MovieChat Forums > Tallulah (2016) Discussion > Baby Maddie's mother (SPOILERS)

Baby Maddie's mother (SPOILERS)

posted 8 years ago by oneseat
5 replies | jump to latest

When I watched the two scenes early in the movie when the baby's mother Carolyn was a drunken, irresponsible, and seemingly unloving mother, only interested in being confirmed as sexy by a man, I thought that she seemed irredeemable and was a stock villain for central casting. Later, when she sobered up and found herself frantically trying to find the baby, her character got the added dimension of someone whose husband would leave her if she didn't seem responsible and loving. Still later, she is presented as actually caring about her child.

I would have bought this storyline more if there had been small indications in the earliest scenes that she had a maternal instinct hidden inside. For example, she could have pulled Maddie away from the balcony, spilling her drink on the way. Or when she came back to the hotel after her failed date, she could have kissed Maddie before falling into a stupor.

I just wanted to believe that Carolyn's transformation didn't come out of nowhere.

[–] elliest_5 8 years ago

I buy it. In the first scene she's clearly already drunk. She shows only one side of her, which is the insecure depressed woman, who sees the child as the reason her feminine attractiveness has suffered. At that point she hates the child and wants nothing to do with it. That doesn't mean that she hates the child at all times, she's just having a breakdown. It doesn't mean that she fully loves the child at all times either, she's clearly very troubled and goes through different phases.

To be honest, I've heard even "normal" new parents having a similar breakdown at some point, so it didn't strike me as unbelievable.

~*~

[–] TxMike 8 years ago

Keep in mind the title of the movie, it is NOT "Maddie's Mother Turns Around."

I know it may sound flippant but I am making a point, the story is about Tallulah and how a random encounter had a great affect on her and was the catalyst for deciding to turn her life into something productive. So to me it isn't important how realistic Carolyn's change was.

..*.. TxMike ..*..
Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes not.

[–] muge-1 8 years ago

If the mom had shown hints of loving Maddy, then Lu wouldn't have taken her... and there'd be no plot.

Man is the Only Animal that Blushes. Or needs to.
Mark Twain

[–] MysticGoddess327 8 years ago

Carolyn had Postpartum Depression. She'd always said she felt disconnected from Madison. This was exacerbated by her husband not liking her as a woman or as a mother. The combination of his verbal abuse and her guilt over her child led to the mess we saw at the beginning of the movie. It wasn't until Maddie went missing that she was able to push through that and realize she did care about her daughter.

[–] trisul 8 years ago

She explains that in the movie, she was stuck in this resentment of her daughter and had no motherly feelings ... until she lost her.