Happy Mother’s Day! My family tells me we’ll celebrate by going … where else but… the movies. But if you’d rather stay home and share the day with some Moms made famous by a movie, here are some staff suggestions.
The weather forecast is for dark and dreary, so with that in mind how about some scary Mamas. Who can forget Mrs. Bates in Psycho? Sure she’s dead. But talk about guilt having a long life line. Piper Laurie as Margaret White in Carrie brings new meaning to the term controlling. And, Kathleen Turner as Beverly Sutphin is the ultimate Soccer Mom in Serial Mom. Come to think of it, Sam Waterson, who played her husband in this film now prosecutes women just like her on Law & Order.
Of course there are Mothers who sacrifice for their daughters and sometimes suffer for it. Barbara Stanwyck as Stella Davis comes to mind, as does Louise Beaver’s performance in Imitation of Life. More modern classics include Terms of Endearment, Steel Magnolias and Mermaids. All require a nice big box of tissues by your side.
I'm not quite sure how to characterize Edna Turnblad as played by first Devine and later John Travolta in versions of Hairspray. And Cher as the hard living, flawed Mother in Mask stands as one of my favorite performance.