Time Out says happy Mother's Day to some of the baddest mommas of all time
First published on 1 May 2012. Updated on 2 May 2012.
Mother's Day is a day to spoil our mums, to treat them kindly and dote on them. Why? Because they have raised us and cared for us and loved us unconditionally.
Well, most of them.
If you're getting a bit over the mommy-love-in that sweeps the city every May – and we are – we've compiled a perfect antidote: a look back at the worst mother's ever. These women don't love: they hate. And they do it deliciously.
Take a look at our nominees below and let us know if we've got it right. Are these history's worst mums? Or do you have someone wickeder in mind? A light spoiler warning before we begin...
1. Medea
Hell hath no fury... yadda yadda yadda. You all know how Euripides' play ends: a scorned Medea kills her own children to get back at heroic ex, Jason (of "and the Argonauts" fame). Which we think qualifies her as bad. Very bad. Even Greek tragedy bad. We found this condensed claymation version of the play to illustrate...
2. Norman Bates (as Mrs Bates)
Kind of a less saccharine Mrs Doubtfire, Mrs Bates loves a knife and really doesn't like travellers who might tempt the "cheap erotic mind" of young Norman.
3. Janine (Smurf) of Animal Kingdom
The gangland mum's on-screen kisses rival those from From Here to Eternity, Spider-Man, The Notebook... except, Smurf's are all with her boys. You were just as scarred as we were, admit it. And when she turns on her grandson, we know you were just as terrified.
4. Joan Crawford (as played by Faye Dunaway)
Perhaps the most enjoyably evil mother of the past few decades, Faye Dunaway took Christina Crawford's word and ran with it in this depiction of Joan Crawford's slightly lacking maternal side. She's a mother-monster with a greater appreciation for fabric than family, and you can just see little Christina staring at mommie dearest for most of the film, half crying, half relishing the image of a bullet-ridden mommy in the Warren Car.
5. Queen Grimhilde from Snow White Charlize and Julia ain't got nothing on the original shape-shifting vanity demon. But we do have some sympathy: one more whistly high-pitched song from Ms White and we too would have been calling for the huntsman.
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