Mommy Dead and Dearest

Documentaries, when done well, are like great theater. Count "Mommy Dead and Dearest" among one of the best ever made. It also doesn't hurt that the filmmakers have an unbelievable fascinating story to work with.

"Gypsy Rose" sounds like a name for the title character in some form of art. But the story of her life is a tale best left for nightmares.

Just when you think that there is nothing else that could horrify or surprise you, along comes a story that turns that on its head.

It is going to take me a lifetime to forget what I just watched. I also now have a new added skepticism of or society, legal and justice system- all of which dropped the ball here.

Sometimes the worse solution may end up being the only solution.

Gypsy's story is so sad and it's so heartbreaking to see what happened to her. I feel for her so much. I understand why she did what she did. The documentary is really good in showing you her point of view and what she went through.

This story is INSANE. Hard to believe something this complex, fascinating and disturbing could occur in real life. Is Gypsy purely a victim? A pathological liar? An abuse survivor? A mentally confused and stunted young girl? A willing participant? A product of over medication and abuse? Probably a mixture of all of this and more, each taking its turn at the forefront of her personality. A sad, enrapturing and pulpy crime doc.

Mommy Dead and Dearest was extremely well-received in its world premiere today at SXSW Film Festival. This film morphs from apparent case of matricide into one of the journey of Gypsy, a severely abused child. Her journey as recounted in recovered VHS tapes and interviews will shock you even if you think you can no longer be shocked by what human beings are capable of. It is best not to give away too many of the details of Gypsy's story. The filmmakers have taken care to present the story with both sympathy and nuance as we learn the disturbing details behind Gypsy's story and most disturbingly how every institution that was supposed to help her – medical, educational, social workers, the criminal justice system – failed to attenuate the abuse and allowed the conditions that produced this bizarre and disturbing situation to continue. The film is scheduled for HBO and this story deserves to be more widely seen and understood. Unfortunately, in so many ways, the criminal escaped punishment and the victim has been imprisoned by what has happened. The filmmakers have done an excellent job of bringing this troubling story to life for the public.

"Mommy Dead and Dearest" is a well-edited and put together film. It tells the narrative behind the Gypsy Rose Blamchard case in a coherent way, and it introduces the viewers to most pertinent characters to try to get a complex overview of this bizarre case. The directors succeed in trying to present the case in an objective way, talking to family members, police officers, lawyers, doctors and psychologists alike, but nonetheless there is still a problematic bias in this documentary as well an odd and conflicting ambivalence, as if the filmmakers both oversimplified and overcomplicated their narrative at different turns. These insidious manipulations aggravate an otherwise technically proficient documentary, which is nonetheless likely to be one of the better ones out there. Despite the notion of a happy ending "Mommy Dead and Dearest" gives, I have a feeling there is more to complicate the story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard.

Viewers note that while Gypsy Rose Blanchard has been given ten years prison time, the man she asked to murder her mother Dee Dee for her, Nicholas Godejohn, has been given a lifetime sentence and Gypsy is effectively done with him. Psychologists interviewed within the film have given Gypsy the doubt of bein a sociopath, and while I appreciate how the filmmakers didn't shy away from that I question whether they haven't manipulated events (the family reunion with Gypsy's father) in too much favor for her. If they haven't, then just be aware that the something here is still pretty messed up, and the answer "Mommy Dead and Dearest" gives is far too pat.

Even still, "Mommy Dead and Dearest" is a well told, but probably premature documentary, and I don't believe it's the full story it is made out to be. Some kudos to the filmmakers for making some notion of possible discrepancies, apthough not going far enough in exploring them so as to feel fully fledged or complete.

Mixed feelings about this one.