Mother (Vileness Fats)

> ***"More dirty white clothes! I can't stand it!" -Mother***
>
>

**Steve's Mother** is a character in The Residents' unfinished film *Vileness Fats*, shot by the group between 1972 and 1976 on the ground floor of their Sycamore Street warehouse. She was portrayed by Marge Howard.

Being one of only a few characters who knows about her son's split personality, Mother acts as a voice of reason. She bickers with her son, but she cares for him deeply.

As with the rest of the characters, Howard was dubbed over with new lines recorded by Molly Harvey for the *Icky Flix* re-edit of the film in 2001. Junior's Mom, a character portrayed by Gerri Lawlor in The Residents' 2022 feature film*Triple Trouble*, is heavily derived from Steve's Mother.

## In *Vileness Fats*

Towards the start of the film, Mother can be seen washing a seemingly endless stream of her son's dirty laundry. She gets agitated at her son, and remarks about him spending time with a "tacky singer" from the local nightclub, when he should be focusing on his civic duties as the village's religious leader. She calls him "Scooter," which bothers him. At the end of the scene, Steve (as Jack) kisses his mother goodbye and goes off to the cave.

Later on in the film, after Steve has run away to commit suicide at the Window of Never's volcano, his right-hand-man Weenie frantically runs to Mother's house to warn her. She quickly dons her asbestos suit and rushes to save him.

In the film's climax (which was never shot), she risks her life by diving in to the volcano to save him. They both come out more-or-less unscathed, but Steve receives minor brain damage that ends up curing his schizophrenia.

## See also

* *Vileness Fats*
* Mother's House
* Marge Howard
* Saint Steve/Lonesome Jack
* Junior's Mom

## External links and references

* *Vileness Fats* at The Residents Historical

**Scene by scene**
1: Arf and Omega · 2: Bellboys & Townspeople Battle 1 · 3: Town 1 · 4: Mother's House 1 · 5: Weescoosa & Ninnie 1 · 6: Cave 1 · 7: Weescoosa & Ninnie 2 · 8: Weescoosa's Flashback · 9: Weescoosa & Ninnie 3 · 10: Bellboys & Townspeople Battle 2 · 11: Town 2 · 12: Desert 2 · 13: Lonesome Jack & Peggy · 14: Desert 1 · 15: Mother's House 2 · 16: Town 3 · 17: Banquet Hall · 18: Cave 2 · 19: Bridge 1 · 20: The Master Plan · 21: Cave 3 · 22: Desert 3 · 23: Night Club 1 · 24: Desert 4 · 25: Night Club 2 · 26: Desert 5 · 27: Cave 4 · 28: Night Club 3 · 29: Desert 6 · 30: Night Club 4 · 31: Cave 5 · 32: Night Club 5 · 33: Mother's House 3 · 34: Night Club 6 · 35: The Window of Never
**Cast and characters**
Saint Steven / Lonesome Jack (Jay Clem) · Weescoosa (Sally Lewis) · Arf and Omega Berry (Palmer Eiland and George Ewart) · Ninnie (Danny Williams) · **Steve's Mother** (Marge Howard) · Peggy Honeydew (Margaret Smyk) · Weenie (Danny Williams) · Uncle Willy (Hardy Fox)
with
Irene Dogmatic · J. Raoul Brody · Barry "Schwump" Schwam · Hugo Olson · Bill Dewalt · Diane Flynn · Homer Flynn · Tony Logan · Dennis Sealy · The Mysterious N. Senada as himself

**Crew**
The Residents: direction, screenplay, music, sets, costumes · Graeme Whifler: lighting, sets, second unit direction · Diane Flynn: costumes · John Kennedy: editing
**Settings**
Vileness Flats (Mother's House · Ninnie's House · Banquet Hall · Willy's Hot Spot) · Motel · The Cave · The Desert · The Window of Never
**Soundtrack music**
"Aircraft Damage" · "The Importance of Evergreen" · "Eloise" · "Kamikaze Lady" · "Lonely At The Top" · "Fever" · "Russian Love Song" · *X Is For Xtra* ("Theme From X" · "Slow Texture" · "Asonarose" · "Soundtrack Music Piece 17")
**Related works**
The Boarding House performance · *Santa Dog* · *Meet The Residents* · *Not Available* (*X Is For Xtra*) · *The Third Reich 'n Roll* (video) · "March de la Winni" · Oh Mummy! Oh Daddy! performance · *Fingerprince* · *Whatever Happened To Vileness Fats?* (soundtrack · *PAL TV LP*) · *Video Voodoo* · *Twenty Twisted Questions* · *Icky Flix* (soundtrack · "The Knife Fight" · *RZ VF*) · *Theory of Obscurity: A Film About The Residents* · *Double Trouble* ("Junior's Double Trouble Nightmare" · trailer) · *Triple Trouble* (soundtrack)
**Related articles**
Atomic Shopping Carts · The Bell Boys · Residents, Uninc. · "My Mammy"· Sycamore St. studio · Ralph Records · The Cryptic Corporation · The Ugly Grey Theater