J Engels
Staff Writer
jengels@umassd.edu
I’m convinced the term “MILF” was invented to specifically describe Vera Farmiga’s depiction of Norma Bates in Bates Motel. The same actress who brought to life such an independent, unconventionally feminine character as Lorraine Warren in the Conjuring movies, Farmiga is infectiously likeable. Every minute she’s on screen I find myself unable to get enough of her warm and caring personality.
Our first introduction to Norma Bates is in the pilot episode, when we watch her be the victim of a violent rape that the show absolutely needed to show us the gruesome details of, and if that wasn’t bad enough there’s plenty more rape scenes where that came from. Viewers also get the pleasure of seeing Norma be the victim of incest multiple times over the course of the show, first when we learn she was repeatedly raped by her brother (who she so ungenerously refuses to forgive even though everyone else in the show does) and then when she is made the object of her son’s perverted gaze. So blinded by motherly love, she somehow misses every single sign that her son’s “attachment” to her is actually an incestous codependency that she is responsible for encouraging – we stan an oblivious queen!
Perhaps Norma Bates’ best quality is the fact that she is such a good mother. She always puts her son’s needs first and foremost, doing exactly whatever he tells her she should and never acting as a stable authority figure. She has no interest in helping either herself or her son heal from trauma that the two of them share; instead of getting therapy she selfishly uses her relationship with her son as her own coping mechanism, rarely addressing the root of his mental health issues because it makes it easier to repress her what she went through.
In addition to her brilliant parenting skills, Norma Bates is also attracted to cops, sleeping with both the sheriff and the sheriff’s deputy. Norma being so stereotypically, aggressively sexual is already a progressive statement against slut shaming, and the fact that she has a kink for law enforcement is really just icing on the cake.
It makes total sense, given everything I just mentioned, why there’s a whole community of people on the internet who are totally in love with this character. So much sense, in fact, I think I’ll just quit my job writing articles for this newspaper and dedicate my life to running an account dedicated to posting content of Norma Bates. Only the best for my wife!
(This article was created for The Torchure Week 2021, this article is purely a work of satire as it is the April Fools edition)