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In the month of May, we celebrate and honor the women who carry the burden of bringing a human being into this world. Most of these women nurture, protect, and most importantly love their children with unconditional devotion. For a man, his first love is his mother and every second Sunday in May, we celebrate and honor these super women, for everything they do and for the love they have shared. In honor of Moms throughout the world we get to witness and experience a true tale of a mother’s love for her son with the upcoming theatrical release of the award winning film The Road to Mother, coming May 24th. As we celebrate and honor all mothers, we take a look back at the different mother and son relationships in film history.
The mother and son dynamic throughout film history have brought us a plethora of emotions such as grief, sorrow, and happiness. Let’s take a look at some of the notable mother and son relationships that have made an impact in film culture.
In Forrest Gump (1994), Sally Field plays the mother of Forrest Gump, played by Tom Hanks, who raises him to be an influential member of society despite his low IQ. Through her love and strength, Forrest makes a significant impact in some of the key American events during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s.
Another film that displays the unconditional love of a mother is the 1985 based on a true life drama Mask starring Cher and Eric Stoltz. Stoltz plays Rocky Dennis, a young man who suffers from craniodiaphyseal dysplasia, a rare bone disorder that causes cranial enlargements. In the film, Cher, who plays Rocky’s mother, faces the hardship of discrimination while caring for an ill son.
While these mothers deal with protecting their sons from the cruelty of society, one mother must protect her son from assassins sent from the future assigned to kill him. In Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Sarah Connor, played by Linda Hamilton, must protect her son, John Connor, played by Edward Furlong, from cyborgs attempting to eliminate him as a teenager so that he does not live to be the great military leader against the machines he is destined to become. Sarah Connor’s character epitomizes the toughness and skill while exemplifying motherly love.
There have been many other mother and son duos in film that have made its way to our hearts. The Disney classic Bambi (1942) is a great coming of age film of a young deer who loses his mother but learns to become an adult as a result. There are other kinds of influential mothers such as Norman Bates’ mother in Psycho (1960).
Mothers, no matter good or bad, will always have the love of their sons through thick and thin. As we have examined the various mother and son relationships in film history, we can conclude that no matter what the obstacle, mothers want the best for their sons and it is up to the son to take that love and be the best man their mother taught and raised them to be. In The Road to Mother, war will separate them but love will bring them back together. The film opens in theaters May 24th.
