11 Famous Bad Moms Even Good Moms Will Relate To

Our films and TV shows are full of mothers. Good, doting, saintly mothers as comfortable and nurturing as sofas, and narcissistic, self-involved bad moms who have wants and goals and leave everyone around them in horrible drama. The bad moms are usually much more interesting.

Here are 10 of the most famous bad moms out there.

1. Mama Rose

Just because you have kids doesn’t mean you stop being the woman you used to be and wanting the things you wanted then. Mama Rose wanted to be famous.

2. The Witch from Into the Woods

When the witch sings “Stay with Me” to Rapunzel, I realize she is singing to the daughter she abducted as a baby and has been keeping in a tower like a very slightly less effed-up version of Flowers in the Attic, but when she sings, “Who out there could love you more than I?” I bawl every time.

3. Joan Crawford

I hate that “no wire hangers” is a punchline, because she was right, dammit! Wire hangers will ruin all your nice clothes. Whenever I tell my family, “No wire hangers!” they all just laugh and laugh. They think I am doing a Joan Crawford impression. If they do not stop using wire hangers, they are going to get a Joan Crawford impression.

4. Lucille Bluth

Sure, she babies her youngest child a bit too much, but who can’t relate? Kids get so big so fast, of course you grab onto that last one and draw out the baby stage as long as possible. And once you discover something awesome like MotherBoy, how are you going to stop going to it? Just imagine all the mother-son costumes that would go unworn. It would be a tragedy.

5. Mallory Archer

If Mallory Archer were a dude, she’d be the cool, superspy dad kids boast about and want to be just like. And her son did grow up to follow in her footsteps, so I’m just saying, maybe Archer complains too much.

6. Eloise’s mother

The fact that I am a better mother than Eloise has is mostly due to the fact that I do not have the financial resources to set my child up in the penthouse of the Plaza with all the best tutors, doctors, pets, nanny, and personal shoppers a child could ever have. And with the child so well cared for, well there’s no reason not to go to the Met Gala or jump on a private plane to Paris for a weekend to hang out with Coco Chanel, right? If I were rich, I’d be awful. Happy and well-dressed, but awful.

7. Cersei Lannister

She does genuinely love and want to protect her children. Who can’t relate to that? And we all hate being the bad guy with our kids. It’s so tempting to just say “Eff it” and not discipline a kid when he does something like not clean up his Lego, miss a curfew, or have a manservant murder a peasant boy.

8. Snow White’s Stepmother

Come on, who hasn’t stood in front of a mirror and said, “What the fuck, man? Where did the last 10 years go?”

9. Betty Draper

Poor, cruel, chilly, distant Betty Draper. She’s just so trapped in her perfect-on-paper family and suburban life. She’d be such a great mom if she just didn’t have to live in the suburbs or have children.

10. The mom and grandmother from Flowers in the Attic

They have an attic big enough for four people, ballet, and incestuous pre-teen sex? Do you have any idea what a space like that would cost in the city?

11. Daenerys Targaryen

You can’t blame the Mother of Dragons too much for losing her dragons. It’s hard enough to keep track of a normal toddler, and her kids can fly.