The latest TV show on everyone’s mind is The Act, based on the real life of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, her overprotective mother Dee Dee, and the events leading up to her murder. The show centers around Gypsy Rose, played by Joey King, and her numerous “illnesses” that cause her to live a sheltered life with her doting mother, played by Patricia Arquette.
When they move to a new town after losing everything in Hurricane Katrina, Gypsy Rose starts to learn new things about her mother and the diseases Dee Dee claims she has. Although Dee Dee claims Gypsy is 15 and has multiple illnesses that cause her to be confined to a wheelchair including leukemia, asthma and muscular dystrophy, Gypsy finds her birth certificate that says she’s 19 and starts to realize she doesn’t have all the sicknesses.
“The whole story was really shocking because it was hard to believe, but I was interested because I had never heard anything like it,” sophomore Ellie Greenberg said.
Gypsy is tired of being coddled and lied to, so she secretly buys a phone and laptop to feel like a normal teenager.
The show takes a dark turn when Dee Dee starts to abuse Gypsy as Gypsy tries to become more independent and secretive. Using her secret laptop, Gypsy meets a man with a split personality named Nick Godejohn on an online Christian dating service. Gypsy tells Nick all the things Dee Dee has done to her and they start to plan her murder.
Currently, Gypsy is serving a 10 year prison sentence, while Godejohn, her now ex-boyfriend, is serving a life sentence as he was the one who committed the crime. Many people think Gypsy shouldn’t be incarcerated because her neighbors, doctors and child protective services all failed to help her out of her situation.
“I don’t think Gypsy should be in jail because she has clearly been through a lot, and her actions that got her in trouble were in self-defense from her mother’s abuse,” sophomore Ellie Poersch said.
The Act is available exclusively on Hulu, with all eight episodes this season released as of May 1. Hulu will release episodes weekly to build tension like a show on conventional TV.To some viewers, it made the experience more exciting and compelling to watch.
“When I first started watching The Act, I knew nothing about the real story, and it was crazy to believe that Gypsy killed Dee Dee. However, after watching the show, I feel really bad for Gypsy because I can’t imagine being in a situation where your life is a lie being taken advantage of by your own mother,” sophomore Courtney Schneider said.
