Gratuitous photo of Joan Crawford

[jasonl]

Spanking vs. Coat hangers

I too belive that a butt spanking is good for kids when they're bad BUT, apparently Joan took it upon herself to beat, slap, kick, scream, curse, yell, control, intimidate, and torment her children for almost no reason. There's a difference.

I grew up with my share of spankings and some controlling and intimidation but nothing like what some kids go through.

Prime example. My cousin's grandchildren live in a "white trash" home. The father drinks and runs around, the wife called be called a whore but she does it for free. The children are spoiled and have so much anger and hate inside them. And they're only 5 and 7 years old.

My cousin takes care of the littlest one who loves the throw major fits whenever he wants to. So she whoops his little a$$. Some lady at the store hollered at my cousin for doing this. Hello? You just gonna let the kid get his way? Actually those kids are in a bad way. Someone needs to call social services, but my cousin won't let that happen. Just a little subplot in the soap opera known as my family.

 

[jasonl]

Suds

I never found Joan or Marilyn sexy at all. Not even pretty.

Now Judy Garland... *faint*

 

[polkanut]

Amen, I'm with Jason & Jeff. I too received the well deserved spankings. As a kid I was a little b%$&#! Everything spanking I got was deserved, and I feel that I'm a better adult for it now.

 

[jasonl]

Polka, and guess what? It didn't kill us! Wow. What a concept.

Well, Joan was not the model to look up to for corporal punishment.

 

[air-waycharlie]

brettsummers review........

Thank you brettsummers for the true story of Billie Cassin aka Joan Crawford. The "Mommie Dearest" movie is so over the top and not completely true. Probably 50% of that movie is just crap that exploited the book.

For serious Joan fans who have read true books about her, you know she was beloved in Hollywood by directors, producers and the many people on the set. As brett pointed out, she literally came from destitute abject poverty and by watching lots of people over the years, (espically with the help of Mary Pickford, her mother-in-law from first husband, Douglas Fairbanks Jr.), became one of the most sucessful and influential women in Hollywood.

To illustrate, when "Mommie Dearest" was being cast, Anne Bankcroft was considered for the role. Thanks to an insider, she was told politely, don't do it! When the film was made, George Cukor, (and some of his powerful cronies), was still living and still wielding a lot of clout in LaLaland and he was very close to Joan. Anybody taking on that role was probably commiting career suicide. And guess what, where is Faye Dunaway today? And how about Diana Scarwid? Oh, I forgot, she is so forgettable that you probably don't remember her as the adult Christina. Think George & Co. had a hand in things? Perhaps.

Joan was troubled no doubt and I'm sure terrible things happened in her home. But there have been troubled people since the beginning of time and terrible things have happened at the hands of parents since the beginning of time. She was just a human being and probably did the best she could with what she had at the time. The raging alcoholism surely did not help but remember, there was no Betty Ford Center, no Phil Donahue, no Oprah and no Dr. Wayne Dyer.

I like her because she chose not to be a victom but rose to the top and overcame terrible hurdles. I own probably everyone of her films. Like her or not for whatever reason, she possessed something special or we would not be talking about her on this forum and her pictures would not have been posted.

 

[brettsomers]

Thank you Mr Watrous

next time i post a long rant, i will strive for *paragraphs*. monster blobs of words are not good... lol.

 

[DADoES]

I didn't know she was a native Texan, read her bio on IMDb a few mins ago.

I don't know where is Diana Scarwid now, but I remember her from Extremities. She had quite a bit of work after Mommie Dearest, mostly in TV.

 

[brettsomers]

Joan Crawford was born in San Antonio. i think near the site of the Alamodome.