It’s Mother’s Day, and we all want to tell everyone how great and amazing our mothers are. But are all mothers really great? Filmmakers, time and again, have tried to tell us stories about mommies who are peculiarly bad, to our much discomfort.
So, if you really wish to celebrate Mother’s Day, stay away from these films.
Carrie (1976)
Played by: Piper Laurie
If being telekinetic and being bullied by her classmates are not problematic enough for young Carrie, she has a religious fanatic for a mother who tells her that menstruation is the result of her sinful thoughts. The fundamentalist mother, prone to crazy mood swings locks her in a cupboard, even forces her to pray.
The Manchurian Candidate
Played
by: Angela Lansbury
Manipulative mothers are everywhere, but the one that turns her ‘war hero’ son into a cold blooded assassin is definitely an exceptional breed. Eleanor Iselin’s ruthless political ambitions knows no bounds, so what if her son gets sacrificed at the altar.
Now, Voyager (1942)
Played by: Gladys Cooper
A classic melodrama where a mother is driven to insecurity about her old age, and a late child is kept at ransom. Daughter Charlotte is reduced to a nervous wreck by her mother, and sexual jealousy is on full display. No wonder she wants the daughter to remain a spinster forever.
Psycho (1960)
Played by: Mamma won’t tell you
A mother being unwelcome to his son’s potential girlfriends is not something new, but what about the one that drives him to murder? Norman Bates’ mother is one domineering figure who refuses to let him live freely even in his adulthood. Beware of voices in your head, kid.
Precious (2009)
Played by: Mo’Nique
If 16-year-old Claireece Precious Jones has a father who rapes her and makes her pregnant, she also has a mother who is a raging sociopath, abusing her daughter verbally and physically. A terrible tale of mother who is straight out of a nightmare.
Meghe Dhaka Tara (1960)
Played by: Gita Dey
A daughter dedicating her entire life to her financially strained family, and in turn, she gets exploited by everyone, including her very own mother, a scheming figure with bulging eyes. This is the great Indian family with a heart of darkness, and a mother delivers the injustice.
Ma Mère (2004)
Played by: Isabelle Huppert
If the Oedipal currents in Vishal Bhardwaj’s Haider left you stirred, this film will leave you shaken for sure. Imagine mother and son relationship sexualized by hedonism and libertine philosophy. Yes, sometimes a mother is a boy’s worst friend.
Mommie Dearest (1981)
Played by: Faye Dunaway
Unlike the fictional tales above, this one is especially scary because the film is derived out of real life. Based on a memoir by Hollywood diva Joan Crawford’s adopted daughter, Christina Crawford, it’s about a star dealing with her fading looks, and treating a daughter with hyper cruelty within the confinements of home. Faye Dunaway’s campy villainy as the star mother has become a cult of its own, for no one can forget those wire hangers.
(The writer is a journalist and a screenwriter who believes in the insanity of words, in print or otherwise. Follow him on Twitter: @RanjibMazumder)
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