Movie Mom of the month...Jenny Fields

...and Roberta Muldoon. Both from The World According To Garp. Both friends. Two pieces of a perfect whole. I can't have one without the other. Actually, Roberta might have been the perfect mom on her own...only, she's not a mom. Oh, she might have adopted in another time, another place. But let's face it...in the seventies, a single woman couldn't adopt a baby, much less a woman who was once a linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles!

 Garp is not a perfect movie by any stretch. But it does boast two of the most perfect female characters ever to grace film. Glenn Close as Jenny Fields should have walked away from the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion toting an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. She is...sublime. She is Jenny. It is her best work. And they gave it to Jessica Lange for Tootsie. A role any number of actresses could have played, and not a good mother at all, I might add! 

John Lithgow plays Roberta Muldoon. He is perfection. You will want to take him home to raise your children if you have them, or just to raise you! Roberta is pure love, and loyalty, and literally, a tower of strength.  

Roberta is the mom we want.  The most traditionally feminine, and the most nurturing character in the film. 

Interestingly, she spent the first half of her life, as a man.  

Jenny Fields...mother of T.S.Garp....is, well, different.  Some people might even think she had a personality disorder.  But, if Roberta is the mom we want, then Jenny must be the dad.  Stoic, calm, watching over her fledglings without possesiveness, walking through life without jealousy,  without bitterness and anger.  She is the mountain that sits on the porch swing and waits for all to come to her.  She is seemingly without fear.  Serene.  What a gift, huh?  

So, the mother I'd like to be, in this case...is Jenny Fields.  Unapologetic for her individualism. Living her life without feminine or masculine stereotype.  She is simply Jenny Fields.  She has pure and unconditional love for her children, and is able to express that without spooning on the guilt, the fear, the "prove its".   I also like the big house by the water with enough room for everyone to come and hang out!  You see why she's sitting on the porch swing smiling?  

But, Jenny must have just enough Roberta mixed in for when it's time to climb a tree, or give a big sloppy hug.  It's like Milton the Monster...just a touch of tenderness!

The World According To Garp does not have a lot of photos or video on the internet...so, I'm kinda stuck here.  But, see the movie.  It's a worthwhile investment.  And I'll leave you with a quote from Jenny.

Mother to son...
"You know, everybody dies. My parents died. Your father died. Everybody dies. I'm going to die too. So will you. The thing is, to have a life before we die. It can be a real adventure having a life."