Would You Consider Mona from 'Who's The Boss?' to Be A Bad Mom?

[Brian Damage]

Mona Robinson (played by Katherine Helmond) was the sex-starved mother of Angela Bower (Judith Light) on this 80's sitcom. But Mona was extremely critical of her successful daughter, often putting her down and making demeaning comments about her. With a mother like that, it's amazing Angela had any self esteem at all. The character of Mona was great comic relief on the show, but as a mother Mona was a big fat zero.

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[LittleJerry]

I don't necessarily think Mona is a "bad" mother. I think that she is just brutally honest and wants the best for Angela.

[deefanforever]

I don't think Mona was a bad mother either. Yes at times she was too harsh with Angela but she was honest and she did care about her. I believe she always wanted what was best for Angela(we know she wanted her with Tony) and he was the best thing to happen in her life aside from her son. I think Mona and Angela were really different but when it came down to it, Mona was always there for Angela.

[Miss Lisa]

I don't think that she was a bad mother at all, just brutally honest. We all need someone in our lives who isn't afraid to tell us the truth, even when its the last thing that we want to hear. Besides, when ever Mona would make a comment about Angela's nonexistant sex life or how neurotic she was Angela really didn't seem to care. She would always just roll her eyes and when someone reacts like that, they usually aren't taking offense to what you said.

[bingbangbaby]

I think for most people she wouldn't be a good mother, but for Angela, she was okay (just okay). If I can make a comparison to Lorelai from Gilmore Girls for a moment-- she knew her daughter well and would encourage her to slack off or go party or whatever, because she knew she would never do anything like that, and would do nothing but study all the time if she could. It seemed like an effort to balance her daughter. I think some of the way Mona treated Angela was along those same lines; Angela was intelligent, successful, beautiful, and a workaholic, as well as overly serious and very conservative. I think Mona treated Angela the way she thought would help balance her out and keep her grounded, help her be able to lighten up and laugh at herself. She bugged me though because sometimes I thought she was just plain mean.

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by bingbangbaby

sometimes I thought she was just plain mean.

That's how I feel about Carla on "Cheers". Though she was very funny.

Yeah Mona could be a bit brash at times, but it was harder (for me) to think she was going "too far". And, besides, many a time she was there for her daughter and clearly showed her love, admiration, and support of her.

Kind of like Sophia was with Dorothy on "The Golden Girls", though I think Sophia was more biting in her picking-on remarks.

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

That's how I feel about Carla on "Cheers". Though she was very funny.

Yeah Mona could be a bit brash at times, but it was harder (for me) to think she was going "too far". And, besides, many a time she was there for her daughter and clearly showed her love, admiration, and support of her.

Kind of like Sophia was with Dorothy on "The Golden Girls", though I think Sophia was more biting in her picking-on remarks.

Good comparison there between Mona and Sophia. I hadn't thought of that parallel.

It's interesting how Mona could sometime cut Angela down in the same way that Sophia would cut down Dorothy.

Both Angela and Dorothy were slightly prudish women who were easy targets for their mothers. I bet there are other characters who are similar. Wonder what this says about our society, that this is a common thread in female lead characters?

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Good comparison there between Mona and Sophia. I hadn't thought of that parallel.

It's interesting how Mona could sometime cut Angela down in the same way that Sophia would cut down Dorothy.

Both Angela and Dorothy were slightly prudish women who were easy targets for their mothers. I bet there are other characters who are similar. Wonder what this says about our society, that this is a common thread in female lead characters?

Yeah I grew up on both shows and I've always noticed the Mona/Angela, Sophia/Dorothy parallel.

And both daughters were significantly taller than both mothers. And both mothers were "untameable" who exasperated both their daughters.

[ThomasE]

I thought that Mona need to take it down a little. In the first season, she wasn't as bad. That annoyed me from time to time. I liked how Angela became more easygoing the last two seasons of the show. She seemed a bit more sexy as well.

[Bronson]

I have never understood this idea that to be honest means to be rude or mean or offend people. I can speak my mind without upsetting someone.

Mona at times could be a bit much but she was a decent person.

[cleverfun3000]

I am not and never will be a mother (or a female for that matter) but I would think it would be hard to be a good mother if you are not a good person first.

[TMC]

Did Mona become a caricature towards the end of the series? She seemingly became a more petty, mean-spirited, and one-note character.

[Novera]

Originally Posted by TMC

Did Mona become a caricature towards the end of the series? She seemingly became a more petty, mean-spirited, and one-note character.

Oh absolutely, in my opinion! In the earlier seasons, she may have been crass at times, but it came from a place of love and thoughtfulness. So you got to laugh at the joke, but you could also (subconsciously) think "aww, she really loves Angela for saying that"

By the end of the series, the writers were clearly just shovelling mean one liners as an easy way to include her in the show. They were funny (at times) but without the underlying context of how much she cared about the family, it made her sound like a villain at times.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Novera

Oh absolutely, in my opinion! In the earlier seasons, she may have been crass at times, but it came from a place of love and thoughtfulness. So you got to laugh at the joke, but you could also (subconsciously) think "aww, she really loves Angela for saying that"

By the end of the series, the writers were clearly just shovelling mean one liners as an easy way to include her in the show. They were funny (at times) but without the underlying context of how much she cared about the family, it made her sound like a villain at times.

That's pretty much what most people have said online it appears. Mona's character seemingly began to become "Flanderized" around or after the fifth season. While she always had a snarky side to her (especially pertaining to her relationship with Angela) she was always there for Angela when it counted. Like the episode where she blackmailed Betty White's reporter character into killing the story on Angela being caught in the same bed as Tony.

But in the last three seasons or so, it seemed like Mona went from being a woman whose biting and acerbic wit was tempered with genuine affection for her family to really being a mean-spirited, cold hearted "female dog". To give you a better idea, Mona would always rag on Angela for being unattractive and socially awkward when she was growing up. And it was made worse by the fact that Angela rarely if ever dished it back to her mother. So it just made Mona come across looking like a bully and mean-girl.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Novera

Oh absolutely, in my opinion! In the earlier seasons, she may have been crass at times, but it came from a place of love and thoughtfulness. So you got to laugh at the joke, but you could also (subconsciously) think "aww, she really loves Angela for saying that"

By the end of the series, the writers were clearly just shovelling mean one liners as an easy way to include her in the show. They were funny (at times) but without the underlying context of how much she cared about the family, it made her sound like a villain at times.

Somebody else noted that one tale-tell sign of Mona's developing an unlikable, harder edge is whenever you come across an episode where Katherine Helmond has darker red (curly or straight) hair. Before say, Season 6, Mona's ribbing of Angela was more playful than outright obnoxious and downright mean-spirited.