See also
In the performing arts, a stage mother is the mother of a child actor. The term stage mother sometimes has a negative connotation, suggesting that the individual is prone to obnoxiously demanding special treatment for her child, or suggesting that the individual has placed inappropriate pressure on her child to succeed, perhaps for reasons of vicariously living out her own dreams through the child. [1] Entitled and grandiose demands have sometimes led to reportedly veiled threats from a stage parent.
A stage mother may also be the official manager of her child (e.g., Ethel Gumm, Debra McCurdy, Tina Douglas, Rose Thompson Hovick, Dina Lohan, Teri Shields, Susan Duff, Catherine Belkhodja, Tina Knowles, Katherine Jackson, etc.)—representing her child in negotiations for the professional services of her child. Such managers have often been referred to as "momagers" in the film industry. [2]
In certain cases where a mother and child both work in the film industry, an automatic labeling of "stage mother" can be affixed to the mother[ by whom? ] without cause. Kathie Lee Gifford has been against the concept of stage mothers and had explained that when her son Cody co-starred with her in the film Model Behavior , it had been on his own volition to try acting and not at her insistence.[ citation needed ] Gifford plays a stage mother in that movie.
Fathers have also been known to manage their children in this way, such as Joseph Jackson (patriarch of the Jackson family), Murry Wilson (father of three of The Beach Boys), Joe Simpson (father of Jessica and Ashlee Simpson), Jeff Archuleta (father of American Idol runner-up David Archuleta), Mathew Knowles (father of Beyoncé and Solange Knowles), Ira David Wood III (father of Evan Rachel Wood) and Kit Culkin (father of Macaulay and Kieran Culkin). [3] A historical example of such a father was Leopold Mozart, who recognized his son's musical ability at an early age and made the most of it. [4]
Abraham Quintanilla Jr., father of Tejano superstar Selena, is credited with having discovered Selena's gift of singing; he rounded up her and her siblings as a band (Selena y Los Dinos), named for his band in his younger days.
Stage fathers share a similar role with parents promoting their children in professional sports. [5] The drive to enhance their child's success, and vicariously the father's own financial furtherance and fame can include implementation of strength and exercise regimens at a young age and backhanded actions such as delaying enrollment in school so their sons will be bigger than their classmates. [6] LaVar Ball, father of NBA player Lonzo Ball, achieved notoriety for spurious self aggrandizement [7] [8] [9] and inflation of his son's assets, including questionable claims that his son's basketball skills exceeded those of Stephen Curry, LeBron James and Russell Westbrook. [10] [11]
A variant of the term has been a "script mother", or a woman writer who sees her children as a means for writing books or screenplays based on humiliating events in the child's life, to the detriment of the child, or exaggerating a child's personal problems.[ citation needed ] Script mothers can be writers, comedians or cartoonists (Comtesse de Ségur, Christine Angot, Maïwenn).
An example of a script mother has been Lynn Johnston, who has been criticized for exploiting her children (and husband) in her comic strip For Better or For Worse , as opposed to many cartoonists such as Charles Schultz and Berke Breathed who make up fictional characters. Johnston's children eventually had to be pulled out of school due to the constant bullying and embarrassment they received in being compared to their comic strip counterparts, and placed into a private school with tougher regulations on student conduct. [12]
Real-life stage mothers and their children have been a popular subject for reality television shows, including the shows I Know My Kid's a Star (2008), Dance Moms (2011–2019), Toddlers & Tiaras (2008–2016) and its spinoff Here Comes Honey Boo Boo (2012–2014).
For Better or For Worse is a comic strip by Lynn Johnston that ran originally from 1979 to 2008 chronicling the lives of the Patterson family and their friends, in the town of Milborough, a fictional suburb of Toronto, Ontario. Now running as reruns, For Better or For Worse is still seen in over 2,000 newspapers throughout Canada, the U.S., Mexico and around twenty other countries.
Lynn Johnston is a Canadian cartoonist and author, best known for her newspaper comic strip For Better or For Worse. She was the first woman and first Canadian to win the National Cartoonist Society's Reuben Award.
Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin is an American actor and musician. He rose to prominence as a child actor starring as Kevin McCallister in the first two films of the Home Alone film series. One of the most successful child actors of the 1990s, Culkin was placed 2nd on VH1's 2005 list of the "100 Greatest Kid-Stars". His awards include a MTV Movie Award from three nominations, a Young Artist Award, and a nomination for a Golden Globe Award. In 2023, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In Freudian Ego psychology, psychosexual development is a central element of the psychoanalytic sexual drive theory. Freud believed that personality developed through a series of childhood stages in which pleasure seeking energies from the child became focused on certain erogenous areas. An erogenous zone is characterized as an area of the body that is particularly sensitive to stimulation. The five psychosexual stages are the oral, the anal, the phallic, the latent, and the genital. The erogenous zone associated with each stage serves as a source of pleasure. Being unsatisfied at any particular stage can result in fixation. On the other hand, being satisfied can result in a healthy personality. Sigmund Freud proposed that if the child experienced frustration at any of the psychosexual developmental stages, they would experience anxiety that would persist into adulthood as a neurosis, a functional mental disorder.
Kieran Kyle Culkin is an American actor. Culkin starred as Roman Roy in the HBO television series Succession from 2018 to 2023, for which he won a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.
Kit Culkin is an American former stage actor. He is the father of actors Macaulay Culkin, Rory Culkin and Kieran Culkin, and the older brother of actress Bonnie Bedelia.
The topic of Islam and children includes Islamic principles of child development, the rights of children in Islam, the duties of children towards their parents, and the rights of parents over their children, both biological and foster children.
David James Archuleta is an American pop singer. At ten years old, he won the children's division of the Utah Talent Competition, leading to other television singing appearances. When he was twelve years old, he became the Junior Vocal Champion on the second season of Star Search, known as "Star Search 2". In 2008, he finished second on the seventh season of American Idol.
Abraham Isaac Quintanilla Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, and producer. He is the father of Tejano singer Selena and was her manager throughout her life.
Selena Sloan Butler (1872–1964) was the founder and first president of the National Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers Association (NCCPT). President Herbert Hoover appointed her to the White House Conference on Child Health and Protection in 1929. During World War II, she organized the Red Cross' first black women's chapter of "Gray Ladies." When Congress merged the NCCPT with the National PTA in 1970, Butler was posthumously recognized as one of the organization's founders. Today, Butler is considered a co-founder of the National Parent-Teacher Association.
Lonzo Anderson Ball is an American professional basketball player. A point guard, he played college basketball for one season with the UCLA Bruins, earning consensus first-team All-American honors before the Los Angeles Lakers selected him with the second overall pick of the 2017 NBA draft. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team in 2018.
LaMelo LaFrance Ball is an American professional basketball player for the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected by the Hornets with the third overall pick of the 2020 NBA draft. Ball was voted the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2021 and named an NBA All-Star the following season in 2022.
LiAngelo Robert Ball is an American professional basketball player who last played for Astros De Jalisco. Ball played for Chino Hills High School in California, where he won a state championship and achieved national success as a junior with his brothers Lonzo and LaMelo, who are both current NBA guards. A three-star recruit and UCLA signee, he decided to forgo college basketball after being suspended for shoplifting in China before the 2017–18 season. In turn, Ball signed with Lithuanian professional team Prienai. He later played in the Junior Basketball Association (JBA), a league founded by his father, before joining the G League at the end of 2019–20. He was briefly signed to the Detroit Pistons in late 2020, but was waived prior to the start of the 2020–21 season. Ball joined the Greensboro Swarm in 2021.
LaVar Christopher Ball is an American businessman. He is the co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of the sports apparel company Big Baller Brand and founder of the now defunct Junior Basketball Association (JBA). He is the father of three professional basketball players: Chicago Bulls point guard Lonzo, Greensboro Swarm shooting guard LiAngelo and Charlotte Hornets point guard LaMelo.
Big Baller Brand (BBB) is an American company that designs, manufactures, and sells clothing and shoes. Launched in 2016 by Alan Foster and LaVar Ball, it has most notably produced signature shoes for the Ball brothers—basketball players Lonzo Ball, LaMelo Ball, and LiAngelo Ball. Big Baller Brand has additionally been involved in the creation of the Junior Basketball Association (JBA), which it fully funded, and both the Big Baller Brand Challenge Games and Big Baller Brand International Tournament, which were a series of Lithuanian exhibition games hosted by BC Vytautas.
Ball in the Family is an American reality television series that premiered on August 29, 2017 on Facebook Watch. The show documents the personal and professional lives of the Ball family. The sixth season premiered on October 18, 2020.
The Junior Basketball Association (JBA) was an American basketball league that intended to be an alternative to the NCAA by allowing high school and junior college players to immediately play professionally. The league was first announced in December 2017 by LaVar Ball and was said to be fully funded by Ball's sports apparel company, Big Baller Brand. The JBA existed for just one season in 2018, featuring eight teams from major US cities.
The Chicago Ballers were a basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois. The team competed in the Junior Basketball Association (JBA), a league created for high school and junior college players as an alternative to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
The Seattle Ballers were a basketball team based in Seattle, Washington. The team competed in the Junior Basketball Association (JBA), a league created for high school and junior college players as an alternative to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
The Los Angeles Ballers were a professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. The team competed in the Junior Basketball Association (JBA), a league created for high school and junior college players as an alternative to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). They won the championship for the league's only 2018 season.