<p>Red was raised in a very harsh household and those same ideals were built into him. He is harsh on Eric because he was raised to believe that a son who is extremely bright and gifted at sports as well as mentally tough was the perfect son, where as Eric is not exeptionally bright and is rather weak as well as quite emotional.
</p><p>He dislikes Eric's friends because he sees them as idiots. Michael Kelso is an idiot, as evidenced by his ideas and actions. It is mentioned throughout the series that Kelso has made a 'Human Fire-Cracker Suit' which I assume is exactly what it sounds like and is incredibly dangerous, as it is, Michael Kelso has a preoccupation with fire in general which is very likely to damage Red's home or possetions.
</p><p>You need to understand that Red was raised in the fifties, a time that was poor in social ettiqute when it came to people of color. Fez is another nationality (its not stated which) and speaks with an accent. Red finds this strange and he was taught that strange is bad. He also thinks Fez is stupid because of his obsession with Michael Kelso who's faults are numerous (as mentioned above) therefore he believes the's something wrong with Fez by proxy.
</p><p>While Kitty is nice to Eric, some may see it as a smothering relationship where Kitty's babying tendancies willnot harden Eric into the man he needs to become. Red is balancing this out with his overbearing tendancies. When it comes down to it, he really does love his son.
</p><p>As for the Vista Cruiser, Eric's parents aren't exceedingly rich by any stretch of the imagination, his mother uses knick-knacks to decorate their house and both of his parents work hard. Eric's car would cost a few thousand dollars today which most middle-class families would not be able to buy for their own children. Eric is given this car as a present as it also was his family car and has a lot of memories and sentimental value. Its a sort of 'passing the torch' thing.
</p><p>Saying 'Red is mean about everything' is not true, while he is hard on his son, that is because he wants him to be a successful man. He's is tough on his friends because he doesn't approve of them. He is very nice to Donna, Jackie, Kitty and Laurie because he was raised in an environment where women were softer and needed to be taken care of where as men needed to take responsibility.
</p><p>He does like his son - this is evident through his actions and when he talks to his wife. He is not allowed to show his emotions to his sun becasue he sees that as a weakness and he believe's men aren't allowed to show weakness. It was the way he was raised.
</p><p>He doesn't like Kelso because he sees Kelso as an idiot and he doesn't not put up with stupidity especially when it endangers his family or home - which fire does, if incase you are unaware of the properties of fire.
</p><p>He does like some of Eric's friends, mainly Jackie, Donna and Hyde. Jackie: He is like a father to her when her own father leaves and even if he doesn't want her staying with him he does want her to be taken care of. Donna: He thinks of Donna as tougher than his son and thinks she is good for Eric because she is smart, logical and athletic. Hyde: Red sees Hyde as the closest he is going to get to the son he wished he had. Hyde is tough, refuses to show his emotions and is also insanely loyal which Red values.
</p><p>Yes, he drinks. I've also addressed that he has reason to be horrible. Another reason is that he was in the Veitnam and he had to see his friends and comrades die, this changes a person, especially when he would have had to also kill people who stood against him. While he may threaten Eric with sending him off to the military, I believe he would never do such thing as it is not something you wish to expose your children to. Parents want to protect their children, whether they explicityly state it or not, Red does care for Eric.
</p><p>Red's character has remained more or less the same so saying 'I liked you better when you were nice' is rather redundant as his characterisation has marched on. As the series progressed, he even became slightly softer as Kitty entered menopause and Eric left.
</p><p>I've stated my reasons for the Vista Cruiser being a lot more than a crappy car already.
</p><p>We live in a culture that sees alcohol as a rite of passage. Red drinks a lot of beer because he sees it as a drink for men, which is also evident in the way that he expects Hyde to have beer and Eric to not have beer - he sees Hyde as more of a man than Eric.
</p><p>'i'd like you to stop being and boy i will tell you what' is not a propper sentence.
</p><p>He does let Eric hang out with his friends. He allows them to stay for dinner. He allows them to raid his fridge. He allows them to stay at his house for as long as they need if their families can't support them. He still works and even after he's retired he allows Eric and his friends to hang out. Even after Eric leaves he's still allows Eric's friends to basically live in his basement. He does let Eric hang out with his friends.
</p><p>While the conversations in the circle are funny, there's a specific reason for that. They are smoking marijuana. Marijuana is illegal. There is a reason Red doesn't like the circles they have and puts up things such as smoke detectors around is because he is obeying the law. Smoking pot is illegal and Red is doing the best for his family.
</p><p>Red's character revolves around that he isn't nessisarily nice and because he may have character flaws, but that makes him a more believeable character overall.
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<span style="color:purple">"Good day!" </span><span style="color:sky">"I said 'Good Day!'"</span></font></font> 03:39, December 17, 2013 (UTC)
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