Mommie Dearest

I first saw this movie when I was eight years old. It was on tv one night and it completely sucked me in. I was in total awe of what I was watching and these many years later nothing has changed. It’s paced like a horror movie. In fact, when you ask people who have only ever heard of the movie and not seen it, most of them will say they thought it was a horror movie. A biopic of one of cinema’s greatest stars that is at times more terrifying than anything Alfred Hitchcock or Wes Craven could have concocted. And what an interesting and sort of fabulous way to depict abuse, a never-knowing-what-to-expect nightmare. And yet it’s made like a classic old Hollywood film. Put this movie in black and white and say it’s from the 1940s and would anyone bat an eye or call it bad? This film has taken credit for ruining Faye Dunaway’s career, but should it? I mean her face is so synonymous with Joan Crawford now that this movie which came out after Joan’s death is now a major part of Joan’s legacy. Looking at pictures of Joan Crawford almost sends a chill down the spine cause for a second you’re expecting to see Faye’s version of her. It’s so larger than life to the point it’s created its own life. And what keeps me coming back is the surprisingly amount of love in this movie. Not the kind of love that you’d expect in a movie about a mother and daughter. It’s forced love. Knowing you have no choice but to love someone. It’s love and hate and disgust and resentment and seeking validation and wanting them to be proud but also wanting them to just be there. I don’t think Christina hated her mom, she loved her, but it was a very painful love that at times did not feel requited. Which is ironic when you remember that Joan exclaimed that every child should feel loved and wanted, hence her reason she said for adopting Christina in the first place. This film lets us decide if we think that’s true. Truly one of my favorites. There is no other like it and I will quote this movie everyday until I’m glamorously laid in my coffin like Joan. “Barbara, please! Please, Barbara!”