Natalie Portman's Most Important Role Yet

Natalie Portman has gotten on the bad side of feminists with her Academy Awards acceptance speech.  While accepting the academy award for best actress for her role in Black Swan, she referred to her upcoming motherhood as "the most important role of her life."  This of course has many people asking, really?  After all you've done in your career, is being a mom really the most important of them all?

The answer is yes.  Motherhood is the most important role of all.  Although this does not mean it is the biggest accomplishment of all.  But those are just semantics which can take us away from the main point here.  The point is that I am so proud of Natalie for recognizing the importance of motherhood.  American society does not value motherhood as it should.  We are a career-based society, and we place value mostly on earning potential.  When a woman has a child, her earning potential is sometimes lessened, and therefore her perceived value is diminished.  But what society fails to recognize is her value beyond the career.

There is no doubt that the feminist movement has empowered women in America.  It has given women the ability to accomplish whatever they set their minds on, and to be as independent as they want.  It has given each woman the chance to choose her own path in life, instead of being forced to conform to society's view of what a women should do.  But every rose has it's thorns, and unfortunately in the process of liberating women, the feminist movement devalued feminism.  The nurturing role of motherhood is the most feminist value of all.

It is interesting that Natalie compared her acting roles to the role of motherhood.  A good acting role is hard work, yet it is also very rewarding, much like motherhood.  A good acting role is one where the actor learns something or improves himself or herself from the role, while motherhood is all about improving your own self to become a better parent as well as a better example for your children.  And most importantly, a well acted movie will leave an impression on people for months, even years, while well done parenting will leave its impression for a lifetime.

Natalie Portman is the most successful female in Hollywood this year.  It is wonderful to hear her acknowledge the importance of being a mother.  And for all us moms who sometimes wonder who we'd be if we weren't moms, the most successful actress of the year put it best.  We'd be someone with a less important role.