Post by Cece on May 17, 2007 22:24:37 GMT
Relationships laid bare with television's sons
May 10, 2007
By Lara de Matos, Sally Scott and Debashine Thangevelo
So many mothers and sons on the box, so many poles-apart relationships - from Stewie, the cartoon kid from Family Guy, who has random thoughts on offing his mother, to Clark, the Smallville superhero teen who's a near-perfect mummy's boy.
In fact, if Clark didn't keep on crunching great chunks of the barn, as he struggles to come to grips with all that emerging super-power stuff and dropping lumps of kryptonite all over the house, Smallville's hunky Clark Kent would be every mum's idea of a son worth having.
On the darker side of mother and son cleaving, there is Desperate Housewife Bree and that conniving little sh** Andrew. He tried to emancipate himself, so that he could take over his trust fund. She threw him out on the lonely road to hell. He did dreadful things to keep body and soul together. She took him back - and so it goes on …
And what about little Stewie, of Family Guy fame?
Amid constant thoughts of offing Lois, his mama, he's also quite a fan of God and his "theatrical" powers.
Stewie: "Yes, I rather like this God fellow. He's very theatrical, you know, a pestilence here, a plague there. Omnipotence. Gotta get me some of that."
Of course, it must be very unpleasant to be accident-prone Kenny's mum - of South Park - another episode with hooded Kenny in body-hugging orange, another funeral.
Then there's Bart who, in the much-hyped The Simpsons movie, gets to flash his little bits. Marge will not like this, although dad Homer will probably wonder why he didn't do it first.
One son who has grown up of late is Everwood's jock-brained Bright.
Then, with the current plotline, where his lovely mother, Rose, has been battling cancer, he'd have to. Otherwise the character would be out of sync with this family drama. We already have Ephram filling the grumpy "the whole world's against me" young man slot.
And Malcolm in the Middle? What of Malcolm and Lois? For a start, for years Lois has been living with the thought that she might have cancer.
Way back in the plot, to distract her from their bad reports one term, Malcolm and his bro made her sign a fake letter which delivered the bad news. But, when Malcolm finally graduates, it's looney Lois who gives him the "you could be president one day" speech.
And finally, does anyone want sports writer Raymond's cantankerous mater, Marie?
In Everybody Loves Raymond, she lives across the road. Far too near to her son and Debra, his wife. But then again, Marie has an interesting take on life. For instance, she suggests her son take his wife on a canoe ride: "They can be very romantic".
"I take it you haven't seen Deliverance," replies her long-suffering hubby Frank. - Sally Scott
Like mother, like daughter
They were always ready with a plate of freshly-baked treats when you broke up with your latest boyfriend and as you moved into your troublesome teenage years, they never tired of sending you off on a guilt trip by reminding you how they carried you for nine months and forever gave up their once-sleek figures as a result.
And despite the fact that many of us have long since crossed the threshold into adulthood, for better or worse, our moms continue to be that (sometimes frustrating, but only because you know they're right) voice in our heads, pushing us to be better people. This is true of mother-daughter relationships in particular, as the likes of these television pairs know only too well…
Desperate Housewives: Susan and Julie Mayer: Susan (Teri Hatcher) might be desperate in love, but at least she can always count on Julie (Andrea Bowen) to pull her out of the romance rut. And that's the problem: Susan may be the mother, but given her knack for getting herself into all sorts of sticky situations, Julie's invariably the one who is left to pick up all the pieces. So it's not surprising then that Susan refers to her as "the perfect daughter" - although that looks set to blow up in smoke soon, now that Julie has defied Susan's wishes by getting involved with bad-boy Austin, who just happens to be the nephew of Susan's arch rival, Edie.
Nip/Tuck: Julia McNamara and Erica Noughton: She's a best-selling author and a leading child psychiatrist, so the fact that Erica (Vanessa Redgrave) couldn't put her skills to use when it came to her own family is a paradox that's not lost on her daughter, Julia (Joely Richardson). The two have never had a close relationship and Julia places the blame for all her emotional problems squarely on her mama's cold, uncaring shoulders. Now what we'd really like to know is if this serves as a reflection of the relationship between this real-life mother and daughter pair?
Gilmore Girls: Lorelai and Rory Gilmore: The quintessential show about mother-daughter relationships, Gilmore Girls is brim-full with the kind of quirky scenarios, affectionate moments and angst-driven encounters that one would expect from a single mom living with her equally independent daughter . And the fact that Lorelai (Lauren Graham) gave birth to Rory (Alexis Bedel) when she was all of 16 means that the two share more of a "best friends" set-up than that of adult and child (all the more so because Lorelai doesn't exactly have a rosy relationship with her own controlling - and extremely wealthy - mom).
Of course, the problem with playing both mother and daughter as well as best friends, is that when you don't see eye-to-eye on life and love, you feel like you're being let down on two fronts.
Desperate Housewives: Bree and Danielle van de Kamp: Bree (Marcia Cross) does her utmost to project an image of the picture-perfect family, but with a daughter like Danielle to deal with, it's a task that is proving near impossible, even for the seemingly infallible red-head. Known as Little Miss van de Tramp due to her numerous exploits, there's nothing Danny won't do to shame herself in the hope of hurting Bree - including hitting on her own mother's love interest! Theirs is a classic case of how a mom's obsession with appearances has alienated her children and, typical of a teenager, Danielle is now lashing out.
Judging Amy: Maxine and Amy Gray and Lauren Cassidy: Three women, each from a different generation, all living together under one roof… And the female crew on Judging Amy wonder why they sometimes struggle to get along! As the matriarch, Maxine (Tyne Daly) obviously feels that she had a right to be so opinionated about her offspring's choices in life and while Amy (Amy Brenneman) privately welcomes her mother's advice, their equally pig-headed and somewhat self-righteous natures makes them both reluctant to "give in" to the other.
Meanwhile, the youngest of this three-tier scenario, namely Lauren (Karle Warren), has grown tired of playing faultless daughter and is fast turning into your average pubescent nightmare, complete with cheerleader pom-poms and wilful attitude. - Lara de Matos
Whatever their character flaws and questionable actions, there is no denying that the matriarchs in soaps are wonderful mothers.
Look at Stephanie Forrester, the mother of Ridge, Thorne, Felicia and Kristen in The Bold and the Beautiful. While her heart has always been in the right place, her underhanded actions often betrayed her good intentions. Yes, Stephanie can't help but stick her nose in her children's lives, but really, which mother doesn't? In fact, Ridge, her favourite, has endured the worst of her meddling, but he has made peace with the fact that his mother will never change.
Thankfully, Ridge can breathe a sigh of relief these days as Stephanie is too preoccupied taking care of Felicia, who has terminal cancer, to worry about his love life.
For as long as I can remember, viewers have always had a soft spot for Dr Marlena Evans in Days of Our Lives. When you look past Marlena being possessed by a demon and her killing spree as the Salem Stalker, she is a compassionate mum who dotes on her kids: Eric and Samantha Brady, twins from her marriage to Roman Brady, and Isabella, her daughter with John Black.
And let's face it, being the mother of Samantha, who manipulates people and lies to get what she wants, is enough to send anyone over the edge, even a psychiatrist.
Nikki Newman, in The Young and the Restless, has come a long way from her past as a stripper and prostitute. These days she is regarded as Genoa City's most prominent socialite and the mother of Victoria and Nicholas.
Unlike Stephanie Forrester, who takes matters into her own hands to knock some sense into her children, Nikki takes a more orthodox approach by listening to her kids' problems and imparting her wisdom to them.
On the local front, one of our favourite soap mums is Queen Moroka from Generations.
While this chic mama loves going to the beauty parlour, shopping and doing fashion make-overs on her friends, there is only one person who takes centre stage in her life - her son, Prince. The gushing mother is putty in her toddler's hands and she doesn't mind it one bit.
A pillar of strength to the Matabane family in Isidingo, Agnes is the perfect role model for mothers. Despite coming from humble beginnings, she raised Parsons and Letti well. Should one of them so much as step out of line, like Letti pulling a Winona Ryder, Ma Agnes is always there to keep them in check.
Abigail Rodriquez-Martins comes across as a cold-hearted businesswoman in Scandal, but she laid bare her vulnerable side when she recently made the heartbreaking decision to tell her son Tino that he has been dating his half-sister, Shakira.
That she would sacrifice her relationship with Tino to keep him from making a mistake proves that she is just like any other mother willing to go to great lengths to protect her child. - Debashine Thangevelo
May 10, 2007
By Lara de Matos, Sally Scott and Debashine Thangevelo
So many mothers and sons on the box, so many poles-apart relationships - from Stewie, the cartoon kid from Family Guy, who has random thoughts on offing his mother, to Clark, the Smallville superhero teen who's a near-perfect mummy's boy.
In fact, if Clark didn't keep on crunching great chunks of the barn, as he struggles to come to grips with all that emerging super-power stuff and dropping lumps of kryptonite all over the house, Smallville's hunky Clark Kent would be every mum's idea of a son worth having.
On the darker side of mother and son cleaving, there is Desperate Housewife Bree and that conniving little sh** Andrew. He tried to emancipate himself, so that he could take over his trust fund. She threw him out on the lonely road to hell. He did dreadful things to keep body and soul together. She took him back - and so it goes on …
And what about little Stewie, of Family Guy fame?
Amid constant thoughts of offing Lois, his mama, he's also quite a fan of God and his "theatrical" powers.
Stewie: "Yes, I rather like this God fellow. He's very theatrical, you know, a pestilence here, a plague there. Omnipotence. Gotta get me some of that."
Of course, it must be very unpleasant to be accident-prone Kenny's mum - of South Park - another episode with hooded Kenny in body-hugging orange, another funeral.
Then there's Bart who, in the much-hyped The Simpsons movie, gets to flash his little bits. Marge will not like this, although dad Homer will probably wonder why he didn't do it first.
One son who has grown up of late is Everwood's jock-brained Bright.
Then, with the current plotline, where his lovely mother, Rose, has been battling cancer, he'd have to. Otherwise the character would be out of sync with this family drama. We already have Ephram filling the grumpy "the whole world's against me" young man slot.
And Malcolm in the Middle? What of Malcolm and Lois? For a start, for years Lois has been living with the thought that she might have cancer.
Way back in the plot, to distract her from their bad reports one term, Malcolm and his bro made her sign a fake letter which delivered the bad news. But, when Malcolm finally graduates, it's looney Lois who gives him the "you could be president one day" speech.
And finally, does anyone want sports writer Raymond's cantankerous mater, Marie?
In Everybody Loves Raymond, she lives across the road. Far too near to her son and Debra, his wife. But then again, Marie has an interesting take on life. For instance, she suggests her son take his wife on a canoe ride: "They can be very romantic".
"I take it you haven't seen Deliverance," replies her long-suffering hubby Frank. - Sally Scott
Like mother, like daughter
They were always ready with a plate of freshly-baked treats when you broke up with your latest boyfriend and as you moved into your troublesome teenage years, they never tired of sending you off on a guilt trip by reminding you how they carried you for nine months and forever gave up their once-sleek figures as a result.
And despite the fact that many of us have long since crossed the threshold into adulthood, for better or worse, our moms continue to be that (sometimes frustrating, but only because you know they're right) voice in our heads, pushing us to be better people. This is true of mother-daughter relationships in particular, as the likes of these television pairs know only too well…
Desperate Housewives: Susan and Julie Mayer: Susan (Teri Hatcher) might be desperate in love, but at least she can always count on Julie (Andrea Bowen) to pull her out of the romance rut. And that's the problem: Susan may be the mother, but given her knack for getting herself into all sorts of sticky situations, Julie's invariably the one who is left to pick up all the pieces. So it's not surprising then that Susan refers to her as "the perfect daughter" - although that looks set to blow up in smoke soon, now that Julie has defied Susan's wishes by getting involved with bad-boy Austin, who just happens to be the nephew of Susan's arch rival, Edie.
Nip/Tuck: Julia McNamara and Erica Noughton: She's a best-selling author and a leading child psychiatrist, so the fact that Erica (Vanessa Redgrave) couldn't put her skills to use when it came to her own family is a paradox that's not lost on her daughter, Julia (Joely Richardson). The two have never had a close relationship and Julia places the blame for all her emotional problems squarely on her mama's cold, uncaring shoulders. Now what we'd really like to know is if this serves as a reflection of the relationship between this real-life mother and daughter pair?
Gilmore Girls: Lorelai and Rory Gilmore: The quintessential show about mother-daughter relationships, Gilmore Girls is brim-full with the kind of quirky scenarios, affectionate moments and angst-driven encounters that one would expect from a single mom living with her equally independent daughter . And the fact that Lorelai (Lauren Graham) gave birth to Rory (Alexis Bedel) when she was all of 16 means that the two share more of a "best friends" set-up than that of adult and child (all the more so because Lorelai doesn't exactly have a rosy relationship with her own controlling - and extremely wealthy - mom).
Of course, the problem with playing both mother and daughter as well as best friends, is that when you don't see eye-to-eye on life and love, you feel like you're being let down on two fronts.
Desperate Housewives: Bree and Danielle van de Kamp: Bree (Marcia Cross) does her utmost to project an image of the picture-perfect family, but with a daughter like Danielle to deal with, it's a task that is proving near impossible, even for the seemingly infallible red-head. Known as Little Miss van de Tramp due to her numerous exploits, there's nothing Danny won't do to shame herself in the hope of hurting Bree - including hitting on her own mother's love interest! Theirs is a classic case of how a mom's obsession with appearances has alienated her children and, typical of a teenager, Danielle is now lashing out.
Judging Amy: Maxine and Amy Gray and Lauren Cassidy: Three women, each from a different generation, all living together under one roof… And the female crew on Judging Amy wonder why they sometimes struggle to get along! As the matriarch, Maxine (Tyne Daly) obviously feels that she had a right to be so opinionated about her offspring's choices in life and while Amy (Amy Brenneman) privately welcomes her mother's advice, their equally pig-headed and somewhat self-righteous natures makes them both reluctant to "give in" to the other.
Meanwhile, the youngest of this three-tier scenario, namely Lauren (Karle Warren), has grown tired of playing faultless daughter and is fast turning into your average pubescent nightmare, complete with cheerleader pom-poms and wilful attitude. - Lara de Matos
Whatever their character flaws and questionable actions, there is no denying that the matriarchs in soaps are wonderful mothers.
Look at Stephanie Forrester, the mother of Ridge, Thorne, Felicia and Kristen in The Bold and the Beautiful. While her heart has always been in the right place, her underhanded actions often betrayed her good intentions. Yes, Stephanie can't help but stick her nose in her children's lives, but really, which mother doesn't? In fact, Ridge, her favourite, has endured the worst of her meddling, but he has made peace with the fact that his mother will never change.
Thankfully, Ridge can breathe a sigh of relief these days as Stephanie is too preoccupied taking care of Felicia, who has terminal cancer, to worry about his love life.
For as long as I can remember, viewers have always had a soft spot for Dr Marlena Evans in Days of Our Lives. When you look past Marlena being possessed by a demon and her killing spree as the Salem Stalker, she is a compassionate mum who dotes on her kids: Eric and Samantha Brady, twins from her marriage to Roman Brady, and Isabella, her daughter with John Black.
And let's face it, being the mother of Samantha, who manipulates people and lies to get what she wants, is enough to send anyone over the edge, even a psychiatrist.
Nikki Newman, in The Young and the Restless, has come a long way from her past as a stripper and prostitute. These days she is regarded as Genoa City's most prominent socialite and the mother of Victoria and Nicholas.
Unlike Stephanie Forrester, who takes matters into her own hands to knock some sense into her children, Nikki takes a more orthodox approach by listening to her kids' problems and imparting her wisdom to them.
On the local front, one of our favourite soap mums is Queen Moroka from Generations.
While this chic mama loves going to the beauty parlour, shopping and doing fashion make-overs on her friends, there is only one person who takes centre stage in her life - her son, Prince. The gushing mother is putty in her toddler's hands and she doesn't mind it one bit.
A pillar of strength to the Matabane family in Isidingo, Agnes is the perfect role model for mothers. Despite coming from humble beginnings, she raised Parsons and Letti well. Should one of them so much as step out of line, like Letti pulling a Winona Ryder, Ma Agnes is always there to keep them in check.
Abigail Rodriquez-Martins comes across as a cold-hearted businesswoman in Scandal, but she laid bare her vulnerable side when she recently made the heartbreaking decision to tell her son Tino that he has been dating his half-sister, Shakira.
That she would sacrifice her relationship with Tino to keep him from making a mistake proves that she is just like any other mother willing to go to great lengths to protect her child. - Debashine Thangevelo
