Joan+Crawford

Joan Crawford By Gabrielle Noone As a renowned icon of bad parenting, Joan Crawford, as portrayed in the film //Mommie Dearest//, exemplifies pure evil for a variety of reasons. Crawford is an extremely driven actress who displays continuous obsessive compulsive behavior and rigorous self-control, including an obsession with cleanliness. One of her many neurotic habits is a daily routine of awaking at 4 am and scrubbing her face with boiling hot water and soap, then plunging her head into a tub of alcohol and ice to close her pores. Crawford has suffered seven miscarriages and feels a void in her life that can only be filled with a child, however adoption agencies will not allow her to take a child because they feel she is not suited to be a parent. One of her many boyfriends bribes his way into getting her a child, a daughter who she names Christina, and eventually another, a son named Christopher. Crawford lavishes her children with extravagances, as well as cruel discipline. For instance, at Christina's birthday party, Crawford manipulatively asks her which of the many gifts she's received is her favorite and then announces that all the others will be given to charity. Crawford, who requires her children address her as "Mommie Dearest," later challenges her daughter to a swimming-pool race. After Christina loses, due to her physical disadvantage of being a child, Crawford taunts her by saying "You lost again. You will never win!" and then locks her in a closet for reacting with disappointment. Later, when Christina is found imitating her and putting on her makeup, Crawford frenziedly hacks off the child's hair. In Crawford's most notorious display of evil, she enters her daughter's bedroom in the middle of the night, discovers a dress hanging on a wire hanger, and tears apart the closet and beats Christina with the hanger, exclaiming, "I told you! No Wire hangers, ever!" Years later, when Crawford is dying of cancer, she removes both of her children from her will "for reasons which are well known to them." Christina is viewed as the hero of the story, due to her inclination to question her mother's evil motives.

__Physical Qualities__
 * 1) Crawford's extremely dark and overly arched eyebrows emphasize her dramatic and shocking nature.
 * 2) Her flawless skin is a result of her intense facial cleansing regimen.
 * 3) While yelling at or manipulating her children, Crawford displays a piercing stare in her eyes, which is emphasized with heavy eye makeup.
 * 4) With bright red, thick lips, Crawford almost looks clown-like, just like her ridiculous behavior.
 * 5) Crawford consistently has flawless hair, a result of her obsessive compulsive neatness.

__Video Clip__

__https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOILKHmZBwc__