Realistically, there’s no definitive answer as to the right or wrong way to be a mother.
But that doesn’t mean movies don’t fall into the trap of stereotyping them.
These are the things movies always get wrong about being a mom.
1965’sThe Sound of Musicpresented it as an actual musical, complete with dancing on hillsides.
Movies like the 2007 filmJoshuaor 2014’sThe Babadookturn a mother’s difficulties into terrifying affairs.
In the bookThe Mommy Myth, excerpted forMs.
They say, “At best, these mothers are pitiable.
This false representation only serves to divide us.
The family comedy isn’t safe, either.
Unfortunately those truly caring and loving foster parents often lack representation in the media.
But it isn’t all that bad.
Roni Cohen-Sandler, psychologist and co-author ofI’m Not Mad, I Just Hate You!
A New Understanding of Mother-Daughter Conflict, says in an excerpt forPsych Centralthat problems arise from lack of communication.
No body swap required.
Take 2016’sThe Edge of Seventeen, for example.
Perhaps it has something to do with single mothers' need to prove their self-sufficiency.
That doesn’t make them inherently selfish, of course.
But how interesting would a Hollywood production be if a woman facing social hardship were drama free?
The movie poster itself shows her weary face covered in kids' stickers.
But of course she is, because working women know nothing of child rearing.
Obviously, this isn’t true.
According to Hollywood, it’s a recipe for total home annihilation.
Mothers have no life or purpose outside of being a mother
The perfect mother doesn’t exist.
Or, more specifically, there’s no formula for who or what the perfect mother is.
This pressure isn’t relegated to just home life, either.
Gwendolyn is the quintessential PTA mother.
But Gwendolyn is a lie.
10% of what remains is left to “other local.”
They also volunteer with the school, as well as local Health Departments.
So less Stepford, more superhero.
So why do movies particularlyDisneyfilms insist on portraying stepmothers as evil incarnate?
“My stepdaughter deserves a better version of her good stepmother.
I deserve a better version of me to be told to my stepdaughter.”
2005’sMonster-in-Lawintroduced us to Viola Fields, the future mother-in-law that none of us want.
She’s judgmental, combative, and a little murderous.
And she’s representative of the kind of relationship many women fear they’ll have with their own in-laws.
In-laws are often vilified, unnecessarily so at times.
