In the movie Mommie Dearest, Joan Crawford is revealed to be more of a psychotic, spastic, greedy woman than many people of that era realized. Based off of the real life of the Hollywood celebrity as told by her adopted daughter Christina, Mommie Dearest shows more adverse life Crawford lived at home compared to the life she lived in the spotlight. Joan suffered from many personality disorders, or certain qualities in your identity that show up after certain situations that can strain both external and internal relationships of the troubled persons (Rathus, 2010, p. 525). The four main personality disorders that were recognized are Obsessive Compulsive disorder (also known as OCD), Borderline personality disorder, Narcissism, and Bipolar disorder.
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Individuals that suffer from Bipolar disorder suffer from even more sever mood swings, often going from being at high highs to very low lows. They may wake up one day excited to start a new job, but end the day feeling insecure and unsure that they can do the job (Rathus, 510). Many people that experience Bipolar disorder also experience spans of depression in their lives. The whole movie Mommie Dearest deals with Crawford’s Bipolar disorder. The scene early in the movie in which she competes graciously in a swimming competition against her daughter is one example of this. After loosing twice to her mother, Christina becomes exasperated and speaks wrongly to her mother. Crawford’s mood changes almost instantly, and Christina is then put in a room and is prohibited from leaving. Another example would be later in life, when Joan is constantly drinking to cope with the ups and downs in her life. Many times, alcohol addiction goes hand in hand with depression. Her alcoholism leads to the scene in which she tries to strangle her own daughter, Christina. That was one scene that definitely exhibits the highs and lows that Joan was feeling (Koontz, O’Neill & Yablans,
Individuals that suffer from Bipolar disorder suffer from even more sever mood swings, often going from being at high highs to very low lows. They may wake up one day excited to start a new job, but end the day feeling insecure and unsure that they can do the job (Rathus, 510). Many people that experience Bipolar disorder also experience spans of depression in their lives. The whole movie Mommie Dearest deals with Crawford’s Bipolar disorder. The scene early in the movie in which she competes graciously in a swimming competition against her daughter is one example of this. After loosing twice to her mother, Christina becomes exasperated and speaks wrongly to her mother. Crawford’s mood changes almost instantly, and Christina is then put in a room and is prohibited from leaving. Another example would be later in life, when Joan is constantly drinking to cope with the ups and downs in her life. Many times, alcohol addiction goes hand in hand with depression. Her alcoholism leads to the scene in which she tries to strangle her own daughter, Christina. That was one scene that definitely exhibits the highs and lows that Joan was feeling (Koontz, O’Neill & Yablans,