MovieChat Forums > Tommy (1975) Discussion > Question: Incestous Overtones, or Not?

Question: Incestous Overtones, or Not?

posted 10 years ago by jmiller1918
8 replies | jump to latest

Possible spoilers.....

Not sure this really registers on the incest scale, but for people who have seen the film, was there a slight whiff of incest in the scene where Ann-Margret finally breaks through to Tommy? She's singing in an angry way about how he sees himself but not her...more a lover's complaint than a mother's. Then all that stuff about "rise...rise"....followed by the scene on the beach where Tommy sort of "strips" her of her jewelry.

Pragmatists and literalists will of course suggest I'm seeing things, perhaps due to mental illness, etc. Actually, I wasn't searching for incest hints, but was re-watching the film for the first time since the 'seventies and it just sort of struck me as...well, "maybe".

Contra this possibility, there was also the mother's blasé indifference to Tommy much of the time, esp. when selecting baby-sitters!

[–] rmontro 10 years ago

There is that bit before she breaks the mirror when she is trying to get Tommy to see her. She's doing that sexy dancing, and then she starts whipping him in the face with her hair. I don't think there's much doubt it gets kind of sexual there.

I don't think it's really so much about incest there as it is about Ann Margaret being sexy. And not just her, I think the director wants to portray her that way. There's the scene with the baked beans and all, where she's riding the long pillow on her bed, for example.

[–] jmiller1918 10 years ago

Yes, I think you are spot on. I thought some more about this. The sexiness is sort of the default switch on A-M, so while intensely engaging with her son some of that is inevitably present; but in general, it's not a major component of the story, anymore than the flirting with the Doctor meant she had an actual affair with him.

[–] Braindead09 8 years ago

Peter Townsend did write a song about his mothers Squeezebox

[–] CoriSCapnSkip (2247) 6 years ago

Silly me, I thought that was about an accordion or concertina. The mother practiced a lot and the father couldn't sleep due to the noise.

[–] JoWilli (20275) 10 months ago

some women make a lot of noise when someone is playing their squeezebox

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] old-skool101 8 years ago

Uncle ernie was all pretend.

[–] Otter (24464) 6 years ago

No.

If you've ever met the parents of a severely disabled child, you'd realize that Ann-Margaret absolutely nailed it. She makes the movie work, amidst all the wierdness she provides a solid core or real feeling - the frustration, the love, the despair, the anger, the overwhelming guilt... and the radiant joy when there's a change. If she pushes some boundaries, it's out of frustration with the circumstances, not desire.