http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2012/05/29/mom-enough-the-return-of-the-absentee-mother-as-threat/ Responses to Media and Culture Fri, 12 Feb 2016 19:35:04 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.7.5 http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2012/05/29/mom-enough-the-return-of-the-absentee-mother-as-threat/comment-page-1/#comment-201644 Wed, 30 May 2012 15:28:52 +0000 http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/?p=13121#comment-201644 Each of the two current series created a modestly important character that shifts from a clearly victimized mother to one that abandoned her child. Grimm did approach this shift more elegantly than Revenge I feel, for it allowed the death of the mother to be deeply intertwined with the main character over a longer set of episodes.
There is some fascination with both shows’ decision to have a ‘prodigal’ mother (possibly) return, but Revenge’s possible danger of a woman thought dead, without ever knowing who to blame for, or why to care about said death poses a dilemma of sorts. It feels like the deus-ex-machina has ascended, and unnecessarily so. After all the rabbit hole has just deepened enough to provide a few magnificent seasons to come, and then there is the problem of Fauxmanda and Jack to deal with. At this point I hope that this is a side plot set up to allow Ems/Emanda/Emily to go on another hunt should there be a season three. Too many narrative threats would, I fear, dilute this very volatile balance of noir, soap, and classic revenge narrative a la Dumas.
But I digress; this is a very interesting piece you wrote that makes me wonder how much motherhood (see also Grimm and the Monstrous Feminine) and postfeminism come into play in this? How does the image of motherhood intersect with that of feminism? They often seem to be oddly removed from one another. I am wondering how this may also counteract or speak to a time where teen pregnancy shows flood the plains of reality TV programming, where mothers are seen spoiling and pushing their children, and women still negotiate their position in society. In regards to Revenge I found Anne Helen’s piece Revenge a Postfeminist Dystopia quite interesting also.

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