Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I love LaDarius, I hope he makes it.
Wow, really? I thought he was kind of a total jerk. He has anger issues, he constantly called his partner fat, a crybaby, etc. He can't control his temper. In the last episode he was teaching a clinic and if my daughter were taking it and I heard the way he talked to those kids, I'd pull her in a heartbeat, and tell him exactly why.
I loved him, but seriously it could be because I used to teach school in SEDC and I had similar kids. That kind of awful childhood with an incarcerated parent (let alone the emotional abuse from his brothers and the physical abuse from the older friend) can be the hardest on the kids that are the smartest and most sensitive, which I think he is. I imagine it's extremely difficult for him to be on a team. He just doesn't have the reserves of default empathy and trust that you or I might have. He reacts to everything like it's a threat and he has to figure out his own way on everything from scratch. None of the things we take for granted about being on a team were modeled for him as a kid at home. And yet, in spite of that, he managed and succeeded. He even did his best to apologize/support his teammate on the phone that one time. It's NOT what was natural to him, and no one did it for him when he was feeling anxious or sad or nervous as a kid - that's him growing as a person.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think he's a marshmallow underneath. I think he's a very intense and very tough person. I just saw so much on the show that was a testament to his character and his ability to overcome his childhood and figure out how to make himself a life from the worst possible start. I couldn't help but root for him.