RJ Writing Ink’s Picks for Five Terrible Moms on TV
Mother’s Day is that day of the year when we’re supposed to honor the woman who brought us into the world. However, all too often, some mothers don’t deserve any honors whatsoever. While I’ve been thankful to have never met someone like that in person, I have seen a lot of bad moms on TV. Whether they be manipulative, emotionally stunted, idiotic, or abusive on any level, I’ve seen fictional moms that would be on the CPS’ most wanted list, if that was a thing.
I’m RJ Writing Ink, and for Mother’s Day 2024, here are my picks for some of the worst moms in TV history. As this will focus exclusively on TV, we will not include anyone from movies. So, no Evil Stepmother, Gothel, or other bad moms from Disney films.
Cersei Lannister-Game of Thrones
We have the only live-action mom on this list and one of the most detestable women in fiction: Cersei Lannister. You could spend an entire post listing her crimes and sins, but let’s stick to why she’s a terrible mom.
Cersei can talk all day about how much she loves her children, but that doesn’t make her a good mom. Her spoiling Joffrey rotten turned him into a vicious idiot who dragged all of Westeros into a civil war and killed tens of thousands. Blowing up the Great Sept of Baelor not only killed hundreds, but it also drove her younger son, Tommen, to commit suicide out of despair. Her blaming of Tyrion for Joffrey’s death led to a series of events that culminated in the death of her only daughter, Myrcella.
Her love for her children itself could be called into question. She was such a narcissist that some believe that she didn’t see her children as their people. She only saw them as extensions of herself, which she only cared about. In other words, she was a waste of human flesh in every sense of the word, and at one point, when I thought I saw a shooting star, I wished for her demise.
The way she and Jaime died in the show left me feeling robbed. Ironically enough, that episode also aired on Mother’s Day.
Odalia Blight-The Owl House
Even before she made an onscreen appearance, fans of The Owl House had good reason to hate Odalia Blight. It was bad enough to learn that she blackmailed and emotionally abused her youngest daughter, Amity, to be a mirror image of herself. But then her first onscreen appearance had her try to get Amity’s friends expelled from school and tried to kill Luz. By the time the end of the season revealed her complicity in the attempted genocide of all witch-kind, no one, in-universe or out, they liked her.
Odalia is the living personification of every selfish, uncaring, elitist parent throughout history. She only sees her family as extensions of herself and will do anything, no matter how reprehensible, to keep them under her thumb. By the end of the series, her family rightfully chooses to cut all ties with her and not a moment too soon. She’s the kind of Mom that belongs in jail or on the streets.
Sheila Broflovski-South Park
You know someone is unlikeable when a little boy comes up with an entire song to rip on them. Meet Sheila Broflovksi, AKA Kyle’s mom and one of the most overbearing and uptight women in all of South Park. In the early days of the series, a helicopter mom to the extreme, she would protest against anything and anyone that she considered a bad influence, regardless of whether they or not. Nowhere is this better demonstrated than in South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut. How did Sheila react after finding out an R-rated Canadian film had taught most of the town’s kids how to swear? By forming an anti-Canada group and ending up starting a war.
Sheila was and always has been, extremely overprotective of her sons. However, the show has seen her mellow out as time has gone on, with her toning down her more extreme parenting ways. However, if something manages to set her off, she’ll revert straight back into the unlikeable, overbearing mom who leads parents in singing “Blame Canada.” I hate to say it, but Cartman might be right about her being the B-word.
Lois Griffin-Family Guy
Whereas Mrs. Broflovski started as an overbearing and potentially bad mom who mellowed out and became better, Lois Griffin is the opposite. The wife and resident mom to the titular Family Guy started out as the voice of reason to her unpredictable and eccentric husband. As time went on and Family Guy racked up more seasons, Lois changed to become the female equivalent of Peter Griffin. In the present day, she can be as impulsive, self-centered, and abusive to her family as Peter can be.
I can’t even name all of the reasons why Lois Griffin is a horrible mom; there are so many of them. Lois led all of Quahog in an anti-vaccination campaign. She has been known to mock her son, Chris, for lack of intelligence. She constantly demeans and belittles her daughter, Meg, so that she can feel better about herself. Lois Griffin is a horrible mom, and if Family Guy wasn’t a comedy, she might end up in jail for child abuse.
Also, this might be me, but her voice is annoying.
Mr and Mrs. Turner-The Fairly Oddparents
I know this is supposed to be about moms only, but Timmy Turner’s biological parents are so awful that I have no choice but to lump them together.
At the start of the series, Mr. and Mrs. Turner were simply too busy to look after their son, but they did care about his wellbeing. As the show went on, though, they went from being unintentionally neglectful to flat-out abusive. They made it clear several times that they either would’ve preferred to have a daughter over Timmy or not have kids at all. They go on vacations without bringing him along and use his college funds to do so. Mrs. Turner’s cooking is considered so bad that it might as well be toxic. And worst of all, they leave their only child’s wellbeing in the hands of a psychopathic babysitter who, time and again, has put his life in danger. Their lack of empathy for Timmy gets so bad that even when presented with footage showing Vicky’s abuse, they don’t care!
I have seen a lot of bad moms and dads in fiction, but Mr. and Mrs. Turner might be among the worst of the worst. They’re selfish, idiotic, abusive people, and Mrs. Turner is more than deserving to be on this list. I’m willing to be that there’s a fanfic out there where the two of them end up in jail for child abuse, as they deserve.
This whole post might counter the entire concept of Mother’s Day, but it doesn’t. In real life and fiction, there will be just as many bad moms as good ones. And by seeing just how awful these women are as moms, you’ll love your moms even more. And these are only a handful of examples. Plenty of more bad moms in fiction deserve to be on this list.
