I agree that "Momma's Boy" seem to indicate a negative connotation, but there are some examples here with a more positive spin on it.
Speaking of which, I also wish to add the real life example of musician-composer-singer-director-dancer-actor-host extraordinaire: Jay Chou. He is famously known to be extremely filial to his mother and maternal grandmother.
Examples of "Momma's Boy" behaviour include: 1. Naming his fourth album after her name "Ye Hui Mei"; 2. writing a song for her "ting ma ma de hua" (which literally translates as 'Obey mother's words') 3. writing a song for his grandmother (her mother) too; 4. still having his mother control all his finances (worth millions) despite being 34; 5. still living with her, and intends to continue to do so even after marriage; 6. brings her around wherever he goes even if it is a worldwide tour.
That said, he hardly comes across as a 'weak' character, instead earning millions of fans throughout the Chinese speaking world for his filial piety.
If you can think of fanfic examples, sure.
That was the amazing part. Things just keep going.
May I suggest a minor renaming of this trope? It bothers me that the trope is called Momma's Boy, and not Mama's Boy. But that's just me. Anyone agree...?
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That's more something to take to trope repair shop here
Maybe it's a regional thing? Personally I always thought it was Mama's Boy, too, but then I'm Canadian. It seems to me that "mama" is more common than "momma" in spoken English. Actually, come to think of it I've never heard anyone say the word "momma". But maybe it gets used in written English? In some countries?
If it ever comes to a poll, I'd certainly vote to change it. Or at least to add a quality re-direct.
'Crisis or no, nothing should interfere with tea!'
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
Along a similar yet different vein to the above topic, and previously discussed in an old Trope Talk thread, the Hajime No Ippo, Superman and Tokimeki Memorial examples show that Momma's Boy is not a completely negative trope. I'd even speculate that there are more positive examples out there of young/adolescent/adult males and their mothers whose interactions are more like a Gender Flip of Daddy's Girl, but the only thing preventing them from being added is the description's assertation of the inherent negativity of the trope.
Make no mistake, the Double Standard still applies to how such a setup is (at least initially) percieved by strangers and society in general; that shouldn't be an excuse to automatically axe/bar every positive example, however.
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
This is just a suggestion, but maybe we ought to split this trope? Since "Momma's Boy" means a clingy male character completely defined by their relationship to their mother, but some of the examples here are more "dude is very protective of his mom even though he's not defined by her" (aka the Ash example). Perhaps a new trope page about kids being super-protective of their folks in general is in order? (Fierce Cubs, something along those lines)
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