skimpole wrote: ↑June 30th, 2023, 1:59 am
I can't help but notice that this thread is distinctly longer than the best/worst fathers thread
Interesting: I watch a lot of 50s and 60s westerns and based on my viewing there are many more bad-fathers than there are bad-mothers.
In many, the mother is the one that comes to the recuse, protecting their kin from the father. Note that stepfathers are portrayed more in a negative light than a positive one. Of course, there are exceptions.
Bad mothers. Yeah. Like Shaft We all knew he was a bad mother(Shut your mouth!)
Step fathers? sure. Both them and stepmothers get the short shrift in old TV shows and films. Regardless of genre. And for a joke, my wife(my daughters' stepmother) whenever there was a dust up between one or the other or both would threaten to pack them off to a boarding school.
They've seen both versions of The Parent Trap so they got the joke. And raised by a stepfather since I was seven I never got the idea of why on TV shows and movies they were made to look so hateful and abusive. I can honestly say my stepfather never raised a hand toward me. Unless, of course, I really asked for it. Which I'll humbly admit was more often than the hand was raised.
skimpole wrote: ↑June 30th, 2023, 1:59 am
I can't help but notice that this thread is distinctly longer than the best/worst fathers thread
Interesting: I watch a lot of 50s and 60s westerns and based on my viewing there are many more bad-fathers than there are bad-mothers.
In many, the mother is the one that comes to the recuse, protecting their kin from the father. Note that stepfathers are portrayed more in a negative light than a positive one. Of course, there are exceptions.
Bad mothers. Yeah. Like Shaft We all knew he was a bad mother(Shut your mouth!)
Step fathers? sure. Both them and stepmothers get the short shrift in old TV shows and films. Regardless of genre. And for a joke, my wife(my daughters' stepmother) whenever there was a dust up between one or the other or both would threaten to pack them off to a boarding school.
They've seen both versions of The Parent Trap so they got the joke. And raised by a stepfather since I was seven I never got the idea of why on TV shows and movies they were made to look so hateful and abusive. I can honestly say my stepfather never raised a hand toward me. Unless, of course, I really asked for it. Which I'll humbly admit was more often than the hand was raised.
Sepiatone
As for the 'why' related to stepfathers (and to a lesser degree stepmothers), mostly being portrayed in a negative light: was it to discourage divorce?
Based on my recall (which could be way off), a stepparent that was the result of a divorce was portrayed worse than those that were the result of a death of a spouse. Of course, maybe the 'why' is as simple as the writer of the show had some personal negative experiences with a stepparent (like they were sent off to a boarding school!).
Allhallowsday wrote: ↑June 30th, 2023, 12:44 pm
What about BAD and WORSE?
Yea, two rotten eggs for the price of one! But I feel you have the photos out of order; Mrs. Holly was the worst mother of the two since she was willing to have her daughter become a vegetable to retain her style of living for her son and herself, while Mrs. Venable didn't go that far as it relates to her son (but worst Aunt ever is a title she may own).
Allhallowsday wrote: ↑June 30th, 2023, 12:44 pm
What about BAD and WORSE? ...
Yea, two rotten eggs for the price of one! But I feel you have the photos out of order; Mrs. Holly was the worst mother of the two since she was willing to have her daughter become a vegetable to retain her style of living for her son and herself, while Mrs. Venable didn't go that far as it relates to her son (but worst Aunt ever is a title she may own).
Well they are both rotten mothers each for her own reason. "...Sebastian and Violet... Violet and Sebastian..."
Allhallowsday wrote: ↑June 30th, 2023, 12:44 pm
What about BAD and WORSE? ...
Yea, two rotten eggs for the price of one! But I feel you have the photos out of order; Mrs. Holly was the worst mother of the two since she was willing to have her daughter become a vegetable to retain her style of living for her son and herself, while Mrs. Venable didn't go that far as it relates to her son (but worst Aunt ever is a title she may own).
Well they are both rotten mothers each for her own reason. "...Sebastian and Violet... Violet and Sebastian..."
Violet Venable is just as creepy as Humbert Humbert.
Allhallowsday wrote: ↑June 30th, 2023, 12:44 pm
What about BAD and WORSE?
Yea, two rotten eggs for the price of one! But I feel you have the photos out of order; Mrs. Holly was the worst mother of the two since she was willing to have her daughter become a vegetable to retain her style of living for her son and herself, while Mrs. Venable didn't go that far as it relates to her son (but worst Aunt ever is a title she may own).
I agree that Mrs. Holly (Mercedes McCambridge) was a worse mother than Violet Venable (Katherine Hepburn), who was indeed an awful, awful aunt. The movie softens her up a bit in the end, having her lose touch with reality when the truth about Sebastian's death is revealed. In Tennessee Williams's original play, she screams "Cut that story out of her brain" and tries to hit Catherine with her cane after Catherine reveals what happened "last summer."
Violet's attachment to her son was beyond maternal, but it's hard to believe that she was oblivious that Sebastian was homosexual. His study was decorated in the most clichédly gay style!
Allhallowsday wrote: ↑June 30th, 2023, 12:44 pm
What about BAD and WORSE?
Yea, two rotten eggs for the price of one! But I feel you have the photos out of order; Mrs. Holly was the worst mother of the two since she was willing to have her daughter become a vegetable to retain her style of living for her son and herself, while Mrs. Venable didn't go that far as it relates to her son (but worst Aunt ever is a title she may own).
I agree that Mrs. Holly (Mercedes McCambridge) was a worse mother than Violet Venable (Katherine Hepburn), who was indeed an awful, awful aunt. The movie softens her up a bit in the end, having her lose touch with reality when the truth about Sebastian's death is revealed. In Tennessee Williams's original play, she screams "Cut that story out of her brain" and tries to hit Catherine with her cane after Catherine reveals what happened "last summer."
Violet's attachment to her son was beyond maternal, but it's hard to believe that she was oblivious that Sebastian was homosexual. His study was decorated in the most clichédly gay style!
Yes, the set designers for SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER must have had fun creating Sebastian Venable's study.
Worst? How about Dawn Davenport in Female Trouble? I saw Pink Flamingos this morning and don’t recall if Divine was a mother in that one though it may count? I think she had a son and the guy slept with the spy and that’s how the Marbles couple got Divine’s address.
What about Lupe Velez in Where East is East? Not only did she abandon her child but she tried to seduce her daughters fiancé. What a disjointed movie too because the daughter just completely forgets/ seems oblivious to the mother doing this in the second act for some reason.
