"Are You My Mother?" by Alison Bechdel

Here’s the deal, folks. I enjoyed reading this book. I really did. I could appreciate the themes of trying to get along with one’s mother, going to a therapist for comfort and answers, and looking for love in the strangest places. Still, given everything, I can’t say that I know what Alison Bechdel was going through in those times. Nobody really can ever know how another person feels since all life paths have their own degree of uniqueness. The multi-layered style in which Alison Bechdel wrote this graphic novel makes it even harder for her audience to understand her situation. In order to figure out what her dreams mean and how to cope with the stress of dealing with an overbearing mother, Alison checks out psychology books from the library and studies the different schools of thought that go into this science. There’s Freud’s method, which was all about the subconscious and the creative material lost within. And then we have a fellow by the name of Donald Winnicott, a psychoanalyst who specialized in relationships between parents and children. Alison becomes so engrossed in this academic reading material that she begins to see Mr. Winnicott as a mother figure himself. In fact, she sees little hints of her mother in several different people, from her therapists to her girlfriends (she‘s a lesbian, in case you couldn‘t tell). In the end, what she wanted was somebody to love her for who she is. She had to go through many emotional hardships to find unconditional love, but it’s all worth it in the end. Stephen Chbosky said it best when he claimed “We accept the love we think we deserve.” In terms of “Are You My Mother?”, the reason Alison Bechdel was experiencing so many anxiety attacks was because she was afraid of getting more of the same disapproval from the people around her, especially her mother. Her mother didn’t even want her to write “Fun Home” at first, let alone this graphic memoir. Things change drastically as the story progresses. Whether you can decipher the educated language and the psychoanalysis or not, you can still find solace in this book. If you’ve ever had a fucked up psychology at any point in your life, grab a copy and get lost in the ocean of despair. It matters not if you’re gay, straight, old, young, male, female, or anything else for that matter. If you can’t relate, make yourself relate. Alison Bechdel makes it easy to do that whether you understand her methods or not.

　

***COMEDIC QUOTE OF THE DAY***

“A father is a mother-fucker.”

-George Carlin-