Mommie Dearest Movie Personality Disorder

Joan Crawford was one of the most recognized actresses in classic Hollywood cinema, and starred in many various television shows and movies in the 1930s and 1940s. Joan lived a seemingly perfect life of luxury and fame; she lived in a massive mansion, had three beautiful daughters and a son, and was always married or dating a rich businessman or lawyer. Little did the world know, Joan was suffering from a variety of chronic, crippling personality disorders, that not only affected her, but were also detrimental to her children. Personality disorders are patterns of inflexible traits that disrupt daily life and agitate the individual affected. The movie, Mommie Dearest, is based on Joan’s oldest daughter Christina’s depiction of her disorders, and how it negatively affected her in not only her childhood, but also as an adult. Joan suffered from

Obsessive compulsive personality disorder is characterized by a fixation on rules and orderliness; this includes constant anxiousness and insecurity regarding their financial situation, time, and relationships (Rathus, 2010). Throughout Mommie Dearest, Joan depicts obsessive compulsive personality disorder. One example of this is when she drags Christina out of bed, and demands the floor is not clean enough. Although Christina insists she cleaned it thoroughly earlier, Joan proceeds to beat her with the can of cleaning powder and dump it on the floor, as well as on her daughter. This example demonstrates how agitated Joan became because of cleanliness, and how she believed the house should be spotless. Another scene that depicts Joan’s obsessive compulsive traits is when she manically throws all of Christina’s dresses on the floor because they were hung on wire hangers. `This demonstrates her obsession with orderliness, and rules that she sets without