Along those lines and in the spirit of the holiday, let's take a look at a few movie mamas we love to hate. Here are some of my favorite bad, bad mothers:
Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate (1962). The real Manchurian Candidate (sorry, Meryl). Talk about domineering mothers! Here's one of the best (worst?). She makes mincemeat out of Laurence Harvey and that weenie senator-wanna-be-VP hubby of hers. Woo-wee! Pure-T-evil. Angela always had to play the mother roles. Wonder why? At 37, she was only 3 years older than Harvey, who played her son. Who knew she'd grow up to be free-spirited Mame Dennis or lovable Jessica Fletcher?Piper Laurie as Margaret White in Carrie (1976). Well no wonder Carrie was weird! Ooh, what a fanatical Queen of Guilt old Mags was. She'd obviously repressed one urge too many in her life. Start backing out of the house very slowly if your mom starts lighting an truckload of candles.
Tony Perkins as Ma Bates in Psycho (1960). Being your own mother could be a good thing or a bad thing. In this case, it was a bad thing. Why, I bet the real Ma Bates was a sweet old thing. Tony, however, was quite a sicko (even though that money-stealing tart Janet Leigh probably deserved a little shower-scare). Anyway, let this be a lesson to you on what can happen if you start wearing your mother's clothes!
Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford in Mommie, Dearest (1981). Dearest, my hind leg! Yikes. I've been afraid of wire hangers ever since I saw the film. If the movie wasn't so hilariously over-acted, we'd've all been cowering masses of jelly afterwards. Why, the shoulder pads and eyebrows alone are enough to give you nightmares!Shelley Winters as - well - a slew of mothers. Ol' Shel' takes the prize for portraying bad mamas. In Lolita - clueless, self-involved. In A Patch of Blue - mean, greedy, and self-involved (plus, she toted home an Oscar). Bloody Mama? Gun-totin' and self-involved. Though I must say, I always liked her as Grandma Mary on Roseanne - hard-drinking, hard-livin', and not so self-involved.
Got a favorite film or literary bad mama? Well, go straight to your room and think about it! (And come out and tell me about it when you're ready!)
1 comment:
I, too, would have chosen the same bad moms as you! The only other I can think of to add is Kevin's mother from "Home Alone." What kind of mother goes on vacation and forgets her kid?!! Since seeing the movie, every time we go away my kids ask, "you're not going to forget us, right?" They've now experienced the same trauma, though in a different way, that I did after seeing "Jaws." I still can't swim in the ocean.
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