MovieChat Forums > Waitress (2007) Discussion > Not all women want to be mothers, and th...

Not all women want to be mothers, and this movie ALMOST recognizes this.

posted 11 years ago by coupleofflakes2
3 replies | jump to latest

Jenna had no desire to be a mother. This is made abundantly clear throughout the movie. Given her situation, it's hard to see how she could WANT to be a mother. Her husband is a controlling A-hole, she has no money, no support system (we never learn of any family or close friends). It's an incredibly *beep* situation to bring a baby into.

It was refreshing to me to see a film where the main character wasn't falling all over herself at the thought of becoming a mother. Jenna felt absolutely no joy or excitement about being pregnant, and at one point even says she feels no maternal love towards her baby.

Crazy as it may seem to some people, not all women want to be mothers, and not all women see a pregnancy as a blessing. For them, it's a disaster, something they wish hadn't happened, something that's going to ruin their lives. I thought for once there was a movie that made the statement MOTHERHOOD ISN'T FOR EVERYONE.

But then of course in the final 10 minutes Jenna delivers her baby and as soon as she holds the baby in her arms, she does a total flip-flop and suddenly motherhood is the best thing that has ever happened to her.

The same thing happens in Knocked Up, released the same year: For 90% of the movie the characters aren't happy about having a baby, but once the baby comes out, everything magically changes.

Don't get me wrong: I love Waitress, it's one of my favourite movies, and Adrienne Shelly's untimely passing was a huge loss for the movie world.

The ending has always bugged me though. I feel it sends the message to women that if you aren't happy about having a baby, there is something wrong with you.

[–] alwayshungryy 11 years ago

I really believed she did not want a baby, but it's impossible to not feel anything once you're holding a human being you've grown in your stomach for 9 months :) I love the film for showing us Jenna's own hopes and wishes (and not someone who just wants someone/ something to happen that saves her), then in the end she decides to go off on her own to do what she wants, and finally has someone in her life she can love completely. I don't think it was a bad thing, I think a new film this year might interest you though, Obvious Child starring Jenny Slate.

[–] MissVCI 10 years ago

I am not a mother, I hope to be at one point. But my friend had an unplanned pregnancy a few years back and she never had any desire to be a mother. She kept the pregnancy a secret for as long as she could from me but I figured it out way before she officially told me. When she finally did, she said it doesn't matter because she's giving it up for adoption. She was not happy about the prospect of becoming a mother at all, but after she delivered her baby, she decided to keep it, she couldn't let her daughter go. I wouldn't say it was a 360 spin, she still struggles being a single mother and doesn't rave about motherhood, but like the previous poster said there must be something about carrying a child in you for 9 months and holding it after it is born that makes it harder to feel disconnected to the new life.

[–] OldFriendOfTheChristys 9 years ago

Personally, I felt the ending "worked" for this particular film. Sure, it feels almost too perfect -- Jenna falls in love with her child and inherits enough money to start fresh -- but, again, somehow it all works.