Stock characters are those fictional roles we recognize instantly: you know, the incompetent police
officer, the clueless secretary, the crooked lawyer, the rebellious teen, the
uptight schoolmarm … and so on. You see them on TV all the time.
There’s a new one going around lately: the
adult child. This is the mid-twenties son or daughter who still lives in his
parents’ basement, having his meals cooked and his laundry done for him,
blithely confident that the world outside — the world of careers, responsibilities
and independence — is overrated. His harried, weary parents pray for him to
move out and make his way in the world or for some nice girl to come and
snap him up. But he knows very well that for now he has it good. Being too old
for his parents to control but too needy for them to abandon, he is free to
devote his time and assets to playing video games, going to clubs, flirting
with girls and hanging out at the beach. A periodic trip to the employment
office is all that is necessary to convince his parents of his helplessness.