Terms of Endearment...

One of the greatest 'chick flicks' of all time? Or something more? Although I'm cheating because we talked about this relationship in American Lit last semester, I thought it was important enough to bring up. Relationships between mothers and daughters are unique, special things. Something that men cannot fathom and woman can't explain. A girl learns everything from her mother (or if there is a lack of a mother, she finds another female replacement), from how to be a woman, to ordinary, everyday things. She learns how to be a complete person, and they will always be connected to each other in one way or another, like it or not. Terms of Endearment is a story of a mother (Aurora) and daughter (Emma) who were so close that it couldn't be explained by either of them. Though more like sisters because of how much they argued, they still have what many believe is the 'ideal' mother daughter relationship. Unfortunately for Aurora, her daughter fell in love, got married and moved out of her house. In the introduction to Homeric Hymns it says: "a mortal woman entering into marriage, which the Greeks often compared to death." They compared the 'abduction' of marriage to death... So did Shirley MacLaine's character in T.o.E. She was bitter and angry towards her daughter's new husband Flap, and made both of theirs lives a living hell. ;) It wasn't until the tragic end, when the mother fully became like Demeter. She became the Mater Dolorosa (the sorrowing mother), and mourned for the loss of her beloved daughter, like Demeter.