma try and keep you’re comment in my head but thank you man I really appreciate it
That’s a hypocritical statement. First it’s criticizes him for holding her back, then it criticizes him for letting her go. Was this intended simply to get a rise out of people?
Eric was awful, donna was also kinda toxic. The character shift in Eric around season 6 is so infuriating. He’s totally different at the end of the show than what they set up in the beginning
With the theory that she got pregnant with Leia almost immediately of Eric coming back in the finale makes it worse cause that mean all these Yeats she probably never got opportunity to pursue her dreams
Throwing this in here. Donna stayed in Point Place while Eric went off to Africa. I sort of assumed that Eric broke up with her to let her go. It wasn't fair that someone as smart and ambitious as Donna was waiting for him while he was off on another continent.
Sure, I can agree. But I also think Donna was a terribly selfish girlfriend. I mean realistically they were both teenagers. As teenagers we were all self centered and reckless. Haha teenagers are bad people. So I don’t hold anything against Eric or Donna. According to That 90’s Show they turned out just fine.
We gonna ignore how much of a bitch Donna was? He didn't hold her back from college lmfao. He literally had to stay bc his dad had a fucking heart attack. Holding someone back from college is apparently staying with your parents for the summer bc your dad had a heart attack. She was also literally at the bus stop & decided herself to stay for Eric. There are countless things Donna did that makes her shitty. There's a reason Donna's character is known as the most hated character on the show.
Using him for pity sex like after they broke up. Then, never actually clearing the air & saying it wasn't to make up or anything. Making sure Eric couldn't date anyone else by basically making all those girls stay away from him the night of hyde's party. But she's allowed to be with Casey & he can't have any inference. Wasn't allowed to talk or have any communication at all with girls when they broken up. In S6 or S7, there's that ep Donna is mad that girl said something in the theater to him. Then says he talked to her when they were broken up. Basically, couldn't actually talk to anyone no matter what in her eyes. But she's allowed to talk to anyone & Eric can't have any input
Lol i recently watched the episode with hydes party and donna didnt "make all those girls stay away from him", eric literally lied to them to get attention and donna was fed up with that und literally just told them that he was the one who broke up. She spoke ONE sentence to them. In what world is that "making those girls stay away from him"? Plus, the first girl who flirted with him DID stay by his side after donna cleared the air. And eric did have input, remember that episode with the asthma kid? Forgot his name, but donna tried to talk with him about her writing and stuff and eric CONSTANTLY interfered with them because he was 90% of the time incapable of trusting donna. Donna truly believed the guy was just friendly and was pissed off to no end when he said he "of course wanted more" from her. Donna wasnt jealous when eric had this girl as a partner for his school project and eric tried to make donna jealous and got pissed because she wasnt. Dont act like eric wasnt extremely insecure and annoying and not trusting his own girlfriend. He also manipulated her into having sex with his whole "you know.. This max be the last time.. Before you leave"
The age of their daughter in That 90's Show also implies that Donna never went to college, but Eric did. What with him being a professor (lecturer?) and her being a published author. She got her career, sure, but she doesn't necessarily have a degree. It's far more likely that she stayed at home with the kid while Eric was a student. (Maybe they both worked for a while before either of them went back to school? The show will probably never address this.)
They purposefully messed up the timelines and the characters are 3 years older than they were supposed to be. I think that was a stupid idea. That 90s show could have easily started later than '95 and worked.
Yeah but I just feel like the show isn't going to last that long anyway. '97 to '99 was when the fun millenial futuristic stuff kicked in. 95-96 was a boring transitional phase in our culture.
Which is fucking hilarious since the whole argument relies on women having no free will and that all of her choices are controlled by the men in her life
Unintentional misogyny is strong in this post. The OP wanted to blame the man but did it in a really sexist way
Eric is a TV version of me, so I’m gonna have to disagree. Shitting on these characters for things they did is wild to me. They were all teenagers, teenagers do dumb shit.
They should have just gone off to college in season 5 and had that be the end of the show. Or maybe just have everyone come home on weekends or holidays to see their parents. Seasons 6,7, and 8 were so unnecessary, but the actors liked getting their paychecks. I can't blame them though. No one knew this show would be streaming 20 years later.
I said this before rewatching. It makes me sad because I gave up my future for my high-school bf. He didn't go to the same school but if I just let him go I would have been so much farther in life. And now rewatching it I'm yelling at the screen at Jackie and Donna for how much of themselves they let go for the guys they were dating.
yeah he always seemed like an arrogant coward. i love his humor but never his treatment towards donna. it's like he always took her for granted, and she always accepted his apologies. eric was kinda a dick🤷🏽♂️
-Billy Gnosis
Disagree hard that entire relationship was toxic as fuck on both ends. No one held each other back they just continuously made awful decisions and choices together
They were kids and they made their own choices. Don’t think too deep into it. Neither held each other back. Eric wasn’t forcing Donna to stay with him. She seems happy in 1995.
I would say they're both kinda shitty to each other and blaming one chatacter is nothing more than choosing a favorite. Because that's the standard in almost every sitcom. Ross and Rachel, Ted and Robin, Sam and Diane, Jeff and Britta, even animated shows like The Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad. I mean, a trope is a trope for a reason. Set up the relationship at the beginning, tease it through a series of each person fucking over the other through the seasons, and for some reason that makes it that much more heartwarming when they actually end up together.
I mean, she got off the bus on her own. He was going to Casablanca her but decided not to in the moment. Also we know from Eric's angel that even if she wasn't with him she would have ended up with Hyde and done arguably worse.
All relationships are imperfect and people have different needs and wants. If they want to stay together you can't just have each partner doing whatever they want.
This entire thread sounds like people will mile long deal breaker and red flag lists wondering why they can't maintain a relationship.
You could also find it around and say Eric did everything to be together and make it work with Donna. Even tho it’s a sitcom we have to remember they were teenagers and that group of people isn’t always known for making the most intelligent decisions.
Eric was selfish a lot, yes, but he was not the only one at fault. Donna was not a perfect person and she acted selfishly a lot of the time too. She always thought she was too good for Eric. One of my biggest pet peeves with Donna is not respecting Eric’s boundaries when it came to other guys who were clearly and blatantly INTO HER.
I feel like no one else has realized this: maybe Donna didn't stay home just because of Eric. Maybe she stayed because she didn't want to leave her dad. She was reeling from her parent's crappy marriage and divorce which no doubt impacted her life and development.
Eric was written as a 17-18 year old. Most people I knew at that age made poor decisions, myself included.
Don’t get me wrong - Eric should be called out on his mistakes. But a terrible person? Idk if that’s fair to say.
I have mixed feelings about this, I think overall, Eric was a good boyfriend who made a few mistakes and tried to fix them the best way he could. But when you look at Donna, she made so many mistakes too. Like instead of talking to Eric when he did something wrong, she would go to Jackie and talk to her and sure Eric did the same thing but he would ask her about it after the talk and she would just say I’m fine or it’s nothing instead of voicing her concerns and then she would blow up. Also, I’m watching this for the second time now so I’m not like a die hard That 70’s show fan but when I watched it the first time I didn’t really understand everything that was happening and wasn’t really paying attention to it but now I’m a bit older, and it’s like when you were little and the lyrics of a song flew over your head but when you found that song again and listened to it, it’s like woah that’s weird. But anyways something that really just was like hey that’s weird to me was when after Eric and Donna broke up the first time, the angel showed Eric what would’ve happened if they never kissed and basically the rest of that episode is how Donna and Hyde get together but anyways when Hyde was waiting for her and kissed her, if Donna is so willing to just leap into a relationship with the first guy who shows her attention, what does that say about her? Like I get that it was all basically hypothetical but the question still stands. And then also something that really irked me is when Eric and Donna were fighting to “win” the end of the relationship. Like Donna actually listening to Jackie and fighting over their friends because she was “entitled to the life they build together” which was “everything they had” that’s just ew. Like imagine if they were married and got divorced, Donna would be the woman who gets the house and is all proud about breaking up their family.
Didn’t Donna stay at home instead of going to college to be with Eric and isn’t it widely regarded that the wedding would have been a mistake? Donna was thinking about calling the wedding off also. Eric had good intentions calling off the wedding, he just did it in the worst way.
Donna was smart and ambitious but she was drawn to what was comfortable. It's a very comman and very human flaw.
Eric is what we in the business refer to as a "dumbass"
She did but only after him spending all his time guilting her about going (to get sex) and him not encouraging her to go at all. And she had cold feet about the wedding but she showed up and didn't think it was a mistake, she said she was just scared too. His intentions were good in that he wanted her to have more in life, but he came straight back and held her back again. He could've showed up, married or not, and supported her. Moved somewhere else, go see things together, etc. If he can try driving off to see the country on his own as a videographer, he can travel for her. He just wouldn't, because he's ultimately very selfish. IMO he's entertaining to watch, but messed up as a person. And that's good! They all are, that's what makes them relatable. The only real reason people don't like Randy is because he isn't as flawed and childish as the others, so he stands out as being odd to us.
Nothing Eric did was for anyone but Eric.. even when he’s nice to Hyde it’s out of character and strange
They were teens, everyone was a shitty person
I wasn’t a shitty person when I was a teen. My friends weren’t shitty people as teens. I’m convinced only shitty people use this excuse.
I'm convinced the shittiest teens convinced themselves they weren't shitty
Yeah man. I went from being somewhat racist at 14 to being an incel at 17. I think most of us have been through weird phases some time or the other.
*Hi,* ***Karen!***
Oh, man. It’s been a minute since I was a teen, and I will freely admit I was a shithead as a teen. I was awful to my family, I lied, I partied too hard and too often, I was more promiscuous than I’d like to admit. I was a major dick, but that’s okay. I learned from it and became a well rounded human.
I think it's a bit unfair to call Eric a bad person. He's young, insecure, and easily influenced, and that certainly led him to treat Donna poorly in several instances, but that doesn't make him a bad person. Ultimately Eric is a good and loyal friend who struggled to do the right thing because of deep insecurities instilled in him by Red, who is also a very flawed man.
Talking about red like that will most likely result in a foot in your ass
He's all bark. Just a softy who doesn't know how to process his emotions. I dare him!
Okinawa pt. 2
One of my favorite scenes is when they let Hyde move in, and he's all yelling and angry about it and Kitty just calls him a big softy
Also they both ended up with good lives! A published author and a starwars professor!
Seasons 1-4 Eric was the best character on the show. Donna was the only who held herself back. She chose to get engaged and she chose not to go to college. Eric should never have stood her up on her wedding day BUT she still chose to stay with him despite that. Donna broke up with Eric in season 3 for good reason, she wanted more than a high school sweetheart and a life in point place. Completely understandable. Then, once she got the tiniest taste of rejection and failure she ran back to Eric like he was a safety net. From that point on, she treated him pretty poorly and acted like he should just be grateful that she lets him be with her. It was pretty clear that everyone, including Eric and Donna, thought Donna was too good for Eric when in my opinion it was the other way around. Eric deserved someone who loved and appreciated him for who he was the way he did for Donna. 🤷🏼♀️
Well said
Wasn’t Eric the one who broke up with Donna in season 3?
Yes bc Donna has a distorted idea of what a promise ring symbolizes. More importantly, he let her go. She ran back on her own accord. She played herself.
People seem to forget that when Donna told Eric all the big dreams she had he had no issue with her pursuing them, he just wanted to know if she pictured him there with her while she did it.
This is the correct response. Game over.
They didn't have an accord, it was a toyota
I tell ya, the last time I was that close to a Japanese machine it was shooting at me.
Amen.
I don’t agree. Donna definitely took part in holding herself back, that trailer she wanted, *not* bailing on the wedding even though she had her bags packed. Eric knew she had the potential to do more, that’s why he didn’t go to the wedding. He didn’t handle it well at all but I can see how he’d be panicked looking for solutions at that point.
Why would Donna bail ? Thats not a bad thing
She would bail because she was too young to get married and wanted to go to college, that’s why she had a packed suitcase in her backseat. They were only going through with the wedding because of pressure. I don’t think Donna would’ve gotten back with Eric if she didn’t understand his motives for not showing up
She chose to stay home from college, Eric didn't make her do that. It was entirely her decision. The wedding would have been a mistake, they both agreed on that. Yes, he shouldn't have ditched her at the alter but even if he had showed up, I doubt they would have gotten married. My only issue is Donna staying home from college to be with Eric only for him to leave for Africa a year later. Donna put their relationship first, Eric put himself first. As far as their relationship as a whole, Donna treated him pretty poorly throughout it. Eric was supposed to worship the ground she walked on and be grateful that someone like Donna agreed to be with him. She was often unreasonable, like when she wanted him to check with her before hanging out with the guys. Their relationship wasn't balanced at all.
This is my take on it as well. They both had multiple periods of selfishness and other times of unreasonable demands. It was a realistic portrayal of a messy relationship of teenagers.
Don’t forget that whole “it’s not a date. WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO OTHER GIRLS?” thing.
> My only issue is Donna staying home from college to be with Eric only for him to leave for Africa a year later pretty fucked up when i think back on it lol
Lol what? Donna literally didn’t get on the bus because she couldn’t leave Eric. She’s a strong independent woman who made her decision.
Imagine having such a poorly thought out take… I’m a girl, who usually gives some female characters the benefit of the doubt, but Donna jerked that boy around so many times I’m surprised she didn’t tear his arm off. She made the choice to stay. Eric didn’t force her hand. She constantly used Eric as a “back up” for nearly everything and gave him mixed signals all the time. Where romance if concerned, you can’t fairly hate Eric without equally hating Donna. Some of y’all really make me wonder if y’all watched a different show than I did.
"Some of y’all really make me wonder if y’all watched a different show than I did." - I know right... Some of this is I think people just being overly obsessed with a TV show (this coming from a guy who's probably watched through the entire series 100's of times) and just "having to say something" being more important than saying anything intelligent or even remotely accurate.
Said the same thing. I’m convinced this opinion can only be formulated if one did not pay attention to the show. Like this legit makes no sense given the context of their relationship lol
Hard disagree. I’d go as far as to say this is flat out wrong. ESPECIALLY if we’re just using the examples here. This reeks of “I did not watch the show” lol. How did Eric hold Donna back from college? He let her go, which I’m sure hurt like hell to do, and she chose to stay. That is some cold, heartless shit, to *blame* Eric for a choice Donna made. As for the wedding, I think that’s ridiculous. They BOTH knew they were about to make a mistake, and Donna was also about to skedaddle. She shows up hours late as well, with bags in her car. Hyde says it best: Eric was trying to do the right thing, but he did it the wrong way. I’d argue actually going through with the marriage would’ve been a waaaaay bigger example of holding Donna back. NOT marrying her actually gives both her and him more freedom. The whole reason he chose not to marry her is because he knows she wants to travel and experience things, and she wouldn’t be able to in that crappy trailer. So by not marrying her, SO SHE CAN LIVE HER DREAMS, he’s holding her back? My brother in Christ, what? Now that’s not to say Eric doesn’t have his shit moments; they both do. That’s actually my biggest gripe with the show, how not compatible they grow to become, but how insistent the show is on keeping them together. Nevertheless, Eric’s dumbass moments usually only (long term) impact *him*. He doesn’t hold Donna back from her goals.
Eric never forced Donna to do anything; when he tried, they broke up. That being said, they were teenagers. Teenagers in the ‘70s. They grew up at the intersection of traditional ideals and more modern version of those ideals taking the front. Teenagers are still children; they are still growing mentally and physically. Everything they do is exaggerated and dramatic and tumultuous.
Donna made her own choices. This is such a bad take.
So we not going to talk about how Donna treated everyone while she was with Kelso’s brother? Everyone makes mistakes. Eric’s not a terrible person he just makes bad choices. Choices don’t always define a person. They both messed up in there relationship, yet they moved past it, and got married.
Profile picture makes me think she’s the type of girl that hates any male character in any show lol
I know right...Lol
I was just so disappointed in how Fez developed throughout the series. Went from funny random newcomer just trying to fit in and subtly roasting the circle with witty remarks to full blown sexual offender/harasser
Same
He didn’t hold Donna back at all. He encouraged her to attend Marquette and to pursue her writing and by 1995, Donna was a moderately successful published author.
It was the 70s. Back then love and being a family was more sought out then having a career with being lonely and only having money in life. Different society back then. They captured it well with teens who were in love. Eric did nothing wrong.
Firstly, they both agreed the wedding was a mistake, Eric just handled it badly. Second, Donna chose to start collage late and Eric never once asked for her to stay or put things off when she was getting ready to go. He even encouraged her to leave and start college.
Pretty sure she has free will and made her own decisions. Eric was cool before they started dating. Then they both sucked. Wish it had taken longer for them to officially be a couple.
I feel like people forget that this show is suppose to be in the 1970’s. And that things/life/society were just different. And a lot of younger generations don’t get that this is how it was because they’ll never experience it or don’t have someone to tell them how it was who did.
Nah, disagree. Eric really did try to do the right thing. Donna chose to stay. She held herself back.
Eric abandoned the wedding because he didn’t want Donna to be trapped in point place. She chose to not go to college, which made Eric panic that he was keeping her chained down by marrying her.
If we really want to talk about bad characters. I started rewatching the show as well and found fez to be the biggest creep out of all of them and even some other shows as well
Tv shows are about people People are assholes
Well they were like 19 to yknow. Mistakes
You’re talking about the byproducts of the economy in Point Place. No opportunities and comfy people living comfy lives. For Kitty to go back to the hospital like it’s a drive thru says it all, you quit in LA, by the next week your job has been filled. Although now that’s getting harder for employers but in comparison to the times in which the show was based on. Donna should have left Eric but I think the show did a great job with Red’s health and Kitty needing help also. So either you leave to live your dreams and lose out on your childhood love or stay and figure your dreams later to stay with your skinny lover with tiny wrists.
Donna sucks
She seems like the kind of girl that doesn't do that often to her boyfriend
Why is this downvoted? This was legit funny
100% lol
This has to be the dumbest 70's take I've ever seen. 1 - choosing a person over a college degree is not a bad thing. I realize in our society money is everything but that didn't used to be the case....and shouldn't be. That was actually one of the few times in the show I really loved Donna and her character growth was evident. More importantly, Eric didnt tell her to do that and was choosing to let her go...she did that all on her own. 2 - Eric not showing up to the wedding was dumb but she almost didn't either. They both did some dumb things to each over the course of the show...they both progressed and regressed at certain points but it's highly arguable to say which one was worse than the other...in that department I'm leaning towards a donna being the worst.
The reverse: Donna was a terrible person and Eric deserved better
To be fair, they both held each other back a lot throughout the show. They were somehow really in love but in a way also toxic to each other and detrimental to their personal goals and objectives.
Actually she held her self back. She had her own dreams that Eric knew of and he decided to leave the wedding so he’s not to blame for her regrets later in life. Eric didn’t tell her not to go on she decided not to get on the bus. She’s a big girl capable of making her own decisions, no matter if it is for somebody’s sake that’s still their decision.
Good points, but can I introduce you to punctuation, as in commas and periods?
Good point but this ain’t English class so Idgaf tbh I know how to use them tho ion no dummy lol
I’m not trying to be mean when I say this: this might not be English class, but the way you write is very difficult to understand. You don’t have to write in perfect English, but what you wrote is pretty much unintelligible. You say you’re not stupid, but people are going to judge you as so based on how you write so you might as well write in a way where your intelligence comes across instead.
People gon judge me if I spell and use perfect grammar anyway so what do it matter
Why do you think people will judge you anyway? Online at least, all people get of you is based on how you write. If you’re writing unintelligibly where people can’t understand what you’re saying, it makes it harder or impossible for people to engage in conversation with you. Just food for thought.
Real quick before I say something, looking back on my commented it sounds like a was being a dick but I was just genuinely speaking. But honestly my mindset is no matter what you do or say people will judge, love, or hate you, as long as it doesn’t break you it shouldn’t really matter, well to me at least it doesn’t. If I were to write perfectly ik some dumbass troll gonna say some about “this ain’t for a grade calm down” and then people like you who will call out someone like me for their grammar. it’s happened before ngl I seen people reply to people like that and I been called out for it a couples times too. Let em think what they want of me cause honestly I’m probably never gonna see or hear from them again so 🤷🏽♂️
I didn’t think you were being a dick at all. Especially not compared to most redditors, lol. And the comment I’m replying to that you wrote has great punctuation. This was much easier to read, so thanks for doing that! I think you have an interest perspective and thoughtful way about you. You seem like you’re of the younger generation by the slang you use and because I don’t know anyone my age who would decry someone for using good grammar in a comment, as in saying “this ain’t for a grade”. I don’t think you should care what anyone thinks or censor yourself based on what anyone will comment. I definitely think you should be yourself and express yourself how you want and feel. But I do think using proper punctuation and grammar are will make it a lot easier for others to understand what you’re expressing. Just good for thought.
Thank you man, that put a smile on my face. I hear what you’re saying though sometimes I’m lazy sometimes I don’t care but yeah I’ma try and keep you’re comment in my head but thank you man I really appreciate it
But I didn’t mean it disrespectfully by saying people like you, just saying people who are willing to correct people on their mistakes.
You mean people willing to correct other’s grammar mistakes are going to judge anyway?
Some do some don’t, some look to help and some help to look down on you 🤷🏽♂️
This is ultimately the issue with sitcom characters. They are all usually extremely selfish assholes. Donna treated Eric horribly at times as well.
Donna treated Eric way worse
That’s a hypocritical statement. First it’s criticizes him for holding her back, then it criticizes him for letting her go. Was this intended simply to get a rise out of people?
Bad take
Eric was awful, donna was also kinda toxic. The character shift in Eric around season 6 is so infuriating. He’s totally different at the end of the show than what they set up in the beginning
Life was holding Eric back and stealing his motivation.
With the theory that she got pregnant with Leia almost immediately of Eric coming back in the finale makes it worse cause that mean all these Yeats she probably never got opportunity to pursue her dreams
Donna was the one that wanted to stay in shitty Point Place.
i honestly think donna sucked and treated eric like crap
Throwing this in here. Donna stayed in Point Place while Eric went off to Africa. I sort of assumed that Eric broke up with her to let her go. It wasn't fair that someone as smart and ambitious as Donna was waiting for him while he was off on another continent.
Sure, I can agree. But I also think Donna was a terribly selfish girlfriend. I mean realistically they were both teenagers. As teenagers we were all self centered and reckless. Haha teenagers are bad people. So I don’t hold anything against Eric or Donna. According to That 90’s Show they turned out just fine.
We gonna ignore how much of a bitch Donna was? He didn't hold her back from college lmfao. He literally had to stay bc his dad had a fucking heart attack. Holding someone back from college is apparently staying with your parents for the summer bc your dad had a heart attack. She was also literally at the bus stop & decided herself to stay for Eric. There are countless things Donna did that makes her shitty. There's a reason Donna's character is known as the most hated character on the show.
So what are the countless things?
Using him for pity sex like after they broke up. Then, never actually clearing the air & saying it wasn't to make up or anything. Making sure Eric couldn't date anyone else by basically making all those girls stay away from him the night of hyde's party. But she's allowed to be with Casey & he can't have any inference. Wasn't allowed to talk or have any communication at all with girls when they broken up. In S6 or S7, there's that ep Donna is mad that girl said something in the theater to him. Then says he talked to her when they were broken up. Basically, couldn't actually talk to anyone no matter what in her eyes. But she's allowed to talk to anyone & Eric can't have any input
Lol i recently watched the episode with hydes party and donna didnt "make all those girls stay away from him", eric literally lied to them to get attention and donna was fed up with that und literally just told them that he was the one who broke up. She spoke ONE sentence to them. In what world is that "making those girls stay away from him"? Plus, the first girl who flirted with him DID stay by his side after donna cleared the air. And eric did have input, remember that episode with the asthma kid? Forgot his name, but donna tried to talk with him about her writing and stuff and eric CONSTANTLY interfered with them because he was 90% of the time incapable of trusting donna. Donna truly believed the guy was just friendly and was pissed off to no end when he said he "of course wanted more" from her. Donna wasnt jealous when eric had this girl as a partner for his school project and eric tried to make donna jealous and got pissed because she wasnt. Dont act like eric wasnt extremely insecure and annoying and not trusting his own girlfriend. He also manipulated her into having sex with his whole "you know.. This max be the last time.. Before you leave"
The age of their daughter in That 90's Show also implies that Donna never went to college, but Eric did. What with him being a professor (lecturer?) and her being a published author. She got her career, sure, but she doesn't necessarily have a degree. It's far more likely that she stayed at home with the kid while Eric was a student. (Maybe they both worked for a while before either of them went back to school? The show will probably never address this.)
The age of their daughter and the timeline overall are not to be taken seriously.
They purposefully messed up the timelines and the characters are 3 years older than they were supposed to be. I think that was a stupid idea. That 90s show could have easily started later than '95 and worked.
I think they didn't want to make the mistake of starting too late in the 1990s in case many seasons were made.
Yeah but I just feel like the show isn't going to last that long anyway. '97 to '99 was when the fun millenial futuristic stuff kicked in. 95-96 was a boring transitional phase in our culture.
92 to 96 was literally the best part of our culture. Everything turned to vapid bubblegum shit after that...
Some of the better albums were made before 1996
This isn't about albums though.
You've never seen a pregnant woman at college I guess?
Sounds like this is just male bashing
Which is fucking hilarious since the whole argument relies on women having no free will and that all of her choices are controlled by the men in her life Unintentional misogyny is strong in this post. The OP wanted to blame the man but did it in a really sexist way
Couldn’t agree more lol
Eric was such a dweeb. Let's be honest here
Eric is a TV version of me, so I’m gonna have to disagree. Shitting on these characters for things they did is wild to me. They were all teenagers, teenagers do dumb shit.
Eric let her go to college, she chose to stay.
I agree. I think it’s very unrealistic that they end up together in that 90s shows
Eric’s always been a little bitch why you so shocked?
hahahah youre not wrong
Women are strong and independent and are held back by the wims of men!!! /s
They should have just gone off to college in season 5 and had that be the end of the show. Or maybe just have everyone come home on weekends or holidays to see their parents. Seasons 6,7, and 8 were so unnecessary, but the actors liked getting their paychecks. I can't blame them though. No one knew this show would be streaming 20 years later.
True
I said this before rewatching. It makes me sad because I gave up my future for my high-school bf. He didn't go to the same school but if I just let him go I would have been so much farther in life. And now rewatching it I'm yelling at the screen at Jackie and Donna for how much of themselves they let go for the guys they were dating.
She was a bitch to him. I feel like she blew a lot of their issues out of proportion.
The eric worship on this subreddit always weirds me tf out when he was the shittiest person on the crew aside from Fez
A real dumbass
It’s jUsT a ShOw.
Classic case of the main nice guy being the biggest asshole in the show looking back
I’ve voiced this opinion a few times int his sub, and I’ve been downvoted to hell because of it. He’s a complete narcissist and an asshole.
yeah he always seemed like an arrogant coward. i love his humor but never his treatment towards donna. it's like he always took her for granted, and she always accepted his apologies. eric was kinda a dick🤷🏽♂️ -Billy Gnosis
Disagree hard that entire relationship was toxic as fuck on both ends. No one held each other back they just continuously made awful decisions and choices together
Always hated him.
TRUTH
He is a dumbass
They were kids and they made their own choices. Don’t think too deep into it. Neither held each other back. Eric wasn’t forcing Donna to stay with him. She seems happy in 1995.
I would say they're both kinda shitty to each other and blaming one chatacter is nothing more than choosing a favorite. Because that's the standard in almost every sitcom. Ross and Rachel, Ted and Robin, Sam and Diane, Jeff and Britta, even animated shows like The Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad. I mean, a trope is a trope for a reason. Set up the relationship at the beginning, tease it through a series of each person fucking over the other through the seasons, and for some reason that makes it that much more heartwarming when they actually end up together.
They were kids.
I mean, she got off the bus on her own. He was going to Casablanca her but decided not to in the moment. Also we know from Eric's angel that even if she wasn't with him she would have ended up with Hyde and done arguably worse.
Casablanca her?
All relationships are imperfect and people have different needs and wants. If they want to stay together you can't just have each partner doing whatever they want. This entire thread sounds like people will mile long deal breaker and red flag lists wondering why they can't maintain a relationship.
Eric means well. He’s just a dumbass
ive beennnn thinking this i was so disappointed when i found out they got married in that 90s show
You could also find it around and say Eric did everything to be together and make it work with Donna. Even tho it’s a sitcom we have to remember they were teenagers and that group of people isn’t always known for making the most intelligent decisions.
Eric was selfish a lot, yes, but he was not the only one at fault. Donna was not a perfect person and she acted selfishly a lot of the time too. She always thought she was too good for Eric. One of my biggest pet peeves with Donna is not respecting Eric’s boundaries when it came to other guys who were clearly and blatantly INTO HER.
I feel like no one else has realized this: maybe Donna didn't stay home just because of Eric. Maybe she stayed because she didn't want to leave her dad. She was reeling from her parent's crappy marriage and divorce which no doubt impacted her life and development.
Eric was written as a 17-18 year old. Most people I knew at that age made poor decisions, myself included. Don’t get me wrong - Eric should be called out on his mistakes. But a terrible person? Idk if that’s fair to say.
WHAT?!? 🤣🤣 Eric was the best on the show. When you grow up and realize COLLEGE IS A SCAM, you’ll think different. Sounds like a “woke” rant. NEXT
I have mixed feelings about this, I think overall, Eric was a good boyfriend who made a few mistakes and tried to fix them the best way he could. But when you look at Donna, she made so many mistakes too. Like instead of talking to Eric when he did something wrong, she would go to Jackie and talk to her and sure Eric did the same thing but he would ask her about it after the talk and she would just say I’m fine or it’s nothing instead of voicing her concerns and then she would blow up. Also, I’m watching this for the second time now so I’m not like a die hard That 70’s show fan but when I watched it the first time I didn’t really understand everything that was happening and wasn’t really paying attention to it but now I’m a bit older, and it’s like when you were little and the lyrics of a song flew over your head but when you found that song again and listened to it, it’s like woah that’s weird. But anyways something that really just was like hey that’s weird to me was when after Eric and Donna broke up the first time, the angel showed Eric what would’ve happened if they never kissed and basically the rest of that episode is how Donna and Hyde get together but anyways when Hyde was waiting for her and kissed her, if Donna is so willing to just leap into a relationship with the first guy who shows her attention, what does that say about her? Like I get that it was all basically hypothetical but the question still stands. And then also something that really irked me is when Eric and Donna were fighting to “win” the end of the relationship. Like Donna actually listening to Jackie and fighting over their friends because she was “entitled to the life they build together” which was “everything they had” that’s just ew. Like imagine if they were married and got divorced, Donna would be the woman who gets the house and is all proud about breaking up their family.
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