It's difficult to say who received worse publicity—Joan Crawford for being a bad mother or Faye Dunaway for playing her in Mommie Dearest. As the 'day of the mom' is here, we thought it fitting to rerun the Mommie Dearest story in which Faye Dunaway's great performance as the legendary Joan Crawford is finally given its due."Joan, thanks to Dunaway's performance, manages to steal Christina's story from beyond the grave." —
Eric Henderson,
Slant magazine
"Why can't you give me the respect that I'm entitled to?" —Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford
For over 30 years, Mommie Dearest has been the high-camp champ of motion pictures. There have been a number of worthy contenders, like Valley of the Dolls and Showgirls, but gay movie fans have a special reverence for both Joan Crawford and Faye Dunaway, who took on the movie idol and lived to regret it. The film's famous lines (almost any line in the film!) "No more wire hangers," "Tina, bring me the axe," etc., have entered camp nirvana. So why at this late date do we still need to talk about Mommie Dearest, and what more can be said? For starters, Faye Dunaway should be given the respect that she's entitled to.
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