“She devoted her life’s energy to creating the character of Joan Crawford. Always beneath that is Lucille LeSueur, and that became what was so fascinating to play, whether it was just under the surface, just in a gesture or a glance behind the eyes or whatever, that character was always there….She was a great beauty, but she really worked hard. I don’t know anybody that worked harder than Joan Crawford. To be Joan Crawford and to sustain this career and to create this kind of iconic mythology? There’s a lot to admire about her, especially when you think about what she had to overcome, where she came from….I’ve never seen her as being monstrous at all. We did all that research–I read the four biographies, her own books, and hundreds of interviews–and no one ever said anything but kind things about her. I don’t want to comment on mothers and daughters [and the relationship described in Mommie Dearest], because within any family there’s always a part of a relationship that no one outside can ever understand. But from everything I’ve read, it seems impossible that the woman was as monstrous as she was made out to be.“ –Jessica Lange
This makes me really, really twitchy. While she was beautiful and hardworking and mother-daughter relationships can be complex, this sounds so much like everything people always say about abusers, particularly if they are rich, famous, white or all of the above. That fun guy always ready to help a friend can still be abusive at home. That hardworking career mom might still beat her children or go on verbally abusive tirades. This section reads like abuse apology: “ I don’t want to comment on mothers and daughters [and the relationship described in Mommie Dearest], because within any family there’s always a part of a relationship that no one outside can ever understand. But from everything I’ve read, it seems impossible that the woman was as monstrous as she was made out to be.“ If you don’t want to comment on it, don’t mention it. As it IS mentioned, you clearly DID want to comment on it and what you wanted to do was gloss over a victim’s experience. Of course you want to find ways to make a character nice and relatable if you have to play them and very few people identify themselves as abusers or villains in their own story, so as an actor portraying someone who is complex, difficult, or evil you need to walk an interesting line. Unfortunately, this seems like excusing her behaviour or dismissing distressing claims, because people from the outside didn’t find her that way. Maybe Jessica Lang is right and Joan Crawford was slandered or misrepresented, but without some kind of proof for that feeling, I think it is irresponsible to say so. I don’t really think that is the message anyone, especially abuse victims needs to hear.
Beltainefaerie's Flights of Fancy 