Too many BPD and mental illness mothers on TV

January 22, 2012

Hi all,

I just have to vent. I'm getting really irritated at the way television depicts

mothers with mental illnesses and their KOs. They make it seem like some fairy

tale where the mother really, TRULY LOVES their child, and all the abuse isn't

really abuse and the KO just forgives and gets over it and they live happily

ever after. Apparently if a mother says she loves her children, it must be so,

even though the actions show nothing of the sort. I was watching " Anywhere but

Here " with Portman and Sarandon, and I just cringed when Sarandon

was yelling at Portman, " I have sacrificed EVERYTHING for you " , when really she

did everything she did for herself and wasn't for her daughter at all, but it's

like the writers expect the audience to see how Sarandon's character really did

believe she was doing it for her daughter, which is total BS, because any fool

could see the daughter character complaining and protesting the whole time, and

the mother character doing what she wanted anyways.

This comes off the heels of a run-in with my dad about the package from nada, in

which he somewhat defended her, saying " I know you don't want contact from her,

but look at it from her perspective, she's your MOTHER and she loves you. " And

I'm like, " Dad, I set boundaries, by breaking them, she is continuing to show me

that she has no respect for me. " He just doesn't get it. But what do I expect,

his mother is co-dependent and has some form of PD herself. I guess I didn't

expect anything more from my father, but it was very invalidating. And then to

see this continual reinforcement of the " MOTHER " thing on TV all weekend (I've

been sick, so laying on the couch all weekend barely conscious watching TV) just

irritates me so much. That people who have NO experience living with someone

with a mental illness and feel they have the right to portray it in this happily

ever after way. Why can't they be realistic and educate society on the true

nature of personality disorders?

Sorry, I just had to express my anger somewhere. I've been experiencing a lot of

anger since the package from nada. Mostly towards the fact that she completely

broke the set boundaries I installed, and that she clearly has no respect for

me. I've decided that if she sends anything else, that I will be sending the

cease and desist letter signed by a notary.

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