I was curious if any of you would like to honor mother's day by answering any of the two questions below:
Who is your favorite film mother?
Who is your favorite TV mother?
Also, if you so desire, I'd love to hear any special memories you have with your own mother. If you are so lucky to still have your mother with you, what will you be getting her for this special day?
"How strange when an illusion dies. It's as though you've lost a child." --Judy Garland "To help a friend in need is easy, but to give him your time is not always opportune." --Charlie Chaplin "Dumb show is best for screen people, if they must appear in public." --Buster Keaton
My favorite TV mother is George Costanza's mother on Seinfeld. Mainly because she is a good approximation of my own mother (well, really my own mother is about 3/5 Mrs. Costanza and 2/5 Grace's mom (played by Debbie Reynolds, BTW) on Will & Grace)...and I like laughing (for a change) over the woman who has caused me such grief IRL.
Given the above, I won't post any 'special moments' with my mother, as there really are none.
Fortunately, my response in such a Father's Day thread would be much less pathetic. 23 years after his death, I can still hear my father's voice in my head, yelling at my mother: "Gertrude....LEAVE THE KID ALONE!"
I love seeing Joanne Woodward in roles as a mother or mother figure ("Mr. And Mrs. Bridge," "Philadelphia," "Sybil") and Patricia Neal ("The Homecoming: A Christmas Story") because both of them remind me of my mother.
My favorite TV moms are Sada Thompson as Kate Lawrence on "family" and Frances Conroy as Ruth Fisher on "Six Feet Under."
I've always liked Spring Byington's Mrs. March in "Little Women" for the way she showed her pride in her daughters as they made their own way to adulthood. I think it was very true to the mother as described in the book.
And I liked her again as Mrs. Sycamore in "You Can't Take It With You." Just as proud of her brood in that one, but in such a very different way.
I admire the portait of the the awful, overbearing, tonedeaf and impatient with her own son mother painted by Fay Bainter in "Walter Mitty." Sorry to say it was an all too real depiction of a self-centered woman who had no appreciation of her own children. Much more in the realm of my experience with my own mother.
I'd have much rather had Ma Kettle, or Auntie Mame.
One of the strangest moms in cinema history has to be NANCY KELLY as Christine Penmark, little Rhoda's pathetic mother in THE BAD SEED. Going her one better was Eileen Heckart (in the same film!) as the mother of the little boy Rhoda murdered. Another curious mother would be Mia Farrow as Rosemary in ROSEMARY'S BABY. Now there's a Mother's Day Double Feature for ya!
afterthought: the Mother of Mothers: Joan Crawford in MILDRED PIERCE.
What a great story. Your actions and thoughts as a 4 year old reminded me of the first time my daughter at 30 arrived in LV to visit. After picking her up from McCarran, I drove down LV Blvd. and I had to literally tell her to close her mouth because she was mesmerized by the lights.
pktrekgirl:
From reading your posts I can tell you are a nice, fair, and thoughtful person so I feel safe in saying I appreciate your post about your mom. My mom was a good person and everyone talks about how loving and warm she was, but unfortunately, I never felt that from her. Not that she wasn't, it's just that she and I never had any kind of bond between us. I loved her as my mom, but she was not the confidante that so many girls have. I often wished she was, and when I wished she was like my girlfriends mothers, it wasn't just teenage thoughts. Now at 62, I feel the same way.
I'm so glad I was able to reverse that feeling with my own daughters, and actually with my sons too.
As for movie moms - I can't think of any who weren't too saccharin sweet for my taste. As for TV - I really loved Roseanne - although tough, she could be loving and understanding when it really mattered. I loved the way she always knew what was going on with her kids, and how they always had that "How did she know?" look on their faces. My kids wore that look a lot too.
I have my mother to thank for my love of old movies. According to her, it began in the prenatal stage. When she was pregnant with me, she would set up her ironing board (or whatever chores she had to do) in front of the TV and watch the One O'Clock Movie while she worked. They broadcast a lot of the old Warner Bros. and MGM films back then, and she was always a Clark Gable fan. After I was born, she set me in my playpen in front of the TV while she worked, and I guess I absorbed a lot of old movies that way. Even today, I'll be watching a movie on TCM that I think I haven't seen, and gradually parts of it will seem familiar on a subliminal level. It's a weird feeling.
There is one afternoon I will always remember. Mom and I were at home by ourselves one Sunday when I was about 15. My dad was away on business, and I think my brother and sister were visiting my grandmother in Pittsburgh. Mom and I didn't know what to do with ourselves, so she said, "Get the paper and we'll see what's at the movies." As we scanned the theater listings, my eyes suddenly bugged. "MOM! They're showing GONE WITH THE WIND at the Avon Lake Theatre!"
Now, I had been aware that GONE WITH THE WIND was a pretty special movie from hearing my parents and their friends talk about it. It was a movie that only adults could watch and we kids couldn't go. As I grew more aware of classic movies, I also asked to see GONE WITH THE WIND whenever I saw it playing anywhere in our neighborhood. But my parents would always say, "You wouldn't understand it," "When you're old enough," etc.
But I was 15 now, and Mom thought about it a minute and asked me, "Think you can sit through a 4-hour movie?" "YES!" I answered without even thinking. "Okay, let's go," she said. We had just enough time to catch the matinee showing.
So we got to the theatre, got our popcorn and M&Ms, found some good seats (not hard to do on a Sunday afternoon) and settled in to watch GONE WITH THE WIND. I was not prepared for what followed. After the lights went down, the movie flashed on the screen as the curtains pulled back, and the theatre was filled with Max Steiner's magnificent music, I knew this wasn't just any old movie. This was GONE WITH THE WIND!
I was floored. I had thought old movies were always in black and white, but this was in COLOR! It took place during the Civil War, which was one of my favorite period of American history. And Clark Gable was in it! From the beginning, I was wrapped up in this movie like no other I had seen before.
When the intermission came, I thanked Mom over and over for taking me to see it. She told me, "I remembered when my brother took me to see this movie when I was about your age, and how much I loved it. So I knew you would love it, too." Wow.
Well, I didn't know four hours could pass so quickly. Even then I didn't want it to end -- Scarlett just had to get Rhett Butler back! But Mom and I drove back from the theatre with an awful lot to talk about. And that remains a bond between us to this day. Every time we visit or talk on the phone, a large part of our conversation is about the movies we've seen and how they've affected us.
So, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, MOM! And thanks for all the old movies!
From reading your posts I can tell you are a nice, fair, and thoughtful person so I feel safe in saying I appreciate your post about your mom. My mom was a good person and everyone talks about how loving and warm she was, but unfortunately, I never felt that from her. Not that she wasn't, it's just that she and I never had any kind of bond between us. I loved her as my mom, but she was not the confidante that so many girls have. I often wished she was, and when I wished she was like my girlfriends mothers, it wasn't just teenage thoughts. Now at 62, I feel the same way.
I'm so glad I was able to reverse that feeling with my own daughters, and actually with my sons too.
As for movie moms - I can't think of any who weren't too saccharin sweet for my taste. As for TV - I really loved Roseanne - although tough, she could be loving and understanding when it really mattered. I loved the way she always knew what was going on with her kids, and how they always had that "How did she know?" look on their faces. My kids wore that look a lot too.
Anne
Don't feel bad or guilty, Anne. I had a similar experience with my mother, who was a very cold and rather hurtful person. I didn't catch on until I was a teenager - before that I thought it must be my fault. I'm glad you were able to break the cycle with your own children. I hope I've done the same. I can't imagine how my mother could treat my brother and me as though we were enemies, when having children is such a great experience.
I'm happy I have a daughter to help me celebrate Mother's Day. I would not like to have spent it thinking about all the cruel things my mother did to me over the years. She taught me what kind of person not to be. Maybe in a perverse way she did me a favor. I bet she'd hate the thought that she gave me anything at all.
And it's so difficult to tell other people things like that - people don't want to hear negative things about Mom, as though mothers are not capable of doing anything wrong. I assure you, they are.
I can totally relate to "Stella Dallas" with Barbara Stanwyck and "Madame X" with Lana Turner.
I tear up every time I see those two movies because they closely mirror unfortunate events in my life.
I was curious if any of you would like to honor mother's day by answering any of the two questions below:
23 years after his death, I can still hear my father's voice in my head, yelling at my mother: "Gertrude....LEAVE THE KID ALONE!"
