Aahana Swrup
In ‘The Single Moms Club,’ the 2014 Tyler Perry comedy-drama film that charts a narrative about different single mothers and their stories, Jan Malkovitch’s character presents a unique perspective. Jan, a single mother by choice, has a teenage daughter, Kate. However, her interpersonal relationship with the young girl remains tumultuous partly due to her demanding job that often robs her of any opportunity to spend time with her kid. Likewise, her responsibilities as a mother and the growing complication of Kate’s rebellious phase affect her job at the successful book publishing firm.
As a result, after Kate’s misconduct at school lands Jan in a group of other single mothers who have to plan an upcoming school dance/fundraiser, it presents her with the perfect inadvertent support group. However, even though Kate finds some support from other single moms— May, Hillary, Lytia, and Esperanza— she still faces a tough time at her publishing firm, Mitchell and Miller. Therefore, given the company’s significance in Jan’s storyline, viewers might wonder if the publishing house has a basis in real life.
Mitchell and Miller is a Fictional Publishing House
No, Mitchell and Miller Publisher, the company that Jan Malkovitch works at in ‘The Single Moms Club,’ is not based on an actual publishing house. Since the film is a fictional tale featuring fictional characters, the added elements within their narrative are similar works of fabrication. Yet, since the film strives to tackle the social reality of single mothers, it infuses touches of real life through parts of the characters’ storylines.
For Jan, the same comes from her career as a publisher in a male-dominated company. Jan remains an overtly ambitious and hardworking individual throughout the film. She wants to achieve perfection and builds herself to emulate the same. Nevertheless, despite her seniority and commitment to the job, management overlooks the woman during its annual promotion evaluations.
The narrative and the characters make it clear that Jan isn’t getting the promotion because her boss and other members of the company’s board believe Jan, as a single mother, won’t be able to juggle personal and professional responsibilities. Thus, even though the woman repeatedly tries to prove her worth, the heads at Mitchell and Miller remain secure in their assumption that a single mother cannot fulfill a partner’s role.
A similar social issue plagues the professional landscape of real life. According to research by the universities of Bristol and Essex for the Government Equalities Office, there’s a significant disparity between the working lives of women with kids when compared to their male counterparts. While 26% of men achieve a promotion at work or find better employment five years into parenthood, only 13% of women share the same experience.
Likewise, 70% of working women have reported that becoming a mother impacted their career development negatively. As such, the issues that Jan undergoes at Mitchell and Miller present a realistic reflection of a prevalent social phenomenon. Nevertheless, outside of the same, the publishing house holds no connections to reality.
Read More: The Single Moms Club: Is West Merryville a Real School?
