My mother expresses emotion like a bad actor in a movie?

It only occurred to me recently (at age 27) but my mom often acts very....shall we say, *exaggerated* a lot of the time. Specifically, when she is upset; when she is trying to be "sympathetic;" and sometimes (but not always) when socializing.

When she is very upset--which has always happened a LOT--she tends to make a contorted face, like that crying baby meme you see online. It sounds funny; but on a grown woman, throwing a tantrum with a loud screaming voice, it is disturbing. I grew up as a kid seeing that, in my face, all the time. Even when she was begging for sympathy, on the verge of tears, I never felt sympathy for her when she made that face; only...being disturbed and uncomfortable. (For the record I'm usually a very empathetic person; I cry at news stories.)

When she tries to be "sympathetic," she has a tendency to act like a soap opera star. Or an animal from an old Disney cartoon. For example, cocking her head to the side, and saying in an exaggerated kitten voice, "Why?" Her entire presentation--facial expressions, gestures, and voice--remind me of really bad acting. I have never seen any other human outside of TV behave this way. In any case, it certainly does NOT put me at ease. I always get very uncomfortable when she acts this way. (But god help you if you say so, because then she'll get angry.)

Socializing, she can often be normal. But multiple times she's worn a giant fake smile, and spoken in a "sweet" voice so fake I wanted to vomit. I once had to excuse myself and "go to the bathroom" because being next to her when she was talking like this was so upsetting.

And then there are times when...I don't even know what she's doing. She might be joking, but I can't tell. For instance, on multiple occasions, we would pass a carousel--when I was a teenager, in college, an adult--and she would say, in a soft, slow, kitten-ish voice (with a wide smile), "Do you wanna ride the merry go round?" Every time it made me extremely uncomfortable.

Oh, and her "advice" and "compliments." My whole life she alternated between screaming at me for spilling milk, and praising me for doing simple things. She recently told me (in the fake soap opera style) how "proud" she was that I was able to find a fulltime minimum-wage job and get an apartment, at age 24. Her "advice" is usually patronizing and dismissive of my opinions, and her "praise" is usually just cliches. I stopped putting any stock in what she said years and years ago. I can't help but feel that she is often just talking out of her ass.

Do any of these behaviors seem strange to anyone? Or are mothers often...like this?