The “Imperfect” (Single) Mother in La hija de un ladrón/A Thief's Daughter (2019) and Ama (2019)

Herrero, Carmen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1392-4224 and Escobar-Montero, Manuela (2024) The “Imperfect” (Single) Mother in La hija de un ladrón/A Thief's Daughter (2019) and Ama (2019). In: The Routledge Handbook of Motherhood on Screen. Routledge. ISBN 9781032485720 (In Press)

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Abstract

The study draws from the premise that the institution of motherhood, as the cultural and social construct that molds the maternal figure, maintains the idea of the perfect mother. However, in Spain recently, an increasing number of screen-based media narratives are challenging the extreme stereotype: self-sacrificing mother (perfect mother) versus an absent or selfish figure. In this way, the so-called “imperfect” mother model questions the superwoman image associated with post-feminism and neoliberalism and moves away from the archetype of the self-sacrificing mother. This chapter analyzes two recent films in which young female directors explore alternative realistic representations of mothering: La hija de un ladrón (A Thief’s Daughter, 2019), Belén Funes’s first feature film, and Ama (2019), Júlia de Paz Solva’s opera prima. These feature films show at the same time the resilience of young women and their strong spirit to fight social inequality and family upbringing. They depict how precarity affects their whole existence and their maternal responsibilities. The analysis of visual strategies exposes how the spectator is drawn into the characters’ feelings and comes to understand the behavior and complexity of being a mother in an “imperfect world”.