I confess. I have logged in a few hours watching Reality TV: The Housewives, Project Runway, Jeff Lewis on Flipping Out. (I can't get enough of him.) I thought I had seen it all until I happened upon Dance Moms on Lifetime for Women. (Wednesday night at 10:00.) I was at my computer with my back to the TV when I heard what sounded like two female tigresses pulling each other's hair out, interrupted by dance music and a booming voice screaming and a one and a two and a one and a two. WHAT is this, I had to see, and once I watched, I became hooked in a horrifying way.
Abby Lee Miller runs a dance studio in Pittsburgh. It has been quite awhile since Abby has squeezed into a tutu, but she rules the roost with an iron toe shoe. Both the young dancers and their mothers cross Abby at their peril. The mothers hate Abby and most of them hate each other, especially if their daughter was outperformed in yesterday's competition. Stage mothers at their worst, they primp and pamper their daughters, applying enough make up to make them look like prostitots, blow drying their hair endlessly and whispering endearments into their ears meant to boost the poor child's morale should she stumble.
Tension heats up when a mother disagrees with Abby in any way, shape or form. I would not want to cross her, I would be scared to death of her. She also has an uncanny knack to pit one mother against another, my guess is that Abby is a borderline personality disorder. Borderlines are good at that. Even if the cat fights are staged, it's worth a look. Theatrics such as this are hard to find. I don't have enough adjectives, adverbs or pronouns in my vocabulary to describe it. Brace yourself and remember that thankfully it's all temporary.
Having worked in mental health, I would more than likely say Abby has narcissistic personality disorder, not borderline.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with BumbleBee.
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