Oh mother dear
Sitcom Mean Mums zooms in on an all-too-real problem with a comedic new view: Schoolyard bullying.
Mean Mums
Season 1 Tuesdays (from 23 August) SABC3 (*193) 19:30
Bullying has become a huge global problem, where tweens and teens are harassed by their peers for the most ridiculous things, like enjoying jam on their sarmies. You name it and bullies will use it against their victims who’re too scared to fight back or they’re unable to stand up for themselves. But in Mean Mums, the bullies are grown-up parents – school moms to be precise. “When you hear about the bullying at school, you never think that it could be the parents,” says lead star Morgana O’Reilly (Naomi in iconic Australian soapie Neighbours). She plays Jess, the new mom who’s moved her son Ryan (Eddie Waspe in his only role) to a posh new school, and it’s an eye-opener for Jess when she realises that she’s been judged by her fellow school moms from the moment she sets foot on school property. “She actually can’t do anything right. From her hair to her clothes, everything is under the microscope,” explains Morgana.
MOMS ON A MISSION
Luckily for Jess, she’s not alone in her war against the mean moms and her quest to just be accepted as she is: A mother who’s trying to give her child the best shot at life. “The thing for Jess is that she feels alone when she gets to the school. She feels attacked and on her own. But she’s not and she quickly makes friends with two of the other not-meanmoms,” explains Morgana.
Heather (Anna Jullienne, Beverly in Netflix sci-fi fantasy series Sweet Tooth) is highly strung and struggles to accept that she’s always anxious. “Heather is the sweetest person but she’d be jittery and jump if a moth flew past her. She’s always on edge and that makes everything all the funnier with her because she is socially awkward,” says Morgana.
Hine (Aroha Rawson, Denise in thriller series The Brokenwood Mysteries) is the polar opposite. She’s a mom of five and has been around the block. But that isn’t a guarantee that she’s safe from bullies. “The mean moms look at her as the mom who is tired, she’s done her duty and needs to be replaced, so they zoom in on Hine and try to make her feel less than adequate when the exact opposite is true. Hine uses that negative energy instead to go on the attack with her two new friends,” says Morgana.
NOT ALL ABOUT THE KIDS
One of the show’s pillars is that there’s a community no matter where you are or who you are. Moms need support just like everyone else, explains the lead star. “You find your groups, the people you can relate to. You form a clique and to have friends makes you feel a bit safer in your own skin. Everyone is going through something, so you need to be kind to people. And that’s what Jess and Hine and Heather do – they’re kind to each other and they take on their bullies in the best way they can: By not letting these mean moms get the better of them. I hope viewers get that message.
BULLY BOTHER
Mean Mums creator Amanda Alison says that while bullying is no laughing matter, “You need to find things that people relate to with comedy. You need to tackle a topic like bullying and give it a fun angle for viewers to sit there and say, ‘Hey, it is happening to me too and I need to fix it.’” And she drew on personal experience for the show. “I took my child to school and thought to myself that these people (parents) are lovely but they’re also really crazy. I found myself in situations thinking that I don’t know what’s going on here but I’m going to keep going even though some parents were really mean and for no reason.”
And it wasn’t difficult going with female leads, explains Amanda. “It’s easy with guys to fall into the whole bro-code or bromance vibe where they just get along. It’s difficult for moms and women. We put on a smile and pretend that everything is okay when on the inside we are struggling. You need to have a person or people you can turn to and get support. You can’t carry on going and going and going. It’s not an option – you need a sisterhood and to be able to ask friends for help – especially with bullies!”