Mommy Reflection

In class on Thursday before the screening, we talked about the concept of reality versus what is captured on social media. When watching Mommy, I decided to pay special attention to when this was the case in the film. The first time I noticed a difference in realities was when Diane greets her neighbor, the lawyer, before going out to dinner with him. She was yelling back at Steve inside her house, but when she goes to answer the door, her persona changes dramatically. She is then charismatic and overly responsive, very much unlike what was going on in her conversation inside the home. Here, we can see that sometimes what we see from an outside perspective is not the whole truth. Diane manages to keep much of the verbal and physical abuse from Steve hidden behind closed doors. The second time that I noticed a difference between reality and what is captured was in their road trip before Diane leaves Steve at the hospital. There are several blurry shots of them laughing and having a great time. But then we get a very clear shot of when Diane says that she needs to use the bathroom, pulling into the hospital. This is more of what a road trip feels like. Stopping for gas and using the bathroom, the radio playing, and silence or simple conversations between the driver and passenger are events more along the lines of a traditional road trip. Clearly, it was not as exciting as it was made to look in the clips of them having fun. This is further highlighted when Diane has a blurry day dream where she envisions Steve getting married and them again living the lavish life they once had. Again, this definitely goes along with the message that her picturesque daydream is a lot like content posted online. It represents a glimpse into something she would like, but its not reality. The way in which the film quickly progresses from this fairytale vision to Steve getting locked up and punched by the guards in the hospital reminds us that this “virtual reality” is short lived and it is not our true life.