The first movie shot in Hollywood was In Old California and it was the year 1910. Hollywood was then a tiny village, and the director D W Griffith decided to shoot his movie there because it had friendly people and great scenery. Women have been involved in the movies since those years. In fact Florence Lawrence is called the First Movie Star from Hollywood, and she was directed by D W Griffith himself.
Movies which are meant for a younger audience have also been made for many years now. The Blue Bird from 1918 is perhaps one of the oldest. It is a sad fact of the movies that many of these movies which kids watch do not have strong mother characters. There have been strong mother characters, but many of these movies were not meant for a younger audience. It is a sort of contrast to real life where in the last 50-100 years, women have gone from strength to strength as their numbers in the workforce has increased dramatically, and breadwinner moms are on the rise. Ideally kids do need a two parent nurturing environment, but ground reality might not be so.
It’s always good for kids to see strong and real mothers in movies that they watch. Strong maternal roles in real life are not getting reflected in ‘reel’ life. It’s not that such roles have not been enacted, it’s just that there could easily be many more. Mothers who not only care and comfort, but are whole people unto themselves. Mothers who make tough choices. Those that are not black and white in their character, those that can be tough on others and on their own children too if a situation demands it. Mothers who might not seem the best at first glance, but do think of their kids. Mothers with their own needs, hopes and goals, who have the gumption to go get what they want.
Movies watched by children, which have strong mothers:
- Elastigirl, from The Incredibles
Image Credit: http://pixar.wikia.com/wiki/File:Gaming-disney-infinity-incredibles-3.jpg
This is a movie where a superhero family is trying to live life like a regular suburban family. The mother is managing well, but the father is coming apart at the seams. The movie shows how a mother can go to incredible lengths to keep her family together. Though she was Elastigirl (and can therefore do the incredible length bit, pretty easily!), the mother is now plain vanilla Mrs. Incredible. This movie has a strong mother character, who does not sit and brood, but just goes out there and does what she has to do, to keep her family safe and together.
- Leigh Ann Tuohy, from The Blind Side
“Blind side poster” by Source. Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Blind_side_poster.jpg#/media/File:Blind_side_poster.jpg
We loved this movie, and our older one watched it with us. It’s not really a children’s movie, but we felt it was a good movie for all of us to watch. The rating is PG-13. The woman who is looking out for the young protagonist in the movie is clear that she will go to great lengths, including speaking to his birth mother (who because of her circumstances is unable to pay attention to her son) and adopting him, so that he can be helped to make something of his life. She has her own fears, but overcomes them because the person to focus on is the boy she is trying to help.
- Valka, from How to Train Your Dragon 2
Image Credit: https://www.howtotrainyourdragon.com/explore/vikings/valka
Both parts of HTTYD movies were huge hits. The second part had Valka, the mother of the main protagonist, Hiccup, showing up for the first time. It showed her as a strong woman who chose to live away from her family because of a cause she believed in – dragons. These movies leave a strong impression on kids. The characters are remembered, for kids go back to play the dragon games based on these movies. Though part 1, barely mentioned the mother, part 2 depicts Valka as a woman who advocates peace between Vikings and the dragons. In spite of not being around to mother her son Hiccup through his growing years, she helps him understand dragons, creatures they were supposed to hate as Vikings, but cannot help loving and caring for, and over this shared love they bond.
- Elinor, from Brave
Image Credit: http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Merida?file=Queen_Elinor-Merida-child.jpg
Disney movies are famous for their missing mothers, fathers and sometimes both parents! One of the longest standing Disney producers, Don Hahn said that it was a ‘story short hand’, where bumping of the parents put kids in a spot and they are forced to grow up real fast, thus fitting the movie into the running time of 80-90 mins. Whatever be their reasons, it is good for kids to watch movies, where parents are alive, supportive and doing their jobs. Well, Brave from Pixar has a protagonist with both parents alive and doing their jobs. The mother, Elinor, is one who takes her duties as a ruler and queen very seriously, and she is the deuteragonist in the movie. Just as in real life, kids rebel against what are considered as their duties by parents, the protagonist rebels wanting to make her own choices. The movie goes on to show how the imbalance that sets in, is eventually set right by the protagonist, albeit with help from other characters.
Author Bio:
George Schalter loves being a dad. He and his wife share the joys and responsibilities of bringing up their two children. As believers of good all round education, they spend a lot of time playing with their children and spending time outdoors. As George is the writer in the family, he blogs at Educational Kids Games.
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