approaching mother's day

[wytchcroft]

i've been thinking about this coming Mother's Day, which is on Sunday in the UK, and this image has been haunting me.




It's from the film Persona by Ingmar Bergman, in fact it is the opening of the movie - with the child in front of a screen hmself there's something science fiction about it, as if a celluloid mother was being used the way iron puppets have been used on monkeys. Something close but unreachable - maybe... maybe, it's hard to pin down exactly why i find it so powerful.

But as Mother's Day approaches and i am aware of many friends who are both mothers AND daughters now - and since i am of the age where i can see through both sets of eyes when it comes to empathising with peoples' family relationships - i think i like this image because it conjures the (often forgotten) ancient sense of Mystery around the maternal, from the Sphinx to the Madonna, yet it does so in a futuristic way.

Comments

[neversremedy.livejournal.com]

What an eloquent summary of mystery and motherhood. It's something I've contemplated many times--although I had not seen this film or that image from the film before. Should I pursue motherhood and sexuality as themes in my research at college, I have considered delving into eroticism and motherhood, and this exquisite piece you've written rekindled that line of thought. Thanks. :)

[wytchcroft.livejournal.com]

wow, i'm glad to be the catalyst for that:)
you should check out the other comments by the way, Alex posted an extraordinary image of the Madonna / mother and child, with a backstory of love and deception.:)