So I kind of have a thing for bad mothers
which is ironic considering that I have a pretty decent relationship with my own mother, but I think that I have figured it out. or not.
There are things that are definitely *good* and definitely *bad,* but by the same token, there are things where good/bad are matters of perception.
Like in the case of Sarah Connor, she wants a *bright, shiny future* for John but she essentially robs him of that by training him for the robot apocalypse. So does that make her a good/bad mother?
Say, if she just walked away from it all, let John live a relatively normal childhood/adulthood, would that have prevented the robot apocalypse or left him woefully unprepared for judgment day?
Or in the case of Madeline -yeah, technically she is not a mother but she fancied herself the mother of Section and its operatives- it is hard to build a case where she is considered a good mother with all the killing and manipulating she did to her *children,* but unlike Paul, I tend to believe her when she says that she was doing it for the good of the world/Section.
Admittedly there are other things that draw me to Madeline and Sarah Connor, but their whole selfish/selfless decision making for their children remains appealing.
Of course, though, the whole 'I'm doing this for your own good,' can become quite icky, quite fast as in the case of BSG and Kara's mom. I was so thoroughly annoyed/disgusted with the way that BSG took Kara/Kara's mom storyline in S3.
I do recognize the differences between the Kara/Kara's mom situation and the Madeline/Sarah Connor situation, but still.
There are things that are definitely *good* and definitely *bad,* but by the same token, there are things where good/bad are matters of perception.
Like in the case of Sarah Connor, she wants a *bright, shiny future* for John but she essentially robs him of that by training him for the robot apocalypse. So does that make her a good/bad mother?
Say, if she just walked away from it all, let John live a relatively normal childhood/adulthood, would that have prevented the robot apocalypse or left him woefully unprepared for judgment day?
Or in the case of Madeline -yeah, technically she is not a mother but she fancied herself the mother of Section and its operatives- it is hard to build a case where she is considered a good mother with all the killing and manipulating she did to her *children,* but unlike Paul, I tend to believe her when she says that she was doing it for the good of the world/Section.
Admittedly there are other things that draw me to Madeline and Sarah Connor, but their whole selfish/selfless decision making for their children remains appealing.
Of course, though, the whole 'I'm doing this for your own good,' can become quite icky, quite fast as in the case of BSG and Kara's mom. I was so thoroughly annoyed/disgusted with the way that BSG took Kara/Kara's mom storyline in S3.
I do recognize the differences between the Kara/Kara's mom situation and the Madeline/Sarah Connor situation, but still.