Here's one for the docuseries discussion group, or anyone else. Have you seen it? Happy Tuesday 💜
(PS I don't know who to tag. I lost the thread, lols and I can't tag @Gorretta.)
@MargaretSefton@KentuckyConjurer@ElizabethLeeCo
I've got one more episode, but I'm worried the ending won't be satisfying. The first ep triggered my anxiety though. I almost broke down when they were talking about how their parents didn't want them anymore. 😳
@jacklaridian@KentuckyConjurer@ElizabethLeeCo The ending is fine, it really is, so let me allay your fears there. But the material is still triggering because however positive the ending might me, the devastation can't be healed completely. It's just too catastrophic. Not just the emotional component for these young folk but in other ways too.
@jacklaridian@KentuckyConjurer@ElizabethLeeCo It's ok not to watch, however. I appreciate your insights regarding episode 1. What pisses me off is the way the parents were manipulated into this and told they were doing the best thing, which is what drove a wedge between parents and children. And these were nonprofessionals running this thing whose one and only goal was/is money. That's it. Many of them are not licensed in any way or certified. A total sham. Should be illegal.
@MargaretSefton@KentuckyConjurer@ElizabethLeeCo
I live in Omaha and we famously have Boys Town where Father Flanagan started his home for unwanted boys. He used to say 'There's no such thing as a bad boy.'
I just can't believe so many parents just give up on their children like this. They let themselves get duped into enrollment.
Also, Dr. Phil isn't without blame here. He advocated for these programs for years. Where's his day of reckoning?
@KentuckyConjurer@jacklaridian@ElizabethLeeCo I wonder too how much he and others were hopping on a conservative religious culture that seems to support this. I don't know really, but when you see so many buying in, it makes me think of all people seem to gain w/the Christo industrial complex---jobs, money, political power, media influence, etc. Even though the program seemed quite secular, its roots are in a kind of strict programming with an emphasis on obedience and erasure of self.
Indiana just approved allowing schools to hire chaplains as school counselor replacements (stating there is a shortage of school counselors). They aren't required to have any experience with children either. This is going to be a disaster. I fear an uptick in conversion camps because you know these chaplains are going to be pushing that agenda.
@jacklaridian@KentuckyConjurer@ElizabethLeeCo The topic of abuse of this population is an interest for a writing project. I look forward to hearing what people think.
@Well_Worth_A_Read I'm sorry, maybe I should have given you more of a warning. The people I tagged tend to expect the extremes in some of the docuseries we discuss. There was so much that was wrong. The abuse---emotional, physical, sexual---and the overall way in which young people were permanently broken, familial bonds were destroyed, and kids received fake diplomas! And some kids died. Everything was set up to be a deception and a way to make money, pure and simple. No higher goal was sought.
@Well_Worth_A_Read I think the next time I add someone to the thread, I will advise that they get to know the content of the series through research of content warnings on the series or film promo. I hadn't even watched to that point when I posted initially. I'm sorry, again, for not being aware.
I watched this last weekend. Holy hell. It was very well done. I was perplexed by the relationship between her and her father also. I understood her anger, and in many ways, even at his age now, he came across as very naive.
@Well_Worth_A_Read@KentuckyConjurer Yeah, I think so too. Very sad. All that time that father and daughter will never get back and at such a tender age in her life. Was the 2nd wife still in the picture at the time of the making of the documentary? I can't remember. I also think the father was probably crushed when he began to realize the full weight of things. He maybe was naive but I didn't pick up that he was narcissistic. He seemed to be open to the suggestion that what he did was awful.
@KentuckyConjurer@Well_Worth_A_Read Yes, that is a truly wonderful aspect of this story. To be believed and supported by someone who has been raised in the same family is huge.
My brothers never thought my mom was "that bad". I cut off all contact at 24, after stopping contact from 17-22. I really did give her a second chance. None of my brothers believed me. All these years later, only one still has contact with her and he was always her favorite growing up and still doesn't believe the rest of us when we talk about things she did because "he never experienced that".
@KentuckyConjurer@Well_Worth_A_Read What can make things more complicated is that an abusive parent will triangulate with children, thus isolating children from each other. To this day, my sister says to me, now that she's catching on, "Is this the kind of thing she says?" And I'm like, um yeah, the tip of the iceberg.
UGH. I'm fairly convinced, being the only daughter, that I took the brunt of it when we were younger. When I stopped communication with her, she started in on them. So when they would do the same as your sis, I'd be like, yes, now try dealing with that kind of crap when you were twelve.
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