In the Fall of 2009, TV actress Mackenzie Phillips published an autobiography titled "High on Arrival." A lot of memoirs written by former child actors follow familiar beats --lack of control, abuse, narcissism, drug and alcohol addiction-- and "Arrival" doesn't deviate too much from that narrative, but it does contain two details that turned heads at the time. Mackenzie's father, the late songwriter "Papa John" Phillips, not only raped Mackenzie in a drugged-out stupor but wanted her to be his wife. Even if Mackenzie admitted they eventually had a consensual affair, the psychological damage she suffered is unfathomable.
As brave as Phillips was to tell her story, there was still a backlash. Many people (myself included, unfortunately) wondered why Phillips waited seven years after Papa John's death to write this book. Others, including Phillips' own stepmom, had doubts that the date-rape ever happened. Mackenzie was also accused of trying to profit on her father's legacy, regardless of how tainted it was. Phillips was abused and gaslighted, and it took her over three decades to find the courage to open up about her father's monstrous behavior. The book was dismissed as salacious gossip-mongering.
I thought about Phillips' ordeal as I've read up on the Judge Roy Moore scandal. As of this writing, five women (now all in their 50s and 60s) have accused Moore of making unwarranted sexual advances when they were teenagers. One victim was as young as 14, and it was recently revealed that Moore first noticed his wife when she was 15 (and he was 30). In any other part of the country, Moore's campaign would be practically over. In crimson-red Alabama, however competitor Doug Jones holds a very narrow lead in the polls, largely because the locals simply refuse to "vote liberal."
We could debate the questionable moral compass of Alabama Republicans, and putting political agenda over human decency, but that's a discussion for another time. What bothers me is how we're questioning the timing of the accusations. Given how many celebrities have been taken off their pedestal in recent weeks, it would be easy for a critic to assume that outing a public figure as a sexual deviant is "trendy" right now. If anything, this is part of a far greater inclination, of shifting socio-cultural norms in which sexual harassment and similarly inappropriate behavior is taken seriously. A woman that was humiliated decades ago has every right to be reluctant to tell their story, and we must both laud their bravery and respect their privacy.
Mackenzie Phillips, quintessential narcissistic ex-child actor, was demonized and shamed eight years ago. Her confessional on "Oprah" (see clip in link) was dismissed as pandering for a book junket. Society as a whole is a little more enlightened now. If "High on Arrival" was released now, she could be at the forefront of meaningful systemic change.
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Showing posts with label Mackenzie Phillips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mackenzie Phillips. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Author! Author!
"A writer uses a pen instead of a scalpel or blowtorch." -Michael Ondaatje
2009 is proving to be a strange year for autobiographies and tell-all memoirs. Why are media figures with tarnished public images so quick to enter the literary world? Maybe it's intended to be a scam. My theory is these quickie tomes are a facade so that the "authors" can go on the press junket; this way, they can write 400 pages of gibberish fully knowing nobody will buy, much less read the book. In writing this rant, the three books that come to mind are Mackenzie Phillips' High on Arrival, Gov. Sarah Palin's Going Rogue, and Gov. Rod Blagojevich's The Governor. I can't really say I've read any of these books --just a few excerpts that were leaked to the media-- so I'm not really at liberty to critique the memoirs themselves. Nevertheless, it's hard to ignore the smoke and mirrors.
From what I've read about The Governor, Blago continues to dish out the same empty rhetoric that made him an accidental media darling late last year. He takes his critics to task, vilifies everyone from Rev. Jesse Jackson to his own father-in-law, but never quite explains his accusations and what he is innocent of. Why this man keeps persevering is baffling. Bonnie Hunt (of all people) nailed it on the head when she interviewed Blago six weeks ago: if he claims to be innocent, why is no one coming to his defense? Why is he hiding the evidence that allegedly acquits him?
It's hard to say anything critical of Going Rogue without exposing a political bias. My only real question is how much of the book wasn't ghost-written; a co-author is not credited, though one must wonder how Palin wrote her autobiography so quickly. Reviews on Amazon.com have been mixed, which is odd considering that Rogue won't be in bookstores until November 17th and (as far I know) no advance copies have been released yet. On that note, I still think murmurs of a "vast left-wing conspiracy" trying to stifle Palin is a bunch of hooey. The McCain/Palin ticket lost last year because the GOP couldn't convincingly appeal themselves to moderates. Where Sen. McCain had a sliver of crossover appeal, Gov. Palin has both feet firmly planted in the conservative corner, take it or leave it. Regardless of its merits, conservatives will probably love the book and liberals and moderates will be apathetic. It's almost predestined.
Of the three big-name tell-alls released this year, Phillips' book probably has by far the thickest layer of slime. Why would she accuse her father of rape and molestation eight years after he died? John Phillips was well known in Hollywood circles for his debauchary and hard living so there's little reason of a doubt, but why call him out now when he obviously can't defend himself? In spite of any potential merits, High on Arrival has set a disturbing new plateau for celebrity memoirs; nobody will bat an eyelash at another washed-up TV actor's musings unless there's incest and preteen drug use involved. One can only hope that this is the sleazy autobiography that ends an entire subgenre of self-aggrandizing, profit-fueled bile.
Other notes:
+ I don't really recall where I was when the Berlin Wall fell. I was only five at the time, and I didn't have the attention span for watching the 5 o'clock news, so I probably learned about it several months after the fact. I do vaguely remember the reunification of Germany, though.
+ With all due respect to Wanda Sykes, Mo'Nique, and George Lopez, I'm not convinced that their new talk shows are going to last. The late night gabfest is a pretty crowded scene right now, and you'd think the powers that be had learned from the great logjam of 1993. Sure, talk shows are cheaper to produce than scripted shows, but even when you have 20 variations on the same theme it's still the same song.
+ File this in the "oops" department: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33622390/ns/world_news-weird_news/?gt1=43001
+ Next week: my fifth annual "Thanks/No Thanks" list.
2009 is proving to be a strange year for autobiographies and tell-all memoirs. Why are media figures with tarnished public images so quick to enter the literary world? Maybe it's intended to be a scam. My theory is these quickie tomes are a facade so that the "authors" can go on the press junket; this way, they can write 400 pages of gibberish fully knowing nobody will buy, much less read the book. In writing this rant, the three books that come to mind are Mackenzie Phillips' High on Arrival, Gov. Sarah Palin's Going Rogue, and Gov. Rod Blagojevich's The Governor. I can't really say I've read any of these books --just a few excerpts that were leaked to the media-- so I'm not really at liberty to critique the memoirs themselves. Nevertheless, it's hard to ignore the smoke and mirrors.
From what I've read about The Governor, Blago continues to dish out the same empty rhetoric that made him an accidental media darling late last year. He takes his critics to task, vilifies everyone from Rev. Jesse Jackson to his own father-in-law, but never quite explains his accusations and what he is innocent of. Why this man keeps persevering is baffling. Bonnie Hunt (of all people) nailed it on the head when she interviewed Blago six weeks ago: if he claims to be innocent, why is no one coming to his defense? Why is he hiding the evidence that allegedly acquits him?
It's hard to say anything critical of Going Rogue without exposing a political bias. My only real question is how much of the book wasn't ghost-written; a co-author is not credited, though one must wonder how Palin wrote her autobiography so quickly. Reviews on Amazon.com have been mixed, which is odd considering that Rogue won't be in bookstores until November 17th and (as far I know) no advance copies have been released yet. On that note, I still think murmurs of a "vast left-wing conspiracy" trying to stifle Palin is a bunch of hooey. The McCain/Palin ticket lost last year because the GOP couldn't convincingly appeal themselves to moderates. Where Sen. McCain had a sliver of crossover appeal, Gov. Palin has both feet firmly planted in the conservative corner, take it or leave it. Regardless of its merits, conservatives will probably love the book and liberals and moderates will be apathetic. It's almost predestined.
Of the three big-name tell-alls released this year, Phillips' book probably has by far the thickest layer of slime. Why would she accuse her father of rape and molestation eight years after he died? John Phillips was well known in Hollywood circles for his debauchary and hard living so there's little reason of a doubt, but why call him out now when he obviously can't defend himself? In spite of any potential merits, High on Arrival has set a disturbing new plateau for celebrity memoirs; nobody will bat an eyelash at another washed-up TV actor's musings unless there's incest and preteen drug use involved. One can only hope that this is the sleazy autobiography that ends an entire subgenre of self-aggrandizing, profit-fueled bile.
Other notes:
+ I don't really recall where I was when the Berlin Wall fell. I was only five at the time, and I didn't have the attention span for watching the 5 o'clock news, so I probably learned about it several months after the fact. I do vaguely remember the reunification of Germany, though.
+ With all due respect to Wanda Sykes, Mo'Nique, and George Lopez, I'm not convinced that their new talk shows are going to last. The late night gabfest is a pretty crowded scene right now, and you'd think the powers that be had learned from the great logjam of 1993. Sure, talk shows are cheaper to produce than scripted shows, but even when you have 20 variations on the same theme it's still the same song.
+ File this in the "oops" department: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33622390/ns/world_news-weird_news/?gt1=43001
+ Next week: my fifth annual "Thanks/No Thanks" list.
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