# Mother-son stories **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 28, 2006, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-son-stories/346429 "2006-02-28T06:50:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-son-stories/346429/1 "2006-02-28T06:50:43Z")
In fiction and film there are many, many stories about the following relationships: Father-son Father-daughter Mother-daughter But it seems to me that there is nowhere near the number of stories dealing with the mother-son relationship. I guess that ever since Sophocles wrote _Oedipus Rex_, people have been a little ooky about that one. Off the top of my head, I can think of four films that deal with it: _Psycho Spanking the Monkey Mother_ (Albert Brooks) _A.I._ What does it say about a topic when Albert Brooks is the one who makes the most “normal” film about it? So refresh my memory about other mother-son stories and let’s discuss. (And, for the record, I get along just fine with my mother, thank you.) ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-son-stories/346429/2 "2006-02-28T07:15:15Z")
Hamlet? ET is kind of a mother son story. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-son-stories/346429/3 "2006-02-28T07:21:05Z")
Well, there’s always the somewhat creepy Love you Forever… ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-son-stories/346429/4 "2006-02-28T07:59:20Z")
I think that’s because invariably dramatic mother - (adult) son stories tend to be somewhat negative where the mother is smothering or controlling or otherwise infantilizing her son in some fashion or competing for his affection/love with his girlfriend/wife. There are exceptions, but that’s the usual dramatic/fiction angle. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-son-stories/346429/5 "2006-02-28T08:20:43Z")
> [@astro](#): > > I think that’s because invariably dramatic mother - (adult) son stories tend to be somewhat negative where the mother is smothering or controlling or otherwise infantilizing her son in some fashion or competing for his affection/love with his girlfriend/wife. There are exceptions, but that’s the usual dramatic/fiction angle. I don’t think that’s just a fictional angle either. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-son-stories/346429/6 "2006-02-28T08:38:40Z")
How bout _The Manchurian Candidate_. That one is even more oedipal than Oedipus. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-son-stories/346429/7 "2006-02-28T09:00:17Z")
Throw Mama from the Train (Haven’t actually seen, but going from the name) The Goonies Forest Gump The Sopranos (Season 1) Kindergarten Cop (“How are you supposed to argue with that…?”) ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-son-stories/346429/8 "2006-02-28T09:21:46Z")
_La Luna Le Souffle au Coeur Amor Estranho Amor_ All very Oedipal. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-son-stories/346429/9 "2006-02-28T10:24:57Z")
Stop! Or my mom will shoot! 😉 Sleepwalkers. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-son-stories/346429/10 "2006-02-28T10:36:03Z")
Flirting With Disaster The Isiaih Thomas Story Little Man Tate Back to the Future Portnoy’s Complaint ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-son-stories/346429/11 "2006-02-28T11:35:25Z")
The World According to Garp ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-son-stories/346429/12 "2006-02-28T12:45:45Z")
_Mask_ ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-son-stories/346429/13 "2006-02-28T14:42:57Z")
**Igby Goes Down** very interesting mother-sons dynamic! **Men Don’t Leave** has some elements of this, Jessica Lange left to raise her two sons ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-son-stories/346429/14 "2006-02-28T15:58:58Z")
The Jazz Singer (1937) The Silver Cord (1933) Anna Karenina (1935) Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936) Madame X (1937) White Banners (1938) Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) Dumbo (1941) Sergeant York (1941) The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) None But the Lonely Heart (1944) Anna and the King of Siam (1946) To Each His Own (1946) White Heat (1949) Louisa (1950) Teresa (1951) My Son John (1952) So Big (1953) The King and I (1956) Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) Alexander the Great (1956) The Tin Star (1957) Old Yeller (1958) Ben-Hur (1959) Sons and Lovers (1960) Suddenly Last Summer (1960) Almost Famous (2000) High Fidelity (2000) Requiem for a Dream (2000) You Can Count on Me (2000) About a Boy (2002) ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-son-stories/346429/15 "2006-02-28T16:13:37Z")
_The Passion of the Christ_ ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-son-stories/346429/16 "2006-02-28T16:32:28Z")
We’re a patriarchal culture. You can’t get anything good from Mom and still be a Man. The mythic template goes in such a way that if she’s an influence in your adult life, she’s going to be a bad one, however well-meaning. Stick with Dad; he may be distant and unforgiving, but he’ll help you grow up. Maybe _because_ he’s distant and unforgiving. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-son-stories/346429/17 "2006-02-28T16:54:19Z")
Thanks for the replies. Many films I hadn’t thought of, a few I’ve never seen. I wasn’t looking just for a list, but was interested in some discussion on the various ways the relationship has been dealt with outside the stereotypes. > [@astro](#): > > I think that’s because invariably dramatic mother - (adult) son stories tend to be somewhat negative where the mother is smothering or controlling or otherwise infantilizing her son in some fashion or competing for his affection/love with his girlfriend/wife. There are exceptions, but that’s the usual dramatic/fiction angle. But it’s not just because it’s negative, right? There’s no shortage of dramas in which a father is abusive of his son or daughter or mother of her daughter. But the mother-son thing touches something deeper that we just don’t want to deal with as much. I find it interesting that among the dramas (that I’ve seen), _Little Man Tate_ is one of the few whose primary focus is a mother-son relationship that is not dysfunctional. Now **Walloon** , did you just do an IMDB search? I haven’t seen most of those films, but if you have, perhaps you can expand on some of the more interesting ones. > [@Beware of Doug](#): > > We’re a patriarchal culture. You can’t get anything good from Mom and still be a Man. The mythic template goes in such a way that if she’s an influence in your adult life, she’s going to be a bad one, however well-meaning. Stick with Dad; he may be distant and unforgiving, but he’ll help you grow up. Maybe because he’s distant and unforgiving. That’s interesting! I think you have something there. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-son-stories/346429/18 "2006-02-28T20:46:42Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > I find it interesting that among the dramas (that I’ve seen), _Little Man Tate_ is one of the few whose primary focus is a mother-son relationship that is not dysfunctional. If it’s not dysfunctional, then it’s (usually) not interesting enough to sustain the tension that a movie (or book, etc.) needs to keep people watching. There’s only a few I was able to think of and they aren’t happy stories: _Ordinary People_ _Like Mother Like Son: The Strange Story of Sante and Kenny Kimes_ (TV movie) _The Grifters_ The first two both star Mary Tyler Moore and the second and third are similar stories, in that they both feature mother/son con artist teams. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-son-stories/346429/19 "2006-02-28T21:42:25Z")
[The barefoot book of mother and son tales](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/190122306X/qid=1141162736/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-6137655-9354267?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) has ten folktales from around the world. There is a companion volume of ten father-son tales, too, and of course the same for daughters. Share and enjoy! ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2006, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-son-stories/346429/20 "2006-03-01T02:18:42Z")
What’s Eating Gilbert Grape The Sixth Sense The Life of Brian Riding in Cars with Boys Throw Mamma from the Train [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mother-son-stories/346429.md?page=2)