Cleanliness Next To Godliness: Joan Crawford's Obsession
Joan Crawford wielding a mop across the sleek floor of the kitchen in her New York apartment. Circa 1959. I'm just going to come out of the gate and say it: I don't like the movie Mommie Dearest, the movie that has, perhaps, become as iconic in pop culture as the woman it's about. Sure, it's entertaining - there's definitely no doubting that - and showcases some excellent acting on Faye Dunaway's part, but it also does an immense disservice to Joan Crawford. For the three people who don't know what the movie's about, Mommie Dearest tells the story of Joan Crawford beginning with the adoption of her first child, Christina. Originally a book written by Christina herself, and then turned into the movie that is so well-known, it alleges that Joan was an abusive, manipulative and self-centered mother, capable of loving no one except for herself, who deprived her children of affection, treated them like filth and suff...