MovieChat Forums > Smooth Talk (1985) Discussion > Connie's Mother

Connie's Mother

posted 15 years ago by senorjuez
6 replies | jump to latest

WHAT A BITCH! For the first half of the film all she does is argue with Connie and belittle her, as well as show obvious favoritism toward Connie's sister. Yes, Connie was self-absorbed, but the way her mother always yelled at her was ridiculous. I thought it revealed more about her than about Connie. For example, I think she hadn't been laid in about ten years. If you observe how she interacts with her husband, you get the impression they don't have sex.

The dysfunctional relationship between mother and daughter is a relevant part of the film. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy that her mother thinks she is up to no good which makes Connie an easy target for someone like Arnold Friend.

[–] siphoning 14 years ago

Connie's mother is very flawed, but she and her daughter are both at fault for their dysfunctional relationship.. so I don't think really think it's a self-fulfilling prophecy, as if she was asking for Connie to do something horrible. She is a human being, and I don't think she's truly that bad at heart - if she was, she'd have abandoned her family without the tiniest crumb of remorse. That is worse than trying to take care of the house & family, albeit while being a "bitch."

And despite her belief that Connie is up to no good, I believe that if someone dangerous had come to the house while she was there, she would do her best to protect Connie.

[–] Stacehoney72 14 years ago

I have to agree Connie's mother is a bitch, all she did in the beginning of the movie is treat Connie like crap, yep.

[–] Snoopymichele 12 years ago

Connie's mother is just one of those women who had kids young and feels like their life was sucked up from motherhood. But she had two teenage daughters-she could have had a job. And yes, she treated Connie like crap until the very end. My thing was, if she was so suspicious of Connie, why didn't she pick up on Jill's comment about going to see the same movie two nights in a row? Duh. She saw what she wanted to see, and heard what she wanted to hear. But the father wasn't any good either. He was as dumb as they come.

[–] MichaelMovieLoft 10 years ago

Connie's mother is very flawed, but she and her daughter are both at fault for their dysfunctional relationship.. so I don't think really think it's a self-fulfilling prophecy, as if she was asking for Connie to do something horrible. She is a human being, and I don't think she's truly that bad at heart - if she was, she'd have abandoned her family without the tiniest crumb of remorse. That is worse than trying to take care of the house & family, albeit while being a "bitch."

I agree. She wasn't bad at heart. She, like many parents with kids, is frustrated with the generation gap. I went through it with my parents, as did many others, and it still continues today. She did not know how to connect with Connie, but then Connie didn't give her many chances because she was lost in her own little world. Only at the end when Connie gets her little wake up call does the understanding start.

MM

[–] radiantpeanut 9 years ago

You do realize this is based on the short story, Where are you going where have you been? by Joyce Carol Oates? The mother is supposed to be like that. In the short story she even criticizes Connie for looking at herself in the mirror a lot.
http://www.usfca.edu/jco/whereareyougoing/
It would be so nice if something would make sense for a change.
Alice in Wonderland

[–] Jcat44 9 years ago

Watching this now...I have a teenage daughter and all I could think of is "this is what NOT to do even when you're beyond frustrated". It totally shuts down communication and even though we are all at the end of our ropes at times (teens can exasperate you but that is what they do sometimes) we must find those big girl pants and be the nurturing, guiding Mom. Definitely can be hard but watching this made me cringe so much, she basically pushed her out the door with all of her comments :(