The Martyr Mothers of Darren Aronofsky
Tuesday, September 26, 2017 at 2:15PM by Jorge Molina
With his latest film mother!, Darren Aronosfky immerses us in a hellish landscape of biblical allegories, nightmarish house parties, and scenery-chewing performances. It's his most polarizing film so far, and he takes the audience to emotional and visceral places he hasn’t before (hello, newborn baby).
And yet, something remains hauntingly familiar about it. Aronofsky has mommy issues. Throughout his filmography, mothers are figures of unflinching and painful devotion. Women who lose themselves in the love they have to give, a trait which ultimately becomes their doom. They are designed to bestow upon...
They are martyrs.
In Requiem for a Dream, Ellen Burstyn plays Sarah Goldfarb, a lonely and forgotten mother who craves the attention of her drug addict son (Jared Leto) and clings to relevance when she receives an invitation to attend a game show. Her utter desperation to be seen leads her to a dangerous addiction to diet pills, which grows increasingly direr as the movie progresses. Her ardent but self-destructing dedication proves to be fatal.
In Black Swan, Barbara Hershey is Erica Sayers (also credited as The Queen, no arguments there), a woman who channels her former passions and frustrated ballet career into her infantilized daughter, Nina (Natalie Portman). Erica’s day-to-day revolves solely around her daughter; she quite literally sacrificed her own career so that Nina would be successful. She both provides and resents the attention that Nina is getting. Her fervent, if misguided devotion may translate into painstaking control, but, in a wicked way, it’s doomed mother’s love
And, finally, in this year’s mother!, Jennifer Lawrence plays what might be Aronofsky’s most literal and vicious interpretation of his maternal trope so far. Whatever interpretation you want to give the movie, Lawrence (as a character who has no given name, only "mother") plays a woman that is fully, unflinchingly, and painfully devoted to her husband, her home, and her family. She is a source of life, of love, of inspiration. She rebuilds. She is a muse. With her bare feet, her draped dresses, her resolute loyalty, she is a Mother, with a capital M. (Aronofsky won't even give her that in the lowercase title.)
And it’s all for nothing. Everything she creates is taken from her. Her home, her husband, and her child are destroyed, rampaged, invaded. The love she gives is repaid with savagery.
(It’s worth mentioning that in this same movie, Michelle Pfeiffer plays a second mother who is unlike any other in the Aronosfky cinematic universe. She is the only mother that willingly takes instead of giving, but that is perhaps for another piece.)
For Aronofsky, all the love, devotion, and sacrifices that a mother makes for either her home, her family, or her own survival mean nothing. Sarah’s need for love turns into an addiction that turns into electroshock therapy. Erica’s sacrifices and devotion turn into manic helicopter patenting that turn into a psychotic breakdown. Mother’s unflinching affection turns into a home invasion that turns into a literal biblical sacrifice.
These women are not acknowledged. Their pain is lonely and their love never returned. They are doomed to suffer for others. Does Aronofsky love to see them bleed?
Reader Comments (10)
Complicated or Monster Moms my favourite cinematic role.Having a fraught relationship with my mother has me probably read more into these women than I should.
Not to mention Emma Watson's Ila in "Noah," whose birth of twins leads to the climactic spiritual conflict in the film. She wasn't doomed in a way that Nina or Sarah Goldfarb or Lawrence's mother was, but she had to be prepared to make sacrifices.
I just need to reiterate for the umpteenth time that Ellen Burstyn's performance is the best thing I have seen anywhere on anything.
Always hunted by the red dress
Ellen's breathtaking role was by far the best in show!
Ellen deserved the Oscar.
jorge, great article! fun to see those characters all put together. i admire that he has such huge love for all those characters. their love may not be returned in the narrative, but it's returned by aronofsky in his admiration for and attention to them.
Darren Aronofsky’s middle name is Aaron.
There's a method to Aronofsky's mother madness. He's a huge admirer of radical feminist philosopher Susan Griffin and her book "Woman and Nature" in particular. He even held a private screening of "mother!" for her, to which she reacted favorably. I think your idea that he somehow "enjoys" putting these female characters through hell is wide off the mark, unfair and is a willful misreading of his work and his intentions.
two of the worst oscar choices ever: Ellen Burstyn for not winning Best actress for this. Just incredible. Julia Roberts was big box office - time to reward her. And Ian KcKellen for not winning for "Gods & Monsters" - another stupid decision.
question - any chance for John Travolta in "Gotti" this year?