It is rare to see a movie or read a fairytale that has a kind stepmother. The legend of the wicked stepmother dates back to Greek mythology, but is perhaps more readily recognizable in older fairytales such as Cinderella and Snow White. In many fairytales, it is the stepmother who replaces the father in the child's life. The stepmother then becomes the central figure in the child's life as far as caretaking and discipline are concerned. In most of these stories, the stepmother has more of a presence than the biological father, and the story becomes one about jealousy between two women. They are pitted against one another, and the father is rarely a figure who steps in to remedy the situation.

Stepfathers are seldom used as major characters in movies or stories. A recent use in a fairytale is in the film Pan's Labyrinth, which portrays an evil stepfather and his stepdaughter, who is desperately trying to protect her mother. In the news, stepfathers are unpleasantly portrayed as verbally or sexually abusive. The constant negative press is detrimental to all the stepparents who are wonderful and healthy influences in a child's life.

Positive Media

There does seem to be a push by screenwriters and authors to illustrate positive stepparents. The movie Stepmom with Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon is a great movie that deals with many issues of becoming a stepmother. Julia Roberts falls into the role of wicked stepmother, but manages to work her way out of it despite her angry stepchildren and their emotions about their dying biological mother. Liam Neeson portrays one of the sweetest stepfathers in the film Love Actually. His character is the stepfather to and primary caretaker of a young boy. His joy and care for his stepson is incredible, and stepfathers everywhere would benefit from watching this film.

Waiting for Normal, a novel by Jennifer Shulz, incorporates a relationship between a stepfather and his stepdaughter. It is a positive relationship that lasts despite a divorce between the stepfather and biological mother of the main character. True, positive stories of stepparents are making headway as well. Rusty Hancock has written Dedicated Dads: Stepfathers of Famous People, a kind book with pleasant stories about stepfathers. Sherry A. Wells has written the partner to the stepfather book, Warm and Wonderful Stepmothers of Famous People, which focuses on positive stepmothers. The more successful stepparents become in creating positive lasting relationships with their stepchildren, the more positive media is likely to follow.