Mila Kunis covers the November issue of Marie Claire to promote the Bad Moms sequel, Bad Moms Christmas. I recently saw a chunk of Bad Moms and man, I was NOT feeling it. I actually sort of dislike this “trend” of women-behaving-badly films, like women feeling the need to “prove” that we can be just as raunchy, gross and bad-behaving as men. Like, duh, we don’t need movies to prove that when we already have the Real Housewife franchises. Women behave badly, just like men. Now tell a better story instead of just doing gross-out comedy and casting pretty actresses in place of Seth Rogen. Anyway, sorry, just had to get that off my chest. You can see Marie Claire’s cover package here, and here are some highlights:
A storm recently brought a tree down in her yard: “It should’ve fallen onto three homes. The fact that it didn’t was unbelievable. We could get struck by lightning any second. So why worry? There’s something so empowering about being, ‘Whatever’s going to happen is going to happen.’ Over the past four or five years, I’ve realized how much I enjoy that feeling.”
The hurdle of making women-centric films: “I do sometimes come back from work like, ‘What the f*ck?’ But anger is good. It motivates us to strive to be better.”
She tends to spiral: “I overthink. I’m super-dramatic. Something not that bad, in my mind, becomes a catastrophe. I go from zero to a hundred. It’s a problem.”
On motherhood: “What motherhood shows you is how selfless you can get. I’m ragged tired. Who cares? My kids are healthy, I’m happy.’”
What she wants to teach her daughter: “What I want my daughter to learn from me is the value of hard work.”
Power versus success: “The real question is: Does power equal success? I mean, look at Trump. Trump is powerful. It doesn’t mean he’s successful, right?”
Her hope for the future of America: “I have hope for the future. None of this is permanent, this is a phase…and we will come out of it as a country.”
I think President Obama has basically said the same thing, that we should have hope for the future, that no matter how bad it gets, this too shall pass and it’s just a phase. That might have given me a sliver of optimism back in January. But now, in October, I have no hope left. There’s no optimism to be found, no part of this that doesn’t hurt. Even if I can go the distance and say that this is just a terrible phase, even if Trump gets impeached tomorrow, it will still take us decades to undue the damage he’s caused this year. Can you tell that I’m like Mila, in that I too spiral and overthink?
Photos courtesy of Kai Z Feng for Marie Claire.
I agree on your take of recent women’s movies being raunchy but I actually liked Bad Moms.
100 percent agree. I was prepared to hate it, but it is actually a GREAT movie! It sends a positive message. Some of the scenes were over the top…but they were hilarious!
I liked it too – it was more about not conforming to the Stepford, over-scheduled, competitive soccer mom image than about actually being a “bad mother.”
Bridesmaids, on the other hand, WAS vulgar and raunchy to me.
I really like Mila.
I was so pleasantly surprised by Bad Moms. It’s not actually about women behaving badly.
Came here to completely agree, Bad Moms is AMAZING! There are so many scenes that while they seem to be over the top satire (the too cool young boss, the husband that is so tired from his nap, that mean mom at pta)….trust me it’s all true! I am living that life. Lol.
Meh.
I completely disagree with your take on womens comedies because a raunchy comedy with heart (Bridesmaids, The Night Before, Girls Trip) can be highly enjoyable- but not even in the same league as something obnoxious like …an Adam Sandler movie.
Does every show have to be the sad discontent rich white guy (Mad Men) movie/show but with a nutty female twist (Big Little Lies) or some investigator/nurse/doctor whose personal life is a mess but really has a knack for *fill in the blank here* ?
Sometimes there’s nothing to prove.
Sometimes it’s just nice to laugh at something that gives more ladies the chance to flex their comedic muscles.
The only real solution for getting our country out of this at least somewhat alive is to remove all of them from office, every single one of his people, with at least a few trips to jail. That’s the only way we recover, but even then I seriously do not know how we come back from all the dangerous, insane, criminal precedents this administration has set.
The law. We have to change the law. As we all discovered to our dismay that there are laws in place for most of this stuff, but it assumes a measure of humanity, humbleness and maturity. Evidently we need to write laws that are much tighter.
“We” cant change the law though. The people who can would never because it directly would impact them. Just look all around the world how difficult it is to get very basic anti corruption laws.
I dont trust the Dems in that either, they will not want politicans going to jail at all.
Hope is good but, like faith, hope without works is dead. You’ve got to march, be involved and speak out against the current degradation of democracy as much as possible or the state of the nation will be even more disturbing than it is now.
You’re totally right.
But are you becoming frozen at the scope? Protest what, where? Call who, how often? There’s so, so, so much.
So glad to see your post, Robyn. One of the problems I have with Mila’s comments is that her POV is a luxury afforded to her by her privilege, and not everyone affected by these problems has the same access to privilege.
Or maybe she has the perspective of someone born in Soviet era Ukraine and an immigrant who had to create a life from scratch in a new country with strange culture and language? Maybe she’s seen that things can change quite drastically in life?
@Wonderbunny, i agree that being an immigrant from the soviet union she has a perspective that isn’t solely based on being rich and privileged. BUT. things have only changed to a degree in the soviet union, so i have a hard time of thinking about what’s happening now nearly everywhere in the western world as ‘just a phase’.
@ell, Every action has a reaction and nothing is permanent in life. Things looked different couple of years ago and now we’re in a different phase. That phase will also eventually change into something else. Trump can be a president for 8 years max, so if he’s the reason for anxiousness, then that too will come to an end sooner or later. People have gone through worse things in this world and have survived and not lost hope. Nelson Mandela was in prison for 27 years and eventually became the president. In comparison to that, I do find it a bit peculiar that people are “losing hope” after mere 9 months. “I want things to be different right now” is a surefire way to waste away all energy and burn out. Things will eventually change and the phase we are in right now will end, but what the next phase will look like depends on the actions and reactions of people right now.
True but we also can’t make decisions based on a small part of our history. People do perform “works” but think many times its based on short term thinking. People acting and making choices to combat one period of time can lead to bad consequences down the road. Feel like now we live so in the moment we only make decisions based on the present, so you can do the works part but it doesn’t always mean it will benefit us in the end.
I love raunch when it’s authentic. I couldn’t even watch the original bad moms. Painful. The first one was way too try hard.
When I was in college, one of my politics professor’s said that Democracy was just a phase. At the time, I thought he was being really pessimistic, now I think he was really on the money.
Well she, in her oversized boots, right?, must have some magical power that allows her to see the future if she can declare we’re going through a phase. She did declare herself to be a drama queen and this statement is quite the opposite, more like a hopeful mantra. Oh well, she’s just promoting another bad movie and I’m sure she’s done quite a few of these unimaginative, tell them what they want to hear interviews. Next
Bingo
I was in high school and college during Vietnam and Nixon years. I demonstrated, I worked for McGovern and we all never gave up. This will pass and it’s showing the country how we must fight against racism, hatred and the people who are clinging to power as they see it ebb away. Obama was a transformational figure and we are seeing the backlash. Silver lining is that all this terribleness is making apathetic citizens realize how fragile this democracy is and how they must pay attention and VOTE.
The apathy will pass and the activism will also pass. Unfortunately, “this too shall pass” seems fitting.
Well in 6 years when Aston cheats on her, roles dry up and she complains about losing so much of her youth taking care of their children we can tell her it’s just a phase!
Damn. I guess Mila isn’t the only one here with a love of the melodramatic.
I’ll save my schadenfreude for people who actually earn it. Jeez. Has Kunis been killing orphaned puppies or something?
@Yup me,
Trump’s election is not just a phase for all the men and women killed in hate crimes, in immigration detecting camps, who are going to die from lack of health insurance etc.
Not dramatic just telling the hard cold facts. Over 80% of men/women in Hollywood who marry a cheater, end up being cheated on. Over 90% of Hollywood men divorce their partners and get a younger versions. And the track record on second marriages is worse. Aston also has issues. It’s like Jennifer Gardner seeing the writing on the wall about Ben Affleck and going for it. Then 10years later…oh my gosh, I’m shocked, shocked to see gambling in this casino/I need to get my movie star roles back after taking care of Ben and kids for 10 years. Just sayin’.
OTC
I get it. 1 side I think her statement is a bunch of PR fluff. Other side it’s a careless statement that could bite her in the ass.
He’s a serial cheater. And Trump is not a phase. Both are bad. Both we saw coming to some degree and did little to stop it. 1 to many and 1 to few.
And… does she have large feet? Are the boots oversized?
That does NOT look like her on the cover.
The pose is so weird
So weird, it also looks like she’s sniffing her armpit. I get they were going for a profile shot of her face, but it looks odd, at best.
Re a poster above, the Soviet Union does not exist anymore, get a clue. It’s really hard to take posters’ opinions on domestic politics seriously when they don’t know basic world facts.
“The real question is: Does power equal success? I mean, look at Trump. Trump is powerful. It doesn’t mean he’s successful, right?”
I mean succesful does have nothing to do with being a good person, in 99% of the cases you wont be succesful if you are a good person. You dont have to be all Trump but you wont get far with treating people fairly and being decent.
There can be no doubt that Trump is succesful though. He obviously is, if he wasnt no one would need to worry about him.
For raunchy comedies starring women: I thought those movies died after American Pie. When was that? 2001? I dont like giving tired old ideas to women. Its like “we squeezed everything out of it so the ladies might as well get the left overs”
it’s still no a phase for lots of people.. racism sexism bigotry and such are not a phase.
This was my exact thought after reading this.
She’s giving a simple line to promote her movie. Vague enough to not offend.
You’re right. What is happening in our country isn’t a phase. It just has a spotlight on it now. The Spotlight is the phase. Which is sad.
When has it not existed? All of things have been prevalent since we could talk & walk upright.
I’m with you, Kaiser, on feeling like there’s not much hope. Even some of the most hopeful, grounded types, like the Pod Save America guys, took a cynical, pessimistic turn last week and that frightened the crap out of me. I’ve been reading a book about the founding fathers and it’s making me feel like maybe this truly is the end of the road for their “experiment.” I really don’t see how we can move forward as a unified nation.
Every word you said is true Esmom, sadly, painfully true. But hope is all we have in any dire situation presented in life, whether it’s personal, health, our country. If we lose our faith and/or hope, we are surely doomed.
I’m so tired of being scared and horrified, so all I have is hope. Maybe my sense of hope has grown smaller, but it’s still there. It grew a little bit when I heard about the indictments, and I have faith in Mueller. My sense of hope tells me that Trump will go down as absolutely the worst President in history, and that he’ll be branded as a criminal.
Easily he will be remembered as a scum that was president. Just wait… years from now when all the secrets surface or just the bits we don’t know about publicly yet… those movies and docs. Articles and books. That will be most shocking. Horrifically bad.
You mean like George W. Bush is an outcast after his terrible presidency? The speed with which he is seen as a cool nice guy is insane.
I think that in comparison to trump, anyone, even George and his father seem normal. trump’s insanity proves the old saying be careful what you wish for. I give George W. zero passes, but as much as I loathed him, it’s like a first crush compared to this sociopath calling himself president currently.
I also feel hope, I don’t know as we will ever regain our standing in the world – but we can become a better country. Lots of people to replace in the government before that happens and it’s not going to be overnight.
To the GWB comment. How we remember him…
History as it is told and as it is remembered via fact checking is not often the same.
I need to preface this… not a Republican. Not a bush fan of either. What many forget is Bush being absent for many meetings. Being frustrated with Cheney taking presidential poser while he was under general anesthesia twice for colonoscopies during his time. That he was npt told anoit meetinf between Rumsfeld and cheney and others. He was treated as a 3rd wheel during his presidency. And left office with a true appreciation of what it meant to be president of the nation. That is why we treat him differently. That is why he speaks differently. He went in a different man than as he left.. I won’t mock him now. It’s like he’s seen the light. And low key if you’re paying attention He’s personally reached out to the families of the fallen in.
A classmate and truly dear friend from highschool. Her stepmothers brother was the 1st causality in the war after 9/11. It was a missile malfunction during routine maintenance or prep. And he died. W. Reached out after his presidency after having done so durinf his 1st term. He offered more condolences and contribution to a memorial for his family.
What is important here is the man portrayed and the actual acts of the man are different. He is viewed differently for a reason.
Fact check if you like and of asked I’ll direct message the details on Twitter. If asked. Ver name. His name. Ver stepmothers name the event where he lost his life. The memorial produced as a direct result of W.
Yea… Bush was something of a buffoon, but he left with an experience and spoke openly of how you can’t know the pressure of the position. You go in to a battle with seasoned vets. You’re a recruit at best. And he owned his mistakes.
I’m not an apologist, but I also am not broad stroking his acts.
She’s so beautiful.
She was a great ambassador for Dior.
They should have kept her on; ( not that she needs the dough!)
She is gorgeous but the photos aren’t great. Odd poses.
The first movie wasn’t great, but not the worst thing ever, and I really like the cast so I will probably see the second.
She’s photoshopped to hell and back here. The poses looked weird and the styling… who signed off on this mess?
I did not recognize her, her face looks tweaked
I think, because she admits to overthinking things, is that “it’s just a phase” is something she tells herself. Especially if you have children-the idea that we’re spiraling down is too dark and scary. You need to try and be optimistic.
I agree with this. There are times I want to succumb to hopelessness and despair and I have to keep going for my children. They force you to look towards the future.
Right? And if I think too much how screwed up this world (and our country in particular is) and what kind of legacy this is for my children I don’t want to get out of bed. You need to keep positive and upbeat.
I had a blast watching Bad Moms with my girlfriends and we are planning to go to the second one. It was a much deserved laugh even if it wasn’t a great movie. Being a mom is hard! Plus I just think Mila is so gorgeous.
I agree with her.If my parents and grandparents could still remain hopeful while living under Jim Crow in East Texas then I can remain hopeful.However bad things seem now they have been much worse for my ancestors in this country.My great grandparents and my paternal grandparents who were born in this country couldn’t vote in many Presidential elections,they couldn’t serve on juries because they were black.They had to deal with poll taxes,literacy test,grandfather clauses,etc legal obstacles created to prevents blacks from voting.So like I said if they never gave up hope how can I give up hope.The idiot in the WH will not be there for long.It’s bad but it’s been much worse.
It’s not so much a phase for America, what’s going on now has been going on since its inception. She’s right though, some of us are holding out for a better tomorrow and we’ve been doing it for five hundred years.
THIS ^
If you can’t feel positive the weekend of the announcement of the first indictments, when can you feel positive?
Part of this scheme is to strip us of hope so that we quit trying to oppose them.
I really have reawakened my sense of patriotism over this whole mess. F*** letting them win by destroying my love of country and my belief that this is temporary. Part of being American is being optimistic in the face of adversity.
That said, you will find me under a blanket, in a heap in the corner if we don’t at least take back the house in 2018.
There are people marching in the street yelling, “Jews will not replace us.”
I’m not as optimistic as she is.
Another adorable chubby birth nose bites the dust. I’m so tired of this slender nose craze in Hollywood!
I have this MC issue and I was wondering why her nose looked so different. Thought maybe it was over-Photoshopped.
Yeah. Hope. Well I’m trying.
On a totally frivolous note I will say the shoes in those photos made me irrationally angry and the stylist should feel bad about themselves and the poor job they’ve done. Lol
Her face was just horribly photoshopped for that cover. They made her whole face more angular and took away all of the fat.
Oh dear, it looks like she is sniffing her armpit in that red dress.
“tell a better story instead of just doing gross-out comedy and casting pretty actresses in place of Seth Rogen”
Hahahha, agreed. Don’t care for ‘chicks can be raunchy dudes too’ movies.
Unfortunately also gotta go with Kaiser on the state of our country. This is not something that is just going to go away. It’s going to be a very long, dark phase where we’ll have to stay vigilant and courageous. I’m not sure our country will ever be the same again. That could be something good at the end of it all, but we’ll have to wait and struggle a long time to see.
Unfortunately even political or historic phases leave marks in a society: some institutions or some ideas of these phases will remain. And yes, that is an academic theory: despite efforts to erase them certain elements from “older” stages of a society are transported into the more modern version of a society.
Since McCarthy there is a widespread hatred against communism and socialism in the USA though most who dislike these ideologies do rather dislike the fascist and dictatorial elements of certain countries policies. Some of hatred from McCarthy’s anti-communism has simply remained in the USA.
Or: since British King Henry VIII. who kicked Catholicism out of the country many Brits do distrust the catholic pope and have some irrational hatred against catholicism. Although when it is about mistreating people Protestantism is as bad as Catholicism (just think about orphanages which are run by religious instititutions) – the Protestants just had less time.