MovieChat Forums > Mommie Dearest (1981) Discussion > Christina was a Brat!

Christina was a Brat!

posted 7 years ago by jasonmovieguy (182)
14 replies | jump to latest

Joan's abusive behavior was no excuse, but let's examine some of the things that triggered her tirades with her daughter--

1) Christina, especially baby Christina, was not a very loving child. If you listen to John Waters' commentary on the DVD, he even states that this blonde child was albino, pale and very "distant". Joan wanted someone to love her back, and Christina was a very cold soul. She also was a Gemini- and if you understand zodiacs and energies, Gemini's are very mutable and unstable beings (think Donald Trump, Kanye West, Marilyn Monroe). They are masculine, outgoing creatures but they don't like to be tied down. Crawford was an Aries. And although Aries are competitive and also strongly manly in their energy, they also demand and need respect and love in order to give it back. It's hard to get that from a Gemini. In fact- of all the zodiacs, Gemini along with Sagittarius are the least-emotional givers.

2) Christina not eating her meat. AFTER being told by Carol Ann that her mother was going through a difficult time by taking the screentest, Christina acts like a spoiled bytch at the table. Refusing to eat the lunch her mother provided her, she instead snaps off. "I've had my vitamins today- pills!" Back talking will get you slapped. She was ungrateful and rude, for no reason.

3) Christina was a enabler. She purposely barged in on her mother when Joan was trying to have company sexually. No wonder she was sent away to school. Why was she all in her mom's business like that? Girl go back to your room. I didn't blame Joan one bit for sending her off. Christina's behavior was borderline psychotic. What was her obsession with always glaring at her mother with those weird, manly eyes and darting back and forth for no particular reason?

4) Christina mocked her mother. From the mirror scene, to talking to the dolls- Christina knew how to get under Joan's skin- and would manipulate answers as to why she was doing it. "I was play acting." Yeah right. Putting on your mother's expensive tanning lotion? You knew you were being invasive of her things.

5) Christina making LOUD noises the day Joan was meeting with the mayor. "You promised Christina, you promised." But being a Gemini, they are forgetful and careless. Christina didn't seem to mind making all that noise and her mother was of course, fired hours later. It seemed to Christina not make any difference. She did as she wanted, no matter what she was told before.

As she gets older, I suppose she matured. She was innocent in the scene with the guy who made out with her. She was not expelled from school like Joan lies to Barbra about. And she certainly didn't deserve the physical trauma her mother caused her - like wrestling her to the ground, and then sending her off to stay with that nun. But in the earlier years, Christina was not a very loving child. She seemed to like to toy with Joan, and being vulnerable- Joan fought back the only way she knew how. There's always two sides.

[–] breathfromanother (749) 7 years ago

You're using astrology to break all of this down? Really?

Joan wanted to be adored at all times with no questions and when she caught Christina imitating her it was like looking into a mirror and she didn't like what she saw. Rather than looking inward and working on herself she punished Christina by getting rid of her "babies". Maybe Christina was a difficult child, but Joan should've never adopted kids. She wanted them simply as decorations for her public image.

[–] marktayloruk (2378) 3 years ago

Some people should never be allowed anywhere near children. Joan was one of them.

[–] breathfromanother (749) 3 years ago

Amen to that, mark!

[–] Otter (24464) 3 years ago

It's true, Crawford was a textbook narcissist and totally focused on her career, she had absolutely no idea how to meet the needs of growing children, and never made anyone else's needs a priority in her life. She wanted the whole world to worship her, and she believed that husbands and lovers and children were supposed to forget about their own needs and make Joan's quest for universal adoration their #1 priority.

I read "Mommie Dearest" and it rings true. I've dealt with narcissists in real life and that's how they operate - they get incredibly angry if you ever try to meet your own needs and not theirs, even in tiny things like forgetting to take your dresses off of the wire hanger when they came back from the dry cleaners.

[–] Popcorngal (4347) 5 months ago

I am watching the movie now, the rare meat scene was gross. Joan could have had the cook prepare it to her liking. Kids eat things they enjoy.

[–] Otter (24464) 5 months ago

In centuries past, too-rare meat was thought to be a healthy food, it was thought that eating bloody meat prevented and/or treated anemia.

That's why there was an "It's good for you" argument and Joan wouldn't back down, in her narcissistic mind forcing her kids to eat disgusting bloody slices of dead animal meant she was looking out for their health and being a good mother.

[–] Megan254 (159) 5 months ago

What Joan should've done in my honest opinion, was tell Christina that if she takes one bite, chews it, swallows it, and doesn't like it, she'll have the cook fix it to where she likes it. I think that would've been reasonable.

[–] Otter (24464) 5 months ago

Oh, I agree, but back in the 1930s borderline raw meat was supposed to have health benefits that were lacking in meat that had been cooked.

[–] Megan254 (159) 5 months ago

I honestly didn't know that.

[–] Otter (24464) 5 months ago

Yeah, that was sort of Joan's justification for acting so batshit, she thought that nearly raw meat was GOOD FOR YOU and insisting that the child eat something that was practically still moving made her a good mother.

You know the old joke, right? A veterinarian gets a slice of beef that's so rare, that they say "I've seen cows hurt worse than this and live!".

[–] Megan254 (159) 5 months ago

Lol

[–] Wuchak (8110) 3 years ago

You're using astrology to break all of this down? Really?

That's exactly what I was thinking.

[–] lemonhead1 (410) 2 years ago

The Mayor??? Haha! She was meeting with Louis B. Mayer, head of MGM, not the mayor!

[–] jacotodd47 (997) 5 months ago

In real life, too. I was inspired to take a look at what happened, in real life, between Joan and Christina. Everyone there at the time supported Joan. And this is key, because Joan passed in 1977 - meaning the people that spoke well of her had no financial interest. They all said the same thing - Christina was a wannabe but couldn't be - and blamed it on Joan. Plus they consistently said Christina made mountains out of mole hills - taking a few incidents and blowing them completely out of proportion. When one or two people make a comment, one thinks it can be disregarded. But in this case, it was well over fifteen people, and all of them said the same thing.

In my personal opinion, it makes sense to me. All parents and their children have moments. In fact, any multi-decade relationship will have some bad moments. One thinks, in reality, and again it's just my opinion, I think Christina was ticked off about being left out of Joan's Will. She figured she'd get back at her by writing a nasty book, conveniently after Joan had passed.