A few weeks ago, we were invited by our friends at eOne to a private screening of “Where’d You Go, Bernadette,” a film that stars the incomparable Cate Blanchett as a creative genius, turned disgraced artist, turned Silicon Valley housewife, turned mother to an unwell child, turned nearly empty-nester, turned woman in total fucking crisis (honestly though – can you blame her?)

The film is a tale of The Creative Mother and it forced me to turn inward – more so than I had expected it would, it put me face-to-face with my own biggest fears and insecurities surrounding motherhood.

“It put me face-to-face with my own biggest fears and insecurities surrounding motherhood.”

Mothers should be loving, nurturing, kind, protective, and lucid, right? But The Creative Mother, by the very nature of her being, is a little left of sane.

And so she suppresses her creativity in fear of being perceived as ‘mad’ – the creative mother can also be a very pragmatic mother in her own way, in that she’s able to see the very real threat that that particular perception carries – and so she stifles it, not realizing that in doing so, she’s actually asphyxiating her entire being.

But as Cate Blanchett herself said during our discussion on Saturday (holy shit never thought I’d ever type THOSE words!) the point of any movie is the conversations they generate. We take from the story what serves our own agenda and if it helps us to understand ourselves a little better then it has done its job. According to Cate and director Richard Linklater, “Where’d You Go Bernadette” is a story about an adult relationship – filled with misunderstandings, circumstantial decision making, and self discovery.

“The point of any movie is the conversations they generate.”
– Cate Blanchett

But the movie brings to light other modern topics too, like the prescription drug epidemic, the correlation between motherhood and declining mental health, the medical community’s lack of understanding of ‘the female condition’ – but in the end, for me (selfishly, I suppose), the film stood out as an answer to the question, What is more dangerous: The Creative Mother or the creatively unfulfilled mother?

What is more dangerous:
The Creative Mother or the
creatively unfulfilled mother?

“Where’d You Go Bernadette” still managed to leave me feeling hopeful. It reminded me that what matters as a mother is your relationship with yourself and your relationship with your kid. Outsider opinions mean nothing. And if your relationship with yourself is only a healthy one when you create, then YOU MUST CREATE! Because your creations matter.

And when life happens (because life will happen) and forces you to take a step back from yourself, remember to take inventory once you get your footing again. If you’re a creative mother too, put that part of yourself in the “keep” pile. Nobody will do it for you so do it for yourself. Create and everyone wins.

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“Where’d You Go, Bernadette” comes out in theatres on August 14!
We say: Gather your crew and go.

Have you read our Bernadette-inspired RM Love Letter yet?

CLICK HERE for a preview (and make sure to scroll to the bottom and SUBSCRIBE!

(P.S. Here we are with the cast at a private Q&A!
#mindblown)

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