Archive for September 22nd, 2009

Spoilers ahead! Go away if you don’t want to know about the movie. Come back later.

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We took the boys to see Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs on Sunday. That’s always been one of my favorite kid books, so I was really looking forward to see it. Despite the fact that the movie and the book are quite different, I loved the movie.

But.

In the book, a grandpa tells his grandkids this fanciful tall-tale story, after a pancake breakfast. The kids are there, grandpa is there, mom is there. No dad. I never questioned it, just the dad wasn’t there.

So.

In the movie, the mom is in the first scene, when Flint was a precocious child, desperate to be an inventor. She truly believed in him and gave him his first lab coat, so he could be a real inventor. I sobbed through this entire scene; it was so true to the life I’m living with A right now. Her words have come out of my mouth. And yes, he’s getting a lab coat for Christmas.

And then, once Flint was on his way to becoming an inventor, with the full confidence of his mother, the only person who truly believed in him…they killed her off. Oh no, you don’t actually see it, she’s just gone and referred to later.

Really? It was necessary to kill off the mother yet again? Let’s list:

• Bambi: mother shot and killed
• Dumbo: mother chained for protecting her child
• Finding Nemo: mother eaten in the first 90 seconds of the movie
• Beauty and the Beast: dead mother
• The Lion King: mother cowed into subservience to Scar
• The Little Mermaid: dead mother
• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: dead mother, evil stepmother
• Sleeping Beauty: dead mother
• Cinderella: dead mother, evil stepmother

Are we seeing a pattern here? The Incredibles is the noticeable exception, and not surprisingly is my favorite animated movie. Bambi and Dumbo will never enter my house.

I am so sick of the dead mother cliche in animated movies. Sick of it. According to Animated Movie Law, I’m going to get A on track to his dreams and die off. Because that’s what happens in animated movies. It’s the Noble/Tragic Mother Figure. Why not…mom is now in a padded room because of her dedication to seeing her son thrive? Or mom ran off to the Riviera with the pool boy, only to send a birthday card and Christmas gift? Or…how about something truly different? How about mom survives and gets to see the fruits of her labors??? Is that really so much to ask?

Movie people, stop. Killing off a mother figure has to stop. It’s insulting to the ones raising the kids who want to see your movies. The Incredibles is my favorite animated movie not only because of a fun story line, but because there is a strong mother figure. One who puts her family first, insists on everyone working together, and sees it all through to the end. Make more movies like that, and I’m there.

But from here on out, if there is a dead or missing mom, I’m not going and I’m not taking my kids. Enough.