(Note: It bears mentioning that in yesterday’s post I egregiously left out one of the most terrifying moms I’ve ever encountered in literature: Tilda Swinton brilliantly playing Eva Khatchadourian in “We Need to Talk About Kevin.” And while the movie did not disappoint, with the brilliant but disturbed Ezra Miller as Kevin, the book is much more disturbing. Swinton’s portrayal of the mother of a cold-blooded school shooter is enough to freeze the blood in your veins).
Motherhood is too complicated of a subject to tackle in one little blog post, but here are my top ten picks for most fascinating literary and movie moms. Notice there is not a Carol Brady in sight. I wouldn’t insult your intelligence that way.
Clover from the novel Watership Down. My favorite book as a young adult, this book was about way more than just rabbits. Complicated stuff. Clover is the first doe to bear a litter in the new warren, and one of the hutch rabbits that Hazel decides to set free from the barn. She adjusts to the wild life better than any of the others, and she mates with Speedwell. I remember being so happy for her when she became a mom.
Fly in the movie “Babe.” The surrogate mom we would all want if we ever found out our own had become a plate of bacon.
Charlotte in Charlotte’s Web. Any child who has read and loved this book will remember how wonderful of a mother Charlotte was not only to Wilbur, but to her babies. After she died (and we all cried), Wilbur kept three babies to raise.
Meryl Streep as Jane Adler in “It’s Complicated.” Jane was always cooking delicious food for her children, and even as adults they always somehow ended up home, which is where we love our children, right? Home, eating our food? Her relationship with her children in this movie is as gooey and sweet as the chocolate croissants for which she is famous.
Jane Fonda as Hillary Altman in “This Is Where I Leave You.” Not too relatable, as she got big fake boobs and became a lesbian in her twilight years, but who cares? As Hillary, the only thing she wanted was for her children to sit shiva for their deceased father. The movie deals with the seven days the family gathers at home once again. All of our children home together- what more could a mom want?
Darlene Cates as Bonnie Grape in “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.” I loved Cates’ performance in this movie. So brave and powerful, and sent such a powerful message: none of us ever want to be an embarrassment to our children. But sometimes, we are.
Meryl again, as Joanna Kramer, in “Kramer Vs. Kramer.” Joanna abandoned her young son, and then returned for him in a court battle. We want to hate her, right? But which of us can’t relate to her plight? That of feeling invisible in marriage, to the point of almost disappearing? But still loving our child ferociously?
Meryl yet again, as Sophie, in “Sophie’s Choice.” The choice Sophie made was one that she could never beat. I won’t tell you the choice if you have somehow made it to this point in your life without reading this book or watching the movie. For God’s sake, don’t google it. Watch it.
Shirley Maclaine in “Terms of Endearment” and “Postcards from the Edge.” Shirley is perfection, as both deeply flawed mothers in these two movies, who simply want to love their children. The opening scene in “Terms” is one we can all relate to: going into our infants’ rooms late at night because they’re not crying, and we think they’re dead. A dark moment made hysterical by Maclaine.
And finally: Queen Gertrude from Hamlet. Sure, after her husband’s death she remarried her brother-in-law, which at that time was incest. Sure, she chose hot sex over her grieving son. But in the end, she was what we all are:
A mom who loved her kid above all else.
