![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakBriefly, as today is for obvious reasons spent mostly with the Aged Parents: most of tv and movie tends to be all about the daddies, but there have been some memorable mothers and mother/child relationships. Here are a few - by no means all - of my favourite mothers to grace the screen:
1) Irina Derevko, of Alias. Duh. SpyMommy makes her entrance by shooting her daughter in the shoulder and continues to hurt, help, mindmess with and support Sydney from this point onwards.
2) Joyce Summers, of BTVS. Joyce had the not exactly thankful role of the relation not clueing in her daughter's heroic activities (that old cliché of superhero stories) early on, which is why most of my favourite Joyce scenes after from s3 onwards, after she found out, but I always liked her. Human and apt to make mistakes, no SuperMom she, but undoubtedly devoted to her daughter (later daughters), with a subtle sense of humour and generosity to boot.
3) Ruth Fischer, of Six Feet Under. Now Ruth would drive me up a wall if I knew her in real life, but as a fictional character, I adore her. And her repression and later attempts to open up, her earnest endeavours to deal with her children (in which she usually either overdoes the understanding or the restriction), and her bewildering taste in boyfriends plus relationship with her ghostly husband. Ah, Ruth.
4) Livia, of history and I, Claudius, played in the tv version by the one and only Sian Phillips. Livia is smart, ruthless, with a withering wit usually directed at her family, including and especially the son she wants to see as Emperor. (Tiberius: "Has it occured to you, mother, that it might be you they hate, and not me?" Livia: "Nothing occurs to you that did not occur to me first. That is the affliction under which I live.") And yet she has odd moments of vulnerability. I defy you to watch the scene where she goes from calmly admitting her various murders to asking Claudius (whom she has treated with scorn for most of her life) to make sure she becomes a goddess as to spare her the torments of Tartarus and not feel for her. She is that good.
And now, off to my own mother!
1) Irina Derevko, of Alias. Duh. SpyMommy makes her entrance by shooting her daughter in the shoulder and continues to hurt, help, mindmess with and support Sydney from this point onwards.
2) Joyce Summers, of BTVS. Joyce had the not exactly thankful role of the relation not clueing in her daughter's heroic activities (that old cliché of superhero stories) early on, which is why most of my favourite Joyce scenes after from s3 onwards, after she found out, but I always liked her. Human and apt to make mistakes, no SuperMom she, but undoubtedly devoted to her daughter (later daughters), with a subtle sense of humour and generosity to boot.
3) Ruth Fischer, of Six Feet Under. Now Ruth would drive me up a wall if I knew her in real life, but as a fictional character, I adore her. And her repression and later attempts to open up, her earnest endeavours to deal with her children (in which she usually either overdoes the understanding or the restriction), and her bewildering taste in boyfriends plus relationship with her ghostly husband. Ah, Ruth.
4) Livia, of history and I, Claudius, played in the tv version by the one and only Sian Phillips. Livia is smart, ruthless, with a withering wit usually directed at her family, including and especially the son she wants to see as Emperor. (Tiberius: "Has it occured to you, mother, that it might be you they hate, and not me?" Livia: "Nothing occurs to you that did not occur to me first. That is the affliction under which I live.") And yet she has odd moments of vulnerability. I defy you to watch the scene where she goes from calmly admitting her various murders to asking Claudius (whom she has treated with scorn for most of her life) to make sure she becomes a goddess as to spare her the torments of Tartarus and not feel for her. She is that good.
And now, off to my own mother!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-05-14 02:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-14 02:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-14 04:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-14 04:08 pm (UTC)an article on Lillian I thought you might enjoy! (http://www.slate.com/id/2094243/)
no subject
Date: 2006-05-14 06:32 pm (UTC)It reminds me of Carnivale (also from HBO) in that aspect. There are some superlatively well-written older women there too. I defy you not to be impressed by Rita Sue as the series progresses. Initially, she looks like a shallow character, but there are enormous depths to her. And Ruthie is another favourite of mine.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-14 06:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-14 07:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-14 07:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-15 02:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-05-15 06:25 am (UTC)