Mildred Pierce

Mildred Pierce ASSIGNMENT

1. In her article, "The Genre", Jeanine Basinger says there are 3 main purposes of the Woman’s Film. Which purpose (choose one) do you think best describes the messages in Mildred Pierce?  Explain why.

In my opinion, I believe one of the purposes of the Woman’s Film that best describes the messages in Mildred Pierce is “to provide a temporary visual liberation of some sort, however small- an escape into a purely romantic love, into sexual awareness, into luxury, or into rejection of the female role”. From my understanding, what Basinger is saying is that, the most important factor of the woman’s film is the necessity to make a choice. Ultimately, the choice made by the woman will always have consequences and according to Basinger, “the movies are frequently defining a no- win situation in which the choice is,  some fundamental way, always wrong” (pg 19). In the film ‘Mildred Pierce’, Mildred made a lot of choices; divorcing her husband for having an affair and who was also unemployed and isn’t supporting them financially, takes a job as a waitress in order to provide for her daughters, Veda’s judgment on her mother’s social status and expensive desires drove Mildred to open her own restaurant. As Mildred made these choices and builds her fortune and gives her daughter the best things in life, she is still unable to achieve happiness through wealth and her success which in a way, shows that the choices she made were always wrong.  

2. Into which Women’s Film category (Molly Haskell's four categories) would you place Mildred Pierce? Why? (Use the Woman's Film Lecture notes for this question).

Mildred Pierce would definitely be placed under the ‘Sacrifice- herself for her children’ category. Throughout the film, it is evident that everything she does is for her daughter- Veda. Mildred will do anything for her daughter’s love and respect, even hiding the waitressing job she must keep to survive. She decided to use her remarkable homemaking skills to open up a restaurant of her own, eventually having her own chain of restaurants and becoming quite an entrepreneur, yet none of Mildred’s success ever gains her credit with her spoiled daughter.

3. Robin Morrison contends that Mildred cannot be seen as a “good mother” because she’s working outside the home – in what ways is she shown to be a “bad mother”?

In the 1940s, women were portrayed as bad mothers for being involved in their careers or in non- traditional love- not spending time with her children and not attending to the needs of her husband. Mildred was shown to be a “bad mother” for trying to make a living out in the world to support her family. This responsibility is usually carried out by the husband and a “good mother” is supposed to be at home cleaning, cooking and taking care of her children. For Mildred, she was busy running her restaurant business; keeping up with her expenses and revenues, manage the staff in her restaurant, etc. Things got even busier when she opened up her chain of restaurants. The more she got busier, the more she was portrayed as a “bad mother”, as her relationship with Veda was slowly deteriorating. In the film, as you know, Veda was a spoiled child-always getting what she wants and things always goes her way. For this, Veda blamed Mildred for what she is. Ultimately, Mildred lost everything she worked for in the end and even lost Veda, the most important person in her life. Therefore, a “good mother” is a person who stays at home and provides love for her family. 

4. Sybil DelGaudio defines the racial stereotype of the "Mammy" role in the "Mammy in Hollywood" article in your course reader (also available online). What character is shown as a racial stereotype in Mildred Pierce? How does she fit the Mammy role?

According to Delgaudio, “The Mammy’s image is inexorably linked to either the slave-society image of surrogate maternalism and domestic service….The Mammy has usually appeared as, the dark- skinned Aunt Jemima…” I believe Lottie played by Thelma Mcqueen is shown as a racial stereotype in Mildred Pierce. She had every trait and characteristics of the “Mammy” racial stereotype; dark skin, physical appearance, loyal and etc. As you can see in the film, Lottie was hired by Mildred as a maid. It was evident that her role was to watch over Mildred’s daughters and clean around the house which relieves Mildred from this task as she as busy working as a waitress. Later on the movie, Lottie was shown working in the kitchen in one of Mildred’s restaurant. These scenes shows how she fits in the “Mammy” role.