Arnold's time away from family
In the beginning of the film, the family says that Arnold Friedman did not like spending time with his wife Elaine. He would spend time with his sons and his students but not quality time with his wife. This is a situational irony because married couples are expected to spend quality time with each other.
David Friedman's behavior when he realized that the police wanted to arrest his father
When the police came into the Friedman house to conduct a search, David walked in and was very upset. He wore underwear on his head and claimed that the police were harassing his father. The wearing of underwear on his head is ironical because it would not help the case.
The family situation
Elaine Friedman laments that, 'I mean we had a middle class home, educated, I had a good family right? Where did this come from?' It is a situational irony that the family was a normal one for Elaine because she was not aware of her husband's behavior and then chaotic the next day after she found out about the allegations against her husband and Jesse.
The computer classes
It is ironical that in the computer classes that Arnold Friedman had, he would expose the children to pornography instead of teaching them computer lessons as was his mandate. He should have conducted his computer classes as they were supposed to.
The family against Elaine
It is ironical that after Arnold was convicted for sexual crimes, his children turned against their mother. They blamed her for failing to support their dad when he was in court. This is ironical because she did support her family since she borrowed money for bail for them.
