Disney movies kill off mothers, Ryan Murphy turns mothers into monsters.
When it comes to "American Horror Story," mothers aren't exactly the most praised characters. From "Murder House" to "Asylum" to "Coven," all three seasons of the series involve multiple instances of troubled mother-child relationships, which usually result in disturbing, depressing, and/or horrific events.
From neglectful mothers to torturous ones to religious controlling ones, these are the terrible mommies, and thus mommy issues, that litter "American Horror Story."
(Spoiler alert if you haven't seen all three seasons of "American Horror Story.")
“American Horror Story: Murder House”
Constance and her childrenCompared to the other women from “American Horror Story,” Constance wasn’t the most horrendous mother ever, but she was pretty awful. Her eldest son, Tate, who admittedly hates his mother, shoots up his school and sets her boyfriend on fire, yet she still never comforts nor consoles him despite his needs for attention.
She also neglected her physically deformed son Beauregard, chained him down in the attic, and let her boyfriend at the time smother him with a pillow. And her daughter? Adelaide has Down syndrome, and has the sweetest heart of any "AHS" character, but Constance is continually hurtful toward her.
“American Horror Story: Asylum”Dr. Oliver ThredsonAbandoned by his mother, raised in orphanages, and turned into a psychotic serial killer, Oliver Thredson is the paradigm of the screwed up child with mommy issues. He starts kidnapping women and skinning them in order to find one that reminds him of his mother, until he finds Lana, the perfect match. He tortures and rapes her, kills (and rapes) her girlfriend, and calls her mommy. In order to survive, Lana has to play along with his sick game of mommy and son.
Johnny MorganIt’s hard to decide who is more screwed up, Johnny or his father Oliver Thredson. The rape child of Lana and Oliver, Johnny grows up in the adoption system as well, and makes it his life mission to be a great murder like his father and avenge his death by killing his mother Lana. Johnny has such deep mommy issues that he even hires new mother hookers to breast feed him -- so gross, so “American Horror Story.”
“American Horror Story: Coven”
Kyle and his mother“Coven” should have been called “American Horror Story: Terrible Mothers,” because as Kyle’s story soon showed, nearly every mom in the season is atrocious. When he is resurrected, Kyle returns home and we soon learn that his mother repeatedly molested and raped him. Being a violent zombie with repressed anger, he bashes her head in with a trophy.
Madame LaLaurie and DaughtersMadame Delphine LaLaurie is a horrible person for her racism and slave torture, but she truly proved she had no love in her heart when it came to her daughters. She picked on them and belittled them so much that they devised a plan to kill her, but when she figured it out she locked them in her torture dungeons with her slaves. They rightfully come back on Halloween in present day to haunt her and, in the end, she ends up in her own cages with them for all of eternity.
Joan and Luke RamseyOf course, a crazy Christian husband-murderer lives next door to the coven. But Patti Lupone’s Joan isn’t just terrible for preventing her son Luke from hanging with the witch neighbors, she is in support of giving him a bleach enema and tying him up in the closet. Oh, and then she suffocates him with a pillow when he’s in a coma in the hospital. Mother of the Year!
Fiona and CordeliaThe troubled mother-daughter relationship between Fiona and Cordelia was one of the more realistic and relatable parent-child struggles of “American Horror Story.” Cordelia never felt good enough for her mother and even plotted to murder her.
While Fiona showed Cordelia some moments of tenderness, especially when she was blinded, Fiona still beat up on her daughter and blamed her for the coven's tragedies.
Once Cordelia rose as the next Supreme, it meant Fiona had to die. When they said goodbye, the two shared a surprisingly loving embrace -- although Cordelia got her revenge by (arguably) sending her mother to a not-so-fun eternal Hell.
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