Kiss of the Spider Woman: Motif Tracking – Mothers

Brainstorm:

Quotations & Explanations:

Page	Quotation	Explanation
16	“A lovely lady, who gave her husband every happiness and her children too, always managing everything perfectly.” Relating	Relates to mother motif as Molina’s description of the architect’s mother in the story telling involving his personal thought of what a mother is normally like; emphasizing his strong bonds with his own mother.
11 & 18	“fellow’s mother had it first”, “How do you if the house was the mother’s? I told you that because I liked the apartment a lot and since it was decorated with antiques I Said it could be the mother’s.	Molina’s close relationship with his mother is demonstrated through this as Molina is constructing the movie with his own views and opinions, his assumption of the mother of the architect decorating the apartment as Molina himself likes the style. An assumption linking feminine style of mother motif.
27	“You’re a good cook”	Molina playing the mother figure by cooking as cooking is one of the stereotypical types a mother is expected to do.
35 & 36	“I have sensation, from being in here, of not being able to do anything… it’s my mother”, “she’s living with an aunt of mine.. But it’s just that she’s so sick. She’s got high blood pressure and her heart is weak” “She misses me so much. We always been very close”	Molina revealing his close relation with his mother to Valentin illustrates the importance and how much his mother’s health and beings mean to him also emphasizing his mother’s caring and beautiful warm relationship they share between mother and son.
105-106	“Mom never gave me that black look, they condemned … but because of me my mom could die, tired heart of a woman suffering so much, tired heart, from forgiving too much? So many hardships her whole life beside a husband that never understood her, and later on the hardship of having a son steeped in vice … in front of my mom said that of all things I was the worst… my mom still kept her eyes fixed on him.. when she turned from the judge to look at me she gave me a smile … I never said a word to this son of a bitch, not a word about my mother ever, beaus if he dared to say one stupid word about her I’d kill the son of a bitch”	Shows mother caring/forgiving selfless figure from Molina’s mother.
113	“ I swore I wouldn’t tell you any more films. Now I’ll go to hell for breaking my word.”	Molina playing Mother figure by caring, nursing and indulging Valentine.
119 & 127	“He feels guilty about having to abandoned his mother, .. mother always writes… that she’s going to marry someone, without loving him, because she’s afraid of being left all alone.” “A mother whose straight back never touches the back of a chair, a mother who manages to smile once again, a mother whose clenched hands manages to relax enough to caress her son’s head, a mother who fears for the life of her son, “	In the story telling: mother’s insecure of solitude.
137	“O. Fenichel asserts that the probability of a homosexual orientation increases the more the male child identifies with his” mother”	Mother feminine figure influencing sons to be less masculine by nature.
149	“Seems your mother is feeling a lot better, since he spoke to her about the possibility of a pardon… She’s practically a new person.” P. 151 “My mother always brings some bags of food for me”	Mother’s consistence and reliability. Also, stereotypical – cooking, taking of children.
162 179-180 187	“A black nurse, old and kindly, a day nurse, at night, a new one, exposing her to contagion” “well, I could help you clean youself..” “The nurses on the dayshift…smiling with nce patients…” “You don’t want any.. I’ve heard that before, the water’s already starting to boiled so out you go and hurry back.”	Molina plays mother/nurse figure role; Molina talking to himself, dressing himself up as a nurse, as Valentine is in need of caring like a nurse. E.g. P.175 dramatic taking care of Valentine as nurse is a feminine job illustrating a perfect mother role figure. Later on Molina still playing the mother figure role however in a controlling way i.e. P.187
197-199	Molina’s second conversation with Warden	Illustrating his great bond with his own mother as Molina is willing to sacrifice and betray his friendship with Valentine for his mother’s fake.
203	“My mom’s affection for me is..well.. only good thing that’s happened to me in my whole life,.. she takes me for what I am, and loves me just that way, plain and simple.”	Demonstrates Molina’s mother affection/love for him.

Key Moment:

Molina plays a nurturing mother figure in hopes that by embodying femininity in its ultimate role he can be in touch with his sexual orientation. The great bond between Molina and his mother illustrates the ideal mother, something Molina aspires to be.