Deconstructing Images of Mothering in Media and Film: Possibilities and Trends for the Future

for the Future In the collision of reality with mythology, it is the mythology that tends to prevail, as the language and the conventions of the story shape not only what is thought but also what can be said, not only what is heard but what can be understood. (Pope, Quinn, and Wyer, 1990: 445) Over the past two decades, feminist researchers have persuasively argued that representations of the mother in popular culture shape our complex feelings about motherhood (Bassin, Honey and Kaplan, 1994). In fact, the "ideology of mothering can be so powerful that the failure of lived experience to validate often produces either intensified efforts to achieve it or a destructive cycle of self- andor mother-blame " (Pope et al., 1990: 442). From June Cleaver to Murphy Brown, television has obviously had a powerful impact on how maternal roles are valued and played out. These images have been well analyzed and deconstructed. In addition, the film industry and Hollywood directors have also had a significant part to play in what we value and expect of motherhood in North America. However, these big-screen mothers have not been as carefully scrutinized as their television counterparts. This paper explores the mother-as-subject as depicted by the film industry over the past 40 years. In particular, it will outline a cross-disciplinary undergraduate course on Mother-ing andMotherhood: Images, Issues and Patterns that I have developed and teach in the Women's Studies program at BrockUniversity, St. Catharines, Ontario