Mother-in-laws have got a bad reputation. Endless jokes are made about them being bossy, obnoxious and downright rude. Below we take a look at a few characters from the world of TV and film that haven’t exactly challenged this stereotype. It does make for good comedy though!
Marie Barone (Everybody Loves Raymond)
Ray’s mother Marie (played by Doris Roberts) is just plain bossy. She’s the self-appointed head of the Barone family, and is usually pretty horrible to her daughter-in-law. She’s also arrogant, and thinks that if all housewives were exactly like her the world would be perfect. At the end of the day anyone whose catchphrase is “I don’t like that” hardly sounds like they’re going to be a welcoming mother-in-law.
Viola Fields (Monster-in-Law)
As you’d expect Viola Fields from Monster-in-Law is absolutely mental. The title kind of gives it way really doesn’t it? She hates her future daughter-in-law but instead of sitting back and reluctantly accepting the woman her son has chosen she sets out on a mission to destroy the relationship.
She tries pretty much everything to get rid of her son’s fiance. This includes faking a heart attack in the middle of an argument and grinding up some almonds and slipping it into her food. I should probably mention that her daughter-in-law is allergic to nuts, otherwise it sounds like quite a nice thing to do.
Pearl Slaghoople (The Flintstones)
Anyone that can push around Fred Flintstone so effectively must be a little bit crazy. Fred is famous for being loud and a little domineering, but Pearl Slaghoople makes him look like a prehistoric pussycat.
She’s rude to Fred, often shouts at him and has even been known to hit him. She basically hates him, but that doesn’t bother Fred too much as the feeling is most definitely mutual.
Pearl has been played by both Joan Collins and Elizabeth Taylor in movie spinoffs of the cartoon series. Casting doesn’t get much better than that does it?
Charles and Nora Tyler Bing (Friends)
Mother-in-laws don’t have to be horrible to their children’s partners to be awarded the title of crazy. In Friends Chandler’s parents are always nice to Monica, and are nothing but happy for their son. The only problem is that they can’t stand each other. Oh, and that by the time that Monica and Chandler gett married Charles Bing has decided to become a woman.
Having two mother-in-laws is pretty crazy in itself. But the fact that they can hardly be civil to each other makes things 10 times worse. It might be bad for Monica, but its great fun for the audience. On one occasion Charles accuses Nora of being too old for the dress she’s wearing. She replies by saying that surely he’s got too much penis for the dress he’s wearing!
Pippa Browning loves everything about motherhood. In fact she loves it so much that she’s set up her own blog called Mothers Day Celebration as a tribute to mums from around the world!
