Editor's note: Mild spoilers below.
You can’t ignore the hype around the recently released witty comedy Bad Moms (trailer below!). Rave reviews are popping up all over social media, with moms flocking to their local theaters while some critics claim the movie goes too far. The question is: Should you see it?
If you're like me you're juggling any number of the following: family, career, marriage, endless chores and a massive to-do list with no end in sight. The laundry never stops piling up, and someone always pees on the floor.
You need a break! This movie is for you.
Like so many of us, the movie’s lead character Amy (played by the always entertaining Mila Kunis) seems to have the perfect life. But she is sorely underappreciated, overworked and totally stressed out. Sound familiar?
Amy teams up with two other exhausted “bad moms” who have had enough of the thankless drudgery of momhood. “We all work too damn hard trying to make our kids lives amazing and magical. Their lives already are amazing and magical. Screw it. Let’s be bad moms,” Amy declares.
Together these three take us on their wild journey to fight for mothers everywhere who need a break. In the process they learn something about themselves and figure out how to stand up to the too-cool PTA moms. In one scene, the leader of the PTA, Gwendolyn (played by Christina Applegate), rattles off the rules of an upcoming bake sale: “No BPA, no MSG, no BHA, no BHT, no sesame, no soy and, of course, no nuts or eggs or milk or butter or salt or sugar or wheat.” And with that, we’re all like, whatever.
Note that Bad Moms is laced with crude jokes and nasty references but it’s all in good fun. Take, for example, when Amy stands before her friends in her “sexy bra.” Friend Carla yells “Holy f***, is that your mom bra?! It looks like you have one long boob.” Pal Kiki offers, “Is it bulletproof?” Take it all in stride and enjoy your night out.
Mothers face extreme pressure to be perfect every single second of every day. We sure can’t let the front fade and the world see what a mess we are. Or can we?
The mother of three small boys, I can’t often get to the movies these days. But for this movie, I made an exception (and suggest you do too). My recommendation: Plan a girls’ night out complete with dinner (consisting, fittingly, mostly of wine) and then head to the movie.
When my friends and I went, we cracked up right along with nearly everyone else in the theater. As credits rolled, I heard row after row of moviegoers praise the film. Personally, I left not only feeling a new sense of appreciation for my own mother (not sure how she did it) but also wondering just why we put so much pressure on mothers today.
Related, partially wine-fueled thoughts: Why are we as mothers programmed so differently than dads? Why am I the only one who is worried about the upcoming school schedule, who needs a dentist appointment and where Olaf is? No one else seems to mind but yet I am always carrying this massive to-do list and always worrying. Why?!
Mothers face extreme pressure to be perfect every single second of every day. We sure can’t let the front fade and the world see what a mess we are. Or can we? This unhealthy logic that we all have to fit into one mold as a mother isn’t working anymore. Does it make me a failure to admit that I can’t do it all, that I’m not perfect? No, it makes me human. It means I’m like most mothers out there who are secretly wishing for their own Amy to stand up and say, “NO. No, we don’t have to be perfect. We are allowed to be 'bad moms.'”
This movie celebrates reality, touching upon both the insanity and humor of parenthood. Bad Moms speaks to us because it puts real, messy motherhood front and center, showing the countless sacrifices we make and the eternal love we have. No one wants to admit they don’t have it together but this movie gives us a voice. It inspires us to feel OK about the dishes in the sink, doctor appointments that have yet to be made and frozen pizzas for dinner. I may not go running through the aisles of my local supermarket hurling cereal and chugging booze like in the film, but I will celebrate who I am ― and that is not perfect.
The bottom line is this movie is a must-see for not only mothers but all adults. It’s R-rated material and raw humor makes it an adult-only movie but hey, that’s better in my book. You might have the urge to stand and cheer, but try to refrain until the credits — or maybe, in the spirit of being a little bad, don’t.
