S
Newswise — Films have been a part of lives for nearly a century and they have become a key form of entertainment for many. We go to the movies, we rent and buy DVDs, and we watch films on television and even on our computers. Beyond their entertainment value, we can see ourselves in films as they offer stories and images that reflect our social worlds, including our families.
Film families may serve as a guide for our behavior or help us understand how families unlike our own are structured and operate. We become 'armchair historians' by watching how films represent or mirror society's views on families through the decades. At the same time we can be critics - commenting on the realism of film representations of family life and the perspectives of its members.
A significant figure in film representations of families is of course, the mother. Whether married, divorced, single or pregnant, whether the center of the story or unseen yet felt, mothers are key to our understanding of how individuals and entire families function in the story. Film representations of mothers allow us to understand how women fulfill their roles and responsibilities as parent: to protect, to nurture, to guide, and to promote their children. At the same time we see them struggle for balance - to fulfill their parenting responsibilities while meeting competing needs in their personal relationships (with husbands, parents, friends), at the workplace, and to retain their personal identity and what they value the most about themselves.
The films that follow are merely fifteen, selected representations of mothers from various points in the last century, and from slightly different perspectives. Each of these films present life stories of conflict - whether conflict with a child or the entire family; conflict with a system on behalf of a child or the family; conflict with a disease; even conflict with her self. In the films we see a woman's strength and resolve and willingness to make sacrifices to accomplish a goal and to overcome the conflict. We explore the resources that the women need and use to overcome adversity - even if it doesn't succeed.
In most cases, the representations of mothers are positive ones. Certainly film history includes mother as weakling, a negative influence, even at times evil (see for example, countless depictions of stepmothers, or a personal favorite, Agnes Cooper in Now, Voyager.). And most of these representations are biological, heterosexual mothers. For a richer display of films about mother types and perspectives, you can explore film books and catalogues such as Movie Mom's Guide to Movies by Nell Minnow and Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide, Internet sites (e.g., the Internet Movie Data Base) - or just start asking friends and relatives for suggestions.
Prof. Walker's "15 Great Movies About Mom"(comments for each movie are available online)
Terms of Endearment (1983, PG)Thirteen (2003, R)Whale Rider (2002, PG-13)To Each His Own (1946, NR)All About My Mother ( Todo sobre mi madre ) (1999, R)Mildred Pierce (1945, NR)Mask (1985, PG)Sounder (1972, G)Losing Isaiah (1995, R)Gypsy (1962, NR)Secrets and Lies (1996, PG-13)Off the Map (2003, PG-13)One True Thing (1998, PG) My Left Foot (1989, R) Ordinary People (1980, PG-13)
RSS