• The #Oscars – Stepmom Style!

  • stepmom, stepmother, stepfamily, divorce

    A Stepmom’s View of Oscar Nominees

    Let’s do the Oscars, Stepmom Style!  Let’s take a look at this year’s best picture nominees and analyze them from a stepmother’s point of view.

    Nominees for best picture are:

    1. Lincoln
    2. Silver Linings Playbook
    3. Life of Pi
    4. Beasts of the Southern Wild
    5. Amour

    Lincoln should be an old-fashioned favorite for any stepmother worth their salt.  Mr. Lincoln was raised by his dear stepmother, Sarah Bush Lincoln.  When Sarah married Abe Lincoln’s dad, she brought along her three children.  The Lincolns were a true blended stepfamily in the real sense of the word. Abe was ten years old when she joined his family.  He adored her and called his stepmother, Mom.   Sarah Lincoln taught and encouraged Abe’s love of reading and learning.  She also had a great sense of humor. It is said that Abraham Lincoln was closer to his stepmother than his father.  As most stepmothers, Sarah Bush Lincoln stayed in the background, yet, indirectly,  she had a strong influence on the end of slavery in the United States.

    Silver Linings Playbook is a lovely film focused on mental illness.  You cheer for the characters as they struggle with their own minds and try to survive our world.  As the film continues, you find yourself having difficulty differentiating the “normal” people from those suffering from mental illness.  I have certainly felt that my stepfamily is more “normal” than many of the traditional families that I see.  Have you ever felt that way?

    Life of Pi is a beautiful film about a young boy who experiences a tragic boat accident, leaving him on a lifeboat with a zebra, orangutan and a tiger named Richard Parks.  When the boy tells the story of his harrowing travels to his rescuers, they don’t believe him.  So, he tells another story that he feels will satisfy them.  The question is, what is the truth?  I wonder if the public loves hearing the story of a struggling stepfamily.  The public is comfortable with the cruel stepmother who tortures her stepchildren when they come for a visit.  They love to think about the biological father standing by as the stepmother continues to demand that her house be scrubbed clean.  Did you ever wonder if family members feel pressured to tell negative tales because society likes to hear them?  Hmmm…

    Beasts of the Southern Wild is the story of a young girl who lives with her sickly father.  Both are trying to survive the wall of water that i attacking their Louisiana town of Bathtub.  As the father attempts to teach his daughter survival skills and how to avoid being evacuated, the young girl yearns to find her mother.  Isn’t the yearning for your mother a universal desire?  This is a lesson all stepmoms would be wise to remember.  In fact, I think many of us are reminded about this deep desire on a daily basis.  We are either replacing a biological mother or attempting to support a biological mother.  If the young girl in this movie had approached any stepmother to be her mom, we would have jumped at the chance.  This is another beautiful film.

    The foreign language nominee is Amour.  This is a tale about aging and undying love.  A husband cares for his ailing wife.  The movie tracks the tribulations and triumphs of deep love. This story is universal and doesn’t discriminate between families.  It is a good message to remember.