8 TV Mamas who've moulded me

Here lies the definitive list of my favourite mothers on the silver screen. They are not necessarily the best parents or even the best people. Yet, I love them all like my children. I apologise if your fave didn’t make the cut but I had to be cut-throat. Here they be, in no particular order:

1. Emily Gilmore [Gilmore Girls]- No one mothers like Emily Gilmore. Sure, the main focus of ‘Gilmore Girls’ is Lorelai and Rory, the fast-talking mother and daughter duo in the demented small town Stars Hollow. But it’s Lorelai’s strained relationship with her stiff-upper-lipped mother, Emily, that gives the show its dramatic push. Emily is not a perfect parent, she may not even be a good one. She kicked out her pregnant teenage daughter but she’s also very glam. And very flawed. In one of the better moments of the final season, Lorelai comes clean to her mother that she’s getting divorced. They’ve had a few drinkies. Lorelai expects disapproval but Emily warmly assures her daughter she’ll be fine. Lorelai hopes they’ve turned a corner but when she gets up the next morning, Emily’s a big old frosty biatch. That’s just that her espresso. The moments of tenderness between Emily and Lorelai are rare but they’re so, so good when we get them.

   

2. Cersei Lannister [Game of Thrones]- she raised a confident boy.

   

   A fine young man.

3. Leslie Knope [Parks and Recreation]- You may be thinking ‘I don’t remember Leslie having kids on Parks and Recreation’. Well, you’re half right. Between season 6 and 7 there’s a time jump of three years so Leslie’s pregnant with the triplets at the end of season 6 and then when season 7 picks up, the babas are toddlers but rarely featured on the show. Bliss. How many characters become boring once they become parents? [Sidenote, how many people become boring when they become parents? Heh heh]. It’s clear that the writers wanted Leslie and Ben to have a family but they knew that Leslie being pregnant would be a snoozefest and that all the viewers cared about was office craic, not domestic life. Leslie’s a great Mam! In the background, behind closed doors, just the way God intended. The show just looked away from those children, those poor forgotten children.

   

4. Teresa Giudice [Real Housewives of New Jersey]- Mother of all mothers. Star of Real Housewives of New Jersey. Mother to four dorters [that’s daughters in a Jersey accent] Jail bird, divorcee and wordsmith of such wisdom as ‘she’s like Hekyl and Jive’. Teresa may not be the sharpest tool but she’s had a tough time of it, with her ex-husband [Juicy Joe if you’re nasty] and his financial mishandlings landing them both in prison. Ever the survivor, Teresa took to prison like a duck to water. She made friends AND got really good at yoga. Teresa emerged from those prison gates stronger and more flexible than ever. She divorced Juicy Joe and he was deported back to Italy. Arrive Derci, asshole.

   

   Teresa and her new friends.

5. Brittany Cartwright [Vanderpump Rules/The Valley]- Brittany burst onto our screens in Vanderpump Rules as the sweet, southern girlfriend of egregious bulging vein Jax Taylor. On season 1 of ‘The Valley’, Brittany and her now ex-husband Jax were open about the fact that their son Cruz has some developmental delays that they’re supporting him through. There are many arguments to be made about the ethics of sharing your son’s developmental journey on television, but I really liked seeing it and it resonated with me.

6. Miranda Hobbs [Sex and the City]- As mentioned above with Leslie Knope, it’s usually pretty boring when a character on a show has a baby. The storylines become very wah wah wah childcare, wah wah wah poopy. But I enjoyed the softening of cynical Miranda Hobbs through motherhood. Season 5 Episode 6 ‘Critical Condition’ is an exceptional episode [but then again, they’re all spectacular] about how group dynamics can change when one friend has a baby. Miranda feels ostracised, OTHERED if you will, by her friends, especially Samantha, who is actively annoyed by baby Brady. Miranda is the character on SATC that makes me cry the most because she’s so harsh but such a soft little baby.

7. Blanche Hunt [Coronation Street]- Deirdre never called her Mum, or Mummy, or Mom. She was always mother. She always will be Mother.

   

8. Camilla Thurlow [Love Island]- This is a bit of a cheat because, as a Love Island contestant, we’ve never seen her parent on television, but I make the rules. Poor Camilla had a rough time on Love Island; a pale, posh girl who got sweaty in the heat, she was repeatedly dumped until Jamie, so the story goes, approached the show saying he’d been watching from home and he had to be with her. Jamie entered the villa, she got fingered, and now they’re married with three kids! Camilla is a lovely horsey kind of girl. She’s also very sensitive, as horsey girls are. One of her daughters has been slow reaching milestones and Camilla’s touched on it briefly only to say that little Nora is doing things in her own time. She presents a picture of a chaotic household with three happy kids who are just different beings.

   

   They’re just very cute.

   P.S Happy Halloween and thank you for reading!