Needs Help: Mommy Issues

I'm not sure if the issue here is an Unclear Description or Ambiguous Name. Mommy Issues (along with its redirect, Daddy Issues) is specifically about someone going insane/murderous/deviant due to Parental Issues. But... what's the threshold for that? Would someone being sexually promiscuous count? Having trust issues in a relationship? If things as mundane as those count, then the description needs to be altered be less... murder-y.

If, however, the trope is specifically about people being shaped into psychopaths by their parents, then it's a bad name. Colloquially, it simply means someone has Parental Issues (most often "Well Done, Son" Guy or a girl with a mild Electra Complex so she sleeps around). A clearer name would be appreciated. It strikes me as weird that it's distinct from Parental Issues since, well, it's effectively synonymous with Parental Issues but with one parent singled out.

edited 4th Sep '13 10:16:35 AM by Larkmarn

I'll do a wick check once I know what exactly I'm checking for. In my experience seeing this across the wiki, it's usually a ZCE on someone's character list (usually one that's not a psychopath, often Troubled, but Cute or a Broken Bird).

This name is bad. Almost every time I hear the term, "mommy issues," I think of people who do not like their mother or the mother is problematic.

This seems to be Freudian Excuse applied to issues with one's mother (or father?). Azula and Norman Bates are the best examples I can think of.

I doubt the tropeworthiness of a villain with a specifically evil parent. Abusive Parents or Freudian Excuse seem to cover it.

edited 4th Sep '13 6:48:03 PM by MikuruFan

Freudian Excuse already covers many of the examples here, thus making this trope redundant.

Agree.

I consider someone with mommy issues or daddy issues having never gotten enough attention from their mother or father. They can lead to acting out in different ways. Mommy issues can include fighting and daddy issues would probably result in sexually acting out.

I think that is The Unfavorite. YAY! TV Tropes is back.

Yeah, that kind of thing is what I usually see used as Mommy Issues.

It's more of a supertrope to The Unfavorite, since it wouldn't require there being a favorite.

Clock is set.

Do we merge with Freudian Excuse or...?

As it's written Mommy Issues looks like Freudian Excuse but specifically about the parents. The title is definitely bad. Saying, "It's always the mother," is a lot stronger than just having some mommy issues.

Then wouldn't that just be a case of The Same But More Specific? I still doubt the tropeworthiness of this particular one, and I vote for merge with Freudian Excuse.

edited 10th Oct '13 5:27:01 AM by theAdeptrogue

Freudian Excuse gets used for this plenty of times already.

Merge away.

I am not clear on a distinction either.

Well, you could argue that it's a common enough occurrence to merit its own subpage. The development period is an awfully malleable time for a child. They also tend to be the same kinds of issues rather than just any old problem.

My issue is that, 9/10 times, that's what Freudian Excuse is used for. And even if it does get its own distinct page, it would need a new name since Mommy Issues is decidedly unclear, in my opinion.

edited 15th Oct '13 5:34:16 AM by Larkmarn

Maybe "I blame my mother" as the new trope title?

A line of dialogue?

Okay, then just change it to "Blaming Mommy."

I thought that was about the mother blaming others.

I still stand for merging with Freudian Excuse.

Same here. Most of the examples I saw can be covered by either Freudian Excuse or Abusive Parents (or both).

Abusive Parents appears to not be about the influences of a character but a trait of the characters themselves. The victim could still be a child at this point.

I agree that Freudian Excuse is usually blaming the parents. I don't see anything to lose by merging them.