Ben Stiller as Gaylord Fokker

BayouLPN · Apr 21, 2008

I don't know if you saw my post or not...I did mention him once...I am a female poking around on the guys site by the way. I felt that the character was played to be a "Good male nurse". Esp. when he has to defend himself to the girl's neurotic father about not being a dr. He says he loves what he does as a nurse, has more contact with the pts, ect, ect. It was one of the few "serious" moments in the movie. The movie was by all means one of the funniest comedies I have ever watched. But, I believe he played the character of male nurse well.

acscoolerthanyou! · Apr 22, 2008

im gonna be going into nursing school soon and every time i tell someone i want to be a nurse they ask "have you seen that movie meet the parents?"

baceball6 · Apr 23, 2008

I thoroughly enjoyed that movie, but i have not seen it since i started nursing school. I fell Stiller portrayed the nurse well, he was caring and smart and driven.

My friends call me "Focker" to be funny, and it is funny. They also realize that nurses are important and make decent money. I do think people have a hard time realizing the profession of nursing. They still ask me "so what do nurses do?" I just say "everything"

parson_john_RN · May 28, 2008

Gaylord Fokker kicked the butt! I think anything Stiller does is great as I love his style of comedy. Even the white shoes moment toward the beginning, being so bleach white...I think I may have enjoyed it more having a male nurse represented on screen as funny and not an idiot or moron.

BradleyRN · May 30, 2008

Greg Focker is a great male nurse! That is one of my favorite movies. :wink2:

ssjonathan · Jun 8, 2008

I just graduated and passed my NCLEX and I'm sure I'm going to be called gaylord focker a lot in the future...I've already been called it a lot but the funny thing is I actually look a lot like Ben Stiller so its going to stick with me for a long time ahahahah

the bridge · Jun 26, 2008

Even though everything in our society is fair game when it comes to comedy, I was very unhappy with how demeaning this film was towards the nursing profession. There was the running gag of every time Stiller said he was going into nursing, everyone would ask him why he wasn't going to be a doctor instead. Would they have said the same thing if he was a female? And why does his gender make that big of a difference? Is it OK to make fun of a male who chooses nursing? Do people make fun of a woman who wants to become a doctor? Does anyone say things like, "Why do you want to be a doctor? Wouldn't you want to be a nurse instead?" Or, does this film actually point out what a pathetic career nursing is compared to being a doctor? Perhaps this is how our society actually perceives nurses: People who were to intimidated to try to be a doctor and chose the easier path and merely became nurses?

silentRN · Jul 4, 2008

A patient's family member asked me if I was a cheerleader in highschool today. I felt like landing a round house kick to his head.

Atheos · Jul 4, 2008

A patient's family member asked me if I was a cheerleader in highschool today. I felt like landing a round house kick to his head.

OMG :no:

I would've had to do something smart alecky like jumping up and down and yelling 'Go Team!' Then given them the 'don't be a ' look.

silentRN · Jul 4, 2008

haha...ya. I sarcastically told him "ya I was a cheerleader in highschool and that's why I became a nurse." I think that he actually believed me haha. I still want the round house tho.

-David

mmm333, LVN · Jul 6, 2008

Even though everything in our society is fair game when it comes to comedy, I was very unhappy with how demeaning this film was towards the nursing profession. There was the running gag of every time Stiller said he was going into nursing, everyone would ask him why he wasn't going to be a doctor instead. ... does this film actually point out what a pathetic career nursing is compared to being a doctor? Perhaps this is how our society actually perceives nurses: People who were to intimidated to try to be a doctor and chose the easier path and merely became nurses?

That reminds me of another negative portrayal in entertainment... I can remember watching Grey's Anatomy with my wife, way before I began the transition to nursing. There were several times where the cast would roll their eyes. All the docs in the show were lithe and vivacious, and all of the nurses were battered old hags with low IQs, like the lunch lady.

I even remember the quote "God, I hate nurses" in that show. Even then I was like "***..why?" Oh well, it was a stupid show anyway. If one want to watch a ridiculous show that is actually entertaining, they might as well watch House, M.D.

As far as "Meet the Parents" goes, I think the joke rests on irony- we know that men are nurses and its a great career, but it still sounds funny to many people and for now there is an inescapable titter. What's really funny though is that while my friends are imprisoned in cubicles buried in paperwork that has little meaning in the grand scheme of things, we're going to be doing a more rewarding job (and in some cases reaping larger rewards of all kinds). I have a lawyer friend who said that I can probably do more justice these days as a nurse than I can probably do as a lawyer.

PS I think "Something about Mary" was 100 times funnier than "Meet the Parents", if I remember correctly, though both were great.