This was kind of a tough list to make since there don’t seem to be a whole lot of scary mothers in the 70s, at least not a lot that present themselves for easy evaluation. Therefore it became necessary to think about other mothers in this decade that in a way that would horrify mothers of today with things they do and think about. Of course it would horrify anyone in the same situations as these mothers have found themselves in the movies largely because life has become a bit horrifying since the 70s if you really think about it. So in truth some of the things they did back then would make people cringe now and wonder just why it was so acceptable in the movies back then and is seen as something way less than acceptable now. So let’s kick back and see just what we can see in these clips.
Here are some of the scariest mothers from the 70s.
5. The Godfather – Connie Corleone
Why Connie? Because for one she’s not ready to have a baby no matter what anyone says. For two, her husband is a cheating pig that beats on her like it’s his job, and three, she has a brother that’s like a pitbull that she actually begs to not kill her husband. Connie is the kind of weak woman in this film that many people should have looked at and been anything but sorry for largely because she didn’t do anything to stop the abuse. Instead she threw a fit and wrecked her own home right before she cowered down and took another beating. But if you really watched her progression through the movies you would fear this woman because she had a killer inside of her all along.
4. Superman – Lara
She shot her baby into space. Let me repeat that, SHE SHOT HER BABY BOY INTO SPACE. There was no other spaceship that could have taken them all? There was no other way to go? This was covered the same way in Man of Steel many years later because after all nothing could have been done when they knew their planet was about to crumble around them. They couldn’t have just gone with their baby, right? This is scary largely for the fact that they didn’t even seem to plan for any other contingency that would allow them to go together. And she went along with it, that’s the worst part.
3. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory – Mrs. Gloop
We have mothers like Mrs. Gloop in this era as well, mothers that will allow their kids to just eat as much as they want and flood their bloodstream with sugar because they can’t deny them anything. And unfortunately back then Mrs. Gloop wasn’t the worst mother, she was just the most notable one in this movie since she might have said ‘no’ a few times but it wasn’t with any conviction and it certainly wasn’t with any authority. But hey, when Augustus fell into the chocolate lake, which must have been horrible when you find out what it really was, she fully expected Wonka to do something.
2. Carrie – Margaret White
Now here is a truly horrible mother but with one saving grace that keeps her from being the worst, she’s absolutely crazy. Whatever was done to make Margaret so batty it had a huge effect on Carrie as well, and that was through torture and rigorous discipline that made the girl a bit nutty herself. It didn’t help though that when Margaret found out that her daughter was able to move things with her mind that she tried to kill her. Carrie managed to defend herself at least a bit, but in the end they both went down. When your mom tries to kill you because she feels you’re evil it means you have some serious relationship issues.
1. Kramer vs. Kramer – Joanna Kramer
Custody battles aren’t particularly scary except for the fact that they are. In cases like this it means that one parent is trying to take away their child from the other parent based on something in their mind that’s telling them that the kid would be better off with them. Joanna and her husband both go on a smear campaign with one another as they try to ruin each other’s good name in an effort to prove who’s the more suitable parent. Unfortunately this does nothing but harm them and their son who has to be in the middle of all of it. Eventually she does admit that he belongs with his father, but the ordeal before that is just, wow.
Moms in the 70s were anything from mean and cruel to downright murderous, but there didn’t seem to be a lot of the latter. It’s almost as though the 70s were afraid to really unleash bad mothers upon the audience.
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