Family Stoned

Mackenzie Frenzy -- Picture courtesy of Imdb

by blogSpotter
Before I dive into the subject of Mackenzie, I'd like to talk about my weekend ...

Whole new worlds …

This has been a Lewis-and-Clark weekend for me. Searching for the Forest Lane Krogers, I came across a beautiful, bodacious new Wal*Mart at Forest and Greenville. It's been open 11 months! I grieved when they closed the Midpark store, not realizing they'd given us a nice replacement. That's what I get for ignoring newspaper inserts -- better late to the Wal*Mart party than never.

Then this morning, I channel surfed on my HD TV, only to discover that my basic cable is giving me music channels 80.5 thru 80.40. Does basic always include that?? We won’t ask questions -- we will just enjoy the beautiful music. Last but not least, I took the new DART Green Line to Fair Park for the State Fair. The train ran perfectly on schedule and we were packed like sardines on the way down. Deep Ellum, Baylor and Fair Park were all beautiful stations -- the Green Line is a smashing success if Saturday was any test.

Now to our fair Mackenzie

I loved Mackenzie Phillips on One Day At A Time back in the 70’s. I wondered why my favorite raspy-voiced, mouthy teen was kicked off of the hit sitcom midway thru its run. Now it turns out she was canned for her drug and alcohol issues in 1980. According to her latest bio, that is when the 18-year old began an incestuous relationship with her father, rocker John Phillips of Mamas and Papas’ fame. He apparently took advantage of her in a drug stupor and things snowballed from there. The on-again, off-again incestuous relationship continued “consensually” for the next 10 years.

She says that the relationship was because of drug-addled thinking on the part of her and her father. She did feel like she had been initially raped and emotionally coerced into the affair -- she also emphasizes that she forgave her father on his deathbed in 2001. You might think that Mackenzie’s confession would shed light on a verboten but relevant topic but judged on public reaction -- you would be wrong.

You’re as sick as your secrets …

The public reaction has been revulsion, outrage and anger -- all directed at Mackenzie. In looking at reader/audience responses from various articles and TV interviews, I see two general tendencies, both (I think) misguided and wrong.

“You should take this to the grave -- it hurts your family” -- She was never seeking revenge or vindication. She was trying to focus light on a deeply affecting, family and personal problem. Her aunt and Mother already told Mackenzie to take it to her grave, and mostly what that did was help to bedraggle the sick affair another 10 years. Nobody was suggesting that John should “do time” but family counseling was certainly in order -- circa 1980.

“It never happened -- Mackenzie made the whole thing up”. Total strangers presume to tell Mackenzie what happened in her own experience. The affair is so horrifically bizarre that small minds can’t wrap themselves around it. People who are not Mackenzie, or even related to her in any way have to insist that it never happened.

As someone from a dysfunctional family (albeit no incest), I can attest to lots of weirdness -- truth can be stranger than fiction. I don’t doubt her story in the least, nor do I begrudge her the freedom to speak her truth. On the Today Show, Mackenzie pointed out that many incest survivors were coming “out of the closet” to her, thanking her for the honest soul-searching and frank retelling of the events. Mackenzie isn’t writing Mommie Dearest -- she’s owning her part of the story. Let’s let Mackenzie be Mackenzie and let the truth eke its way out. If the truth hurts, sometimes we have to bear the pain.

© 2009 blogSpotter