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Movies On The Radio: A Tribute To Moms

A promotional poster for the 1959 Douglas Sirk film 'Imitation of Life'
Reynold Brown

This year US consumers are estimated to have spent an average of $180 each for Mother’s Day, according to the National Retail Federation. This month Movies on the Radio gives moms a tribute money can not buy with a show devoted to mothers.

Joining host Frank Stasio are movie expertsMarsha Gordon, a film professor at North Carolina State University, andLaura Boyes, the film curator for the North Carolina Museum of Art. Unlike the June Cleavers and Claire Huxtables immortalized in television, the movie moms highlighted in this episode of Movies on the Radio represent the complicated nature of motherhood.

In “The Imitation of Life,” Lana Turner’s character loses track of her daughter at the beach and spends most of the film neglecting her child in pursuit of her dreams. Then there are the women who gave up their freedom to raise other people’s children like in “Auntie Mame.” State of Things listeners chose films with no shortage of overbearing moms and some who are just “Psycho.” Motherhood in other cultures is not much different as depicted in “The Joy Luck Club.” Through the story of Chinese immigrant mothers, filmgoers learn that the role of protector and provider is universal.

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Dana is an award-winning producer who began as a personality at Rock 92. Once she started creating content for morning shows, she developed a love for producing. Dana has written and produced for local and syndicated commercial radio for over a decade. WUNC is her debut into public radio and she’s excited to tell deeper, richer stories.
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
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