A hunger to know and create is a common theme in literature and mythology, but it's been balanced over thousands of years with messages which posit the pursuit of knowledge and the power of change as the destroyer of paradise. In a lot of stories, curiosity is treated as a "sin," since the discovery of truth usually signifies the loss of innocence. The Bible uses this trope with the temptation of "The Tree of the knowledge of good and evil." Greek mythology has both Pandora and her box and Prometheus and his gift of fire. And reams could and probably have been written on the effect to Western civilization of having two big cultural myths which blamed women for bringing evil and suffering into the world corresponding to ideas about sexual innocence and moral purity.
These themes are spread throughout history and a lot of popular art which attempts to reconcile human guilt, paranoia, and just trying to make sense of what it means to exist. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has at its core a fear science and technology are encroaching on the territory of the gods, hence the novel's subtitle: The Modern Prometheus. With horror films such as The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby, the subtext of both films is not really religious or supernatural. Rosemary’s Baby connects to real fears women have during pregnancy of the possibility something is wrong with their baby, that they’re losing control of their body, and the situation is one they’re experiencing but have little control over. The movie just adds Satanic rape and devil worshipers to the mix. The true horror of The Exorcist exists whether one believes in demonic possession, since the crux of the story is really about helplessness and a parent’s fear of having something wrong with a child no one seems able to fix. In this respect, whether it’s mental illness, cancer, or a demon, the story connects on that emotional level.
With the work of Darren Aronofsky, a recurring motif is spiritual obsession and the destruction which comes from pursuing it. In his directorial debut, π, the attempt to find a universal truth inspires chaos. Both The Wrestler and Black Swan contemplate the perceptions of beauty and brutality while trying to achieve perfection. In Noah, the biblical story, which is usually presented to children as a heartwarming tale of a family coming together to save Earth’s animals, is instead seen as being about a flawed prophet presiding over the righteous genocide of a wicked race.
His newest film, mother!, the response has been divided and caused a bit of controversy (e.g., the film has been called the most controversial work released by a major studio since A Clockwork Orange). While the the movie struggled at the box office over the weekend, it’s also an interesting case of a story that can be interpreted in a myriad of angles, from environmentalism to domestic abuse. And, arguably, mother! centers on a narcissist who loves adoration but cannot see, or is indifferent to, the destructiveness of his decisions. Sound like anyone familiar?
From Owen Gleiberman at Vanity Fair:
It was Aronofsky himself who got the allegorical ball rolling by issuing a lengthy “director’s statement” about “mother!” before the picture had even been shown. “It is a mad time to be alive,” he wrote. He then ticked off issues like overpopulation, species extinction, “schizophrenic” U.S. climate-change policy, ancient tribal disputes, the killing of baby dolphins, politics as sports, and our daily state of denial about all of the above. “From this primordial soup of angst and helplessness,” he wrote, “I woke up one morning and this movie poured out of me like a fever dream.”
Fair warning, it’s probably best to go into this movie not knowing much about it. But in order to review and discuss it, I’m going to talk about details and the plot. So from this point forward, mild spoilers about the film.
mother! basically adapts the Holy Bible and the myth of creation as a horror movie seeping with symbolism. Jennifer Lawrence’s “Mother,” is a wife trapped in a surreal psychological situation of terror, where she and her husband, an older poet who is only referred to as “Him” (Javier Bardem), share a small home in a clearing. They are renovating the home and beneath the tranquility of the setting, Him is struggling with writer’s block and Mother has an uneasy feeling about their life.
One night, Man (Ed Harris) appears at the door and is inexplicably welcomed by the husband, while Mother is annoyed by Man’s bad manners. Later, Mother catches Him talking with the Man and notices Man has an injury near his ribs. The next day, the stranger’s own wife, Woman (Michelle Pfeiffer) appears at the home. Little by little, more people make their way to the home, with Mother becoming more and more agitated by the behavior of their guests. However, Him enjoys the attention and feels the house has come alive with all the new people who claim to be fans of his work. As Man and Woman’s bickering sons make their way to the home, the couple eventually wear out their welcome and are expelled by Him and Mother. But the situation has taken on a life of its own, and the presence of people within the home only seems to build, leading to cultism, cannibalism, genocide and an apocalypse or two in a symbolic parody of the Abrahamic narrative.
Aronofsky basically asks, well, what if Earth itself was a character in the story, and what would she feel and think if she were witnessing all of this? The answer is a claustrophobic experience similar to any horror movie heroine stuck in a predicament where they don’t understand what the hell is going on. Lawrence spends most of the film disoriented and suffering as someone trying to make sense of why the person she loves is acting the way he is, why are these people in her home fucking, fighting and killing, and why her understanding of reality has changed in a way that’s in total disregard and disinterest for what she might want or feel. Just like Mia Farrow in Rosemary’s Baby, Lawrence’s Mother is surrounded by people and a situation she knows isn’t right, and struggling to find any bearings. And God itself is turned into an obsessive artist and inattentive husband who basks in his creation to his wife’s detriment as the shittiness of humanity torments her.
In a way, God’s unconditional love for humanity is presented as a character flaw, or a dimension of a narcissist who likes the surge of fame and celebrity he gets from his fans.
Now, does all of this work? The film earned a rare “F” Cinemascore from opening weekend audiences who hated it. And while the nature of the film eschews towards pretension, Aronofsky’s stylistic visuals makes things interesting.
From this point forward I’m going to get very spoilery. So if you haven’t seen mother! yet, and don’t want to know important plot details, avoid the bullet points below.
- God As An Abuser: Not only does Him allow for others to abuse Mother, but he does so himself as well, especially in the emotional form. Mother herself says this in the end, "you don't love me. You only love how much I love you." Because of Mother's undying love for Him despite his abuse (as many domestic abuse victims go through, standing by their partner), she agrees to let him destroy her completely in the end, even taking her heart away, so Him can start over again and move onto another victim. Their age difference is also apparent (and mentioned as well), as Him picks on young, vulnerable, naive women that he can easily manipulate, eventually replacing her with the younger lookalike model so he can repeat his cycle of abuse all over again.
- God As A
Candidate Parent Who Refuses To Lead Parent: Let me posit this scenario: a man becomes the darling of people who interpret his work as enabling their horrible behavior. The man does little to nothing to stifle the “deplorable” actions of those followers. He basks in their love and devotion, and allows things to go out of control.
- Final Girl Theory: The term "final girl" was coined by Carol J. Clover in her book Men, Women, And Chain Saws: Gender In The Modern Horror Film. The book analyzed the slasher genre from a feminist perspective, and Clover argues that instead of being driven by misogyny and sadism against women, these movies put the male viewer into the mindset of the female protagonist, or the final girl alive. The final girl portrayed as an idealization of female innocence, purity and “acceptable” behavior (e.g., Mother is dressed in white, seems naive and demurs for most of the film to Him). And, technically, Mother is the final female … sorta.
- The Broken Sink: As humanity’s post-funeral party for Abel gets out of control, Mother warns the party-goers to be careful of the bathroom’s sink. They ignore her and taunt her by intentionally bouncing up and down on it, at which point it breaks off and begins to flood the house, bringing their party to an end. A reference to mankind's sin causing the Great Flood; possibly also referencing sea level rise due to climate change in the modern day.
- The Eucharist: Probably one of the most controversial moments of the movie is the death of Him and Mother’s child, which symbolically represents Christ. After the child is born, it is taken by the human house guests, killed and eaten. The cannibalism of the child being a reference to the sacrament represented in communion, whereby the “blood” and “body” of Christ are consumed as remembrance of Jesus’s death on the cross.