SCREENING MOTHERS: Representations of Motherhood in Australian Films from 1900 to 1988
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SCREENING MOTHERS: Representations of motherhood in Australian films from 1900 to 1988 CAROLINE M. PASCOE B.A. (Honours) M.A. UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 1998 ii The work presented in this thesis is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, original, except as acknowledged in the text. The material has not been submitted, either in whole or in part, for a degree at this or any other university. CAROLINE MYRA PASCOE iii ABSTRACT Although the position of mothers has changed considerably since the beginning of the twentieth century, an idealised notion of motherhood persists. The cinema provides a source of information about attitudes towards mothering in Australian society which is not diminished by the fact that mothers are often marginal to the narrative. While the study recognises that cinematic images are not unconditionally authoritative, it rests on the belief that films have some capacity to reflect and influence society. The films are placed in an historical context with regard to social change in Australian society, so that the images can be understood within the context of the time of the making and viewing of the films. The depictions of the mother are scrutinised with regard to her appearance, her attitude, her relationship with others and the expectations, whether explicit or implicit, of her role. Of particular significance is what happens to her during the film and whether she is punished or rewarded for her behaviour. The conclusions reached after analysis are used to challenge those ideas which assume that portrayals of motherhood are unchangeable and timeless. The study examines Australian feature films from 1900 to 1988. To augment its historical focus, it uses sociological, psychoanalytical and feminist theoretical writing with special relevance for motherhood and mothering practice. Looking at areas of importance to mothers, it comprises an exploration of what makes a mother good or bad; the significance of the birth of female and male children; the relationship of mothers to daughters; the mother's sexuality and the metaphor of the missing mother. It shows that images of motherhood on screen are organised according to political, social and economic requirements in the community. Further, films frequently show mothers in traditional roles which are useful for maintaining notions of patriarchal privilege in society. The analysis exposes stereotypical depictions of motherhood which are often inaccurate, unfair and oppressive to women. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr Judith Keene from Sydney University for her unfailing support over the last four years. In particular, for the meticulous care she showed in reading my work at various stages through its development and also because she always made herself available to me, despite her own extremely heavy work schedule. She has become a friend as well as adviser and I value our discussions, particularly about shared experiences of the difficulties and joys of mothering. My co- iv supervisor, Dr Penny Russell, also from Sydney University, deserves my gratitude for her talent in the concise evaluation of my research. She enabled a meaningful conclusion to be drawn from the often jumbled thoughts I submitted to her. Jenny Pittman, a linguist from Southern Cross University has always been there to help me in times of crisis, with her analytical mind and capacity with the written word. Her suggestions and encouragement have been appreciated. Possibly the most enjoyable years of my life have been spent in preparation of this thesis. I want to thank my husband, Kevin, for his assistance. He has allowed me the luxury of being able to proceed with my work without the interruption of daily domestic chores. He has coped, for the first time in thirty-five years, with the tasks of washing, ironing and cleaning. He has also been a sounding board for my thoughts in an area in which he has minimal interest as well as cheerfully and carefully attending to arduous proofreading and questions of grammar. I would also like to acknowledge my two children, Clare and Ben, for being the catalyst for my interest in the topic. It was the ambivalence of my feelings towards them that began my thinking about the amazing condition of motherhood that most women experience. How do images in society contribute to the acceptance of a condition where it is possible to love our children so much to willingly give our life for them one minute, and to want nothing more than to escape from them the next? Finally, I want to thank Sydney University for allocating me the APA grant that has made it possible for me to complete this research. Beyond that, it has provided the venue to fulfil an ambition I had nearly forty years ago, when as a young girl of sixteen I walked into the impressive Main Quadrangle and resolved that one day I would be part of the university community. Times have changed and thankfully, today it is not uncommon for female children to be given the same opportunity as their brothers. With the completion of this thesis, a dream which I have clung to throughout domesticity and motherhood has at last been realised. v TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. introduction 1 2. literature review: theories of motherhood and motherhood in film 27 3. good mother, bad mother, and the changing boundaries 59 4. congratulations — it's a boy! 104 5. mothers and daughters: bonding and separation 145 6. motherhood and sexuality: madonna or whore? 196 7. the place of the mother in films of the bush 243 8. conclusion 291 9. filmography 308 part one: Australian feature films part two: Australian short films part three: foreign films 10. bibliography 319 general references film theory references 1 chapter 1 introduction Girls just wanna be mums. The celebrity mothers' club is growing bigger. Trading the body for the baby is the latest move for women who have everything that fame and fortune can buy.1 In 1900, when the first flickering figures on a large screen marked the beginning of the moving picture industry, Victorian ideas of motherhood prevailed in Australian society. Representations in journals, newspapers, advertising and literature reinforced the belief that mothers were at the heart of domestic life, nurturing their families without concern for their own needs or desires. Their place was in the home, the perfect environment in which to undertake responsibility for the spiritual and physical development of children. Outside, in the public sphere,2 men were contemplating ways to encourage mothers to do their national duty by producing more offspring. In 1903, for instance, the New South Wales Royal Commission on the Decline of the Birth Rate was set up. It signalled pronatalist governmental intervention in areas of abortion, contraception and infant preservation.3 Social, political and economic pressures combined to extol the virtues of motherhood and women's 'natural' role in a nuclear family home.4 By the end of the 1980s, the family unit had undergone a transformation. Women were employed outside the home and had secured a public career before starting a maternal one. With the availability of the contraceptive pill and the legalisation of abortion, they had gained control of their reproductive capacities. Mothers lived in a greater variety of 1Alan Attwood, 'Girls Just Wanna Be Mums', Sydney Morning Herald, 23 February 1998, p. 11. 2Ann Game and Rosemary Pringle argued that the dichotomy of the public/private sphere ignored the existence of both men and women in all areas. Instead, they proposed the idea of 'two cultures': one, a heterosexual culture, where women mix with men and the other a 'women's culture'. While noting their point, I use 'public sphere' to denote the space of power which traditionally has been a male realm, although not their inevitable or rightful area. A. Game & R. Pringle, 'Beyond Gender at Work: Secretaries', in N. Grieve & A. Burns, (eds), Australian Women: New Feminist Perspectives, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1988, pp. 273-91. 3Kerreen Reiger, The Disenchantment of the Home: Modernizing the Australian Family 1880-1940, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1985, pp. 110-16. 4Lynn Stearney argued that the first step toward relieving women's oppression was to understand the social construction of motherhood, rather than its instinctive nature. L.M. Stearney, 'Feminism, Ecofeminism, and the Maternal Archetype: Motherhood as a Feminine Universal', Communication Quarterly, volume 42, number 2, Spring 1994, pp. 145-59. 2 family patterns, some parented alone, some in lesbian partnerships, others in communes. The impetus to have children in the 1980s was more individualised and self-centred than the motivation for service to the country which may have inspired women at the beginning of the century. For many women the birth of their infant was their most stunning achievement. Mira Crouch and Lenore Manderson concluded from their interviews of almost one hundred Australian women, that motherhood had become, in a theoretical, political and personal sense, a component of the 'feminine being' rather than designating a social position.5 Images in the media encouraged the desire to become a mother. Film stars, for instance, with enormous wealth and great beauty, became 'celebrity supermums' to be admired and emulated. These glamorous women who appeared to have everything, intimated that their babies gave them the best experience of their lives.6 Despite the considerable change to the mother's position in society, idealized notions of motherhood have endured. Examinations of cultural images provide one way of understanding the enigma of a maternal role which has altered markedly, while in a fundamental way remaining constant. The cinema offers a source of information about images of motherhood, with depictions of mothering in action over several decades.