Even screenwriters who smoke well could not have invented something so pathetically absurd: teachers canceling Mother’s Day, to replace it with Parent’s Dayso as not to hurt children who have no or an inadequate mother.
But it is so enlightening about our time! Now let’s imagine this madness reaching our creators. I offer you a little trip to Absurdistan.
MAMA, THE MOST BEAUTIFUL IN THE WORLD
If Xavier Dolan made his first film today, would he dare call it I Killed My Mother?
One would consider people who have no mothers, knowing that part of the population that goes to the cinema has undoubtedly lost their parents, that one in two couples gets divorced, and that the number of dysfunctional families is exponential Wouldn’t it be wiser to call it that: I killed my parents 1?
It’s beautiful, the word ‘parent’, it’s neutral, it’s administrative, it doesn’t hurt anyone, it doesn’t offend anyone, it doesn’t weaken anyone.
Knowing that men can also be pregnant in 2023, why limit motherhood to women only? What about non-binary people who don’t recognize themselves in this female-male dichotomy? You might be offended by that micro-aggressive word “mother.”
Therefore I propose as an alternative: I killed the person with a uterus who gave birth to me.
- Hear how education expert Claudine Potvin talks to her about it Sophia available as a podcast via QUB radio :
The program is a bit lengthy, but at least it doesn’t exclude small, fragile creatures.
Xavier Dolan, who often spoke about people with ovaries and child birth in his films, did it again in 2014 with the film Mommy. Needless to say, it wouldn’t happen in 2023. In English, too, the word “mother” should be banned from the dictionary.
(By the way, speaking of dictionaries, why did Robert only put the English words “ghost” and “spoiler” in there? That will be a subject for another column.)
Let’s go back to the outdated word (and concept) of “mother.”
Pedro Almodovar is another filmmaker who has directed many feature films about “the person who gives birth to us”. From “All About My Mother” to “Parallel Mothers,” he explored motherhood (or rather parenthood) from all angles: toxic or benevolent, castrating or fulfilling, oppressive or encouraging.
Remember the absolutely terrifying film Mother by Darren Aronofsky? I think it would be less scary if it said Parent 1!
My pinky tells me that soon when these works air, they will be preceded by this warning: “The title of the film is a cultural representation of another time.” The term “mother” might offend some in the public sphere. Some people might be shocked. The word “faulty” is often used by people of different genders. We’d rather let you know.”
DYSTOPIA?
We have not yet approached literature. Let’s imagine that one day small creatures of inclusion, determined to stamp out the erroneous words attacking books.
What will you do with Albert Cohen’s book My Mother (about the majesty of motherly love) or Marcel Pagnol’s My Mother’s Castle?
You don’t have to have smoked a good beer to imagine that one day we will no longer say “mother” but “the word that begins with an M”.
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