Mommie Dearest, directed by Frank Perry, was released in 1981. The plot
of the movie revolves round the life of a great actress, Joan Crawford
as seen through the eyes of her adopted daughter Christina. She had to
bear the insurmountable pressure of stardom and her mother's
expectations as she proceeded in the footsteps of her mother.
The celebrity mother tries to fill the emptiness of her life by
adopting a girl child and it is this adopted daughter who pens down the
agonies of the celebrity mother and how she struggles against the forces
such as men, alcohol and showbiz.
The roles of the mother-daughter combination, played by Faye Dunaway
and Diana Scarwid were instant hits. The harsh picture of the life of a
glamour icon, the reality, the heartburns and the struggles of a mother
behind the closed doors, trying to balance her profession and personal
life, lends it the inevitable charm of realism.
The crudity of the way a mom handles her adopted kid daughter, the
yelling and the bashing, the maniac act put forth by a serious actress
like Faye makes you shiver and remind you time and again how lucky you
are to have such a wonderful mother as yours.
