MovieChat Forums > Mommie Dearest (1981) Discussion > The real victim here

The real victim here

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

Christina Crawford had it pretty rough, that's for damn sure. But she did end up a millionaire several times over with the success of the book - people don't remember that it was among the first of its kind and sold millions of copies for years.

And then the movie.

It's a piece of crap, and I love it to death, but the real victim of this entire ordeal is the little girl who played young Christina in the film. I don't care how mature she may have been for her age or how good an actress she may have been. Some of those scenes are truly terrifying (the bathroom scene is one, a crazed Faye Dunaway chopping away at her wig for take after take after take....). Don't tell me that kid wasn't damaged for having to be screamed at for hours and hours a day, for months. And what'd she get out of it? She's in the bomb of the century and no one even knows her name - I can't even be bothered to look it up. That girl got a raw deal. I mean, so did the one that played older Christina because of that wig, but still.

[–] 8 years ago

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[–] WestEndNiceGuy 8 years ago

I've seen the film a dozen times, and stand by my opinion. There are some pretty horrifying scenes for a little girl, and Faye Dunaway was rumored to be a monster on set (this one and every set before and after).

As for the original post, I'd mentioned there were a lot of traumatizing scenes, one being the bathroom scene (where Joan hits Christina a couple of times with the scrub brush and the AJAX goes flying), and another being the bedroom where Joan chops her hair off. And I didn't even mention the wire hangers (also in the bedroom), a Bloody Joan chopping down a rose bush at 4 in the morning while terrified Christina watches, the swimming pool area where Joan spanks her after losing their stupid race...

Again, I don't give a *beep* how much a seasoned pro this child actress was. It's one thing to watch Mommie Dearest as the camp classic it became, but to be in that room with Faye Dunaway with kabuki makeup smeared across her face for months is comparable to water boarding.

[–] 8 years ago

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[–] 8 years ago

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[–] ekirymerej 8 years ago

I don't think that MH was necessarily in set for a lot of those scenes. Notice when FD is screaming, it's usually an one shot.

[–] coupleofflakes2 8 years ago

I agree with you and I was actually thinking exactly this when I watched the movie recently. That poor little girl. I feel so sorry for her even if it was just "acting". I'm surprised her parents let her make the film.

It is possible that her and FD weren't always in scenes together as another poster mentioned, but there are enough scenes they are definitely in together (the pool scene, the bathroom scene) that could scar even the most well-adjusted child actor for life. I hope she's doing okay.

[–] deem_bastille 8 years ago

coming from a rough and disciplined background, you learn to use your brain and your common sense. many of these situations are 'lessons learned'. more like now you know what NOT to do is sometimes better than knowing what to do.

Oh God. Fortune vomits on my eiderdown once more.

[–] liscarkat (19031) 5 months ago

The real victim, posthumously, is Joan Crawford, who bore little or no resemblance to the cartoon character called "Joan Crawford" in this ridiculous movie and the lying book it was based on.

[–] TheArgentinian (7205) 2 months ago

She appeared on FD new doc ("Faye") and she said she had fun making it.

[–] Jes' Sayin' (6466) a month ago

Has she complained? Has she written her own book? I think it's wrong of us to do her thinking for her.