Birth and Motherhood in Poltergeist
A friend of mine, who is convinced that I have bad taste in horror movies (which is completely untrue by the way), recently sat me down for a viewing of Poltergeist at a sleep over. Unlike some of my fellows in horror, I didn’t grow up watching Poltergeist or the Exorcist, so coming to this film was a new experience altogether. I was surprised at the interesting references to birth and motherhood that pop up throughout the film. Diane Freely is not exactly mother of the year and in between sexcapades with her husband and taking care of her kids, she somehow finds the time to smoke weed. When things get spooky at the house, she sends her son off to grandma in a cab ALONE with the dog and tells him to call her later (I realize the 80s were a simpler time, but still!). And did I mention her daughter gets sucked into the TV? Obviously she’s not doing something right and the house and the spirits trapped within are trying to punish her for it. There is also a lot of birth imagery in Pol...