Skip to main content

The Lost Daughter - An Ode to Motherhood and Flawed Mothers

 Mothers are always praised and glorified for the sacrifices that they make and are called supermoms, if they find a balance with their family and work life. Movies have always portrayed mothers as either sacrificial or supermoms. But do all the mothers choose the same road? 


Maggie Gyllenhaal's 'The Lost Daughter' speaks for all the flawed unnatural mothers. People who become mothers at an early age, who feel traumatized by the whole new version of themselves, who live in fear of losing their original identity in the run for creating one for their children, who make choices selfishly regardless of their children's needs. Leda in the movie, in fear of losing her individuality in the love for her children, takes a decision to focus on her career. She finds it as an amazing experience and embraces everything that she desired, peeling off the perfect mother image that she is supposed to keep. 


When women are considered to have innate motherness in them, people don't realise that not all the women can be "perfect mothers". Flawed mothers and their maternal guilt, and their struggle between the desire to live on one's own terms and to live for someone else, needs a representation. 

Leda is conflicted about being liberated from the responsibilities of parenthood and wracked by guilt for the price she paid for that freedom. The suffocating claustrophobic motherhood that young Leda experiences with an unsupportive husband contributes to her momentous decision to choose herself.   She upends the centuries of self- sacrificing image of mother and chooses herself because mothers are individuals with flaws, and everyone cannot be supermoms.


Leda and Nina in the movie demands to look deep into the problematic depiction of mothers and motherhood in our social structure. Leda and Nina haven’t simply resigned to the fact that they’re emotionally detached, they’re caught in a catastrophic cycle of wanting to abide by, but also wanting to break free. In Leda, Nina can see her future, and it terrifies her. And in Nina, Leda can see her past. Unlike the orange peel, this chain will likely remain unbroken. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Laapataa Ladies aka Ladies Lost in Patriarchy

Kiran Rao’s “Laapataa Ladies” is a social satire that offers entertainment as well as empowerment. The movie humorously portrays the grave realities of a patriarchal society with the help of a simple story and background. As the name and the trailer suggested, it revolves around two newly married brides who get lost on the way to their in-laws’ home. While Jaya, whom Deepak accidentally brings home instead of his wife Phool, seizes this opportunity to follow her dream, Phool undergoes profound personal growth during the time. This period shows multiple women discovering themselves. Some learn to do things that they love for themselves while others learn to explore and embrace their talents.  Even though Jaya and Phool are two contradictory characters, they are both equally victims of patriarchal conditioning. While Jaya is ready to break and act against all the norms of society from the very beginning by uttering the name of her husband to everyone’s disbelief, Phool learns to do t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Twenty-Five

They say twenty-five matters,  25 is the age where you are asked to be responsible,  You are supposed to bring home food,  It's an age where your uterus has to be fukcing good,  It is an age where you have to be fair And good as a nymph,  It is when your wallet should have a five-figure sum.  They say at twenty-five,  You will be twenty-five times purer than ever,  To breed and nurture,  No dear not your dreams, but your children's.  But that's not it.  I SAY THAT IS NOT IT.  It is an age where you realize,  You no longer have the desire to live the monotonous life,  You no longer feel alive at a celebration,  You find yourself as the perfect company,  You don't care if you die today or tomorrow,  You want to puke at people who restrict you from doing things.  You no longer want to be surrounded by people,  And your skills are your only saviours.  At 25, you no longer care if people love ...
2 comments
Read more