MOTHERHOOD: Interviews with Anthony Edwards and Katherine Dieckmann

About fifteen bloggers, including me, were invited by 42 West to do a phone interview with writer/director Katherine Dieckmann and actor Anthony Edwards (yes - the Anthony Edwards from ER) who plays Uma Thurman's husband in the film MOTHERHOOD.

"Eliza Welch (Thurman)", according to the film notes, "is a former fiction writer-turned-mom-blogger with her own site, “The Bjorn Identity.” Putting her deeper creative ambitions on hold to raise her two children, MOTHERHOOD takes place in a single day that pushes to the tipping point Eliza’s fundamental fear she’s lost herself. Starting at dawn, her to-do list is daunting:

Prepare for and throw her daughter's 6th birthday party;
Mind her toddler son;
Battle for a parking space
Navigate playground politics;
Mend a rift after posting her best friend's confession on her blog.

On top of it all, Eliza decides to enter a contest run by an upscale parenting magazine. All she has to do is write 500 words answering the deceptively simple question, “What Does Motherhood Mean to Me?” 

 

My three pre-screening takeaways are:   

I will definitely go see MOTHERHOOD.

"MOTHERHOOD was not easy to get produced," says Katherine Dieckmann.   Because of the topic, she needed to make the film for under $5 million, and cast from a pool of 10 big stars (e.g.  Julia Roberts, Kate Winslet) in order to get the film made.  Fortunately Uma Thurman was on the list. 

Because MOTHERHOOD looks entertaining (though I'd like to see the pacifier out of Uma Thurman's mouth in the publicity shots), and because I want to support films that capture this ethos, I will definitely see MOTHERHOOD.  Anna Lappe wrote "Every time we spend money, we are making a choice about the kind of world we want."  I want a world that values what women do.

Director Katherine Dieckmann with her real-life children on the set of Motherhood; courtesy JoJo Whilden

MOTHERHOOD hopes to capture the exquisite joy and sorrow of mothering, parenting and family 

"Even a movie star such as Uma Thurman found herself waking up (7) years into being a mother and saying who am I, what am I?" said Katherine Dieckmann. Meanwhile Anthony Edwards was drawn to the film because "the way that Katherine [portrayed family life] felt real in a way that I hadn't seen." 

For both Edwards and Dieckmann, the most meaningful scene, though technically easy to shoot, was a conversation between Thurman and Andrews in which the crisis of identity for women who become mothers -- and the complexity of family life -- is articulated.

If I feel even 1/2 of what I felt when I attended Kimberly Carlile's Fusion presentation on how literature helps her make meaning of her experience as a woman/mother, and Macy Robison's cabaret-style recital Children Will Listen, then the movie will be a success.

 Women, and Mom Bloggers in particular, are finding their voice.

42 West targeted mothers who are bloggers to build buzz for MOTHERHOOD.  Women that blog, specifically Mom Bloggers, are a disruptive innovation as defined by my business partner Clayton Christensen.  Start in a market that is small or non-existent.  Five years ago, traditional media didn't see this cohort as competition for ad dollars.  Obviously this is no longer true.  Be patient for growth, but impatient for profits.  Women who blog, especially SAHMs or professional mothers write when they can (a huge exercise in patience), but the cost of running a blog is minimal, and therefore easily profitable.

Courtesy:  Motherhood Film featuring Uma Thurman

In the spirit of systergy, I clicked through to the blogs of the women who were on the conference call with me.  I've included links to those blogs that I found the most compelling:

Mary Heston:  Wired Moms
Michele Dortch:  Integrated Mother
Jessica Kirby:  The Unemployed Mom
Kacey Randolph:  Chronicles of a Mommy

***
Shall we go see MOTHERHOOD?

Can you think of any films that have done or tried to do what Motherhood hopes to do?

Do you see the cohort of mom bloggers as being disruptive to traditional media?

Did you like any of these blogs I've linked to?

P.S.  Anthony Edwards' charity Shoe4Africa, which he plugged at the end of the call, is about empowering women in Africa through the sport of running.  In his words, "only as women take leadership roles will things change on that continent."

 

Comments

[Luisa Perkins]

It looks like an interesting movie; I'm sure I'll go see it.

[EHD]

Thank you so much for reminding us that where we spend our dollars has incredible power. The "mainstream" media and "mainstream" culture badly need disrupting, and I am thrilled that we are part of this innovation. How wonderful that we can add our voices, votes, and dollars on issues that reflect our values. Keep up the great work, Whitney!

[Janika]

I'm glad you highlighted this movie because now I might actually go see it. On first glimpse at the ad, I found the whole pacifier image offensive and didn't even go past that impression to see what the movie was all about. I must admit that I love how the previously silent, seemingly insignificant and invisible work of mothers is being legitimized and celebrated by blogging and hopefully this movie.

[Whitney Johnson]

Janika - I agree with you about the pacifier. Have flagged this with 42 West. Do all of you agree?
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[Stacey P]

My heart ached just watching the trailer - it looks like a VERY true to reality movie.

As for the pacifier, the imagry reminds me of wanting to 'plug up' someone, to damped their voice, which is NOT the point of the movie at all - not a smart marketing move...

[Margaret Woolley Busse]

Sounds like a very intriguing film. I will be interested in seeing how "hollywood" portrays "motherhood." I often feel like we oversimplify what "motherhood" really refers to--as if it's this one narrow thing we can actually capture and define. Motherhood is so varied and complex because it is/has been experienced by the vast majority of females who have ever lived on the earth. There are commonalities, just as there are commonalities to the overall human experience. But I don't think Hollywood would ever endeavor to do a film called, "The Human Experience." So my knee-jerk reaction to a Hollywood film about Motherhood is, "How condescending!" I don't really want Hollywood to define what I find to be a extremely personal experience (I think that's why I'm not really into the whole Mommy blogger movement--I don't think that just because somebody is a mother means they fit neatly into a category.) But I really like Uma Thurman and Anthony Edwards, so I will hold off judgment and will wait and see!

[Ryan Ashley Scott]

There really are no movies about the reality of motherhood. I have high hopes for this to the first of it's kind, even knowing that motherhood is a fluid and ever-changing idea which cannot be kept neatly in a tiny spot on the pages of Webster's. I think that's what I like about the idea of this film. It goes through the ups and downs, which can be comical but not because it was written that way - as those of who are mothers understand.

[Amy J o]

I don't know if I would have seen the movie without your comments.
I visited some of the other sites, and have to say your's is the only one with purpose and real content! I appreciate your efforts to promote women and the value they have on families, society as a whole, and everything that's good in our world today. I'm glad some small part of this is being promoted in a hollywood movie.