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Gypsy Rose Blanchard, a woman once infamous is now beloved. For anyone who doesn’t know her story, Gypsy was raised by her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard, whom she eventually helped murder after enduring years of abuse and manipulation. Her mother suffered from MSP, or Munchausen by Proxy. MSP is a mental illness in which the caretaker of a child makes up fake symptoms or illnesses and pretends the child is sick. Gypsy went through life believing she was extremely ill, being forced to use a wheelchair, undergoing dangerous procedures, and taking medication for actual illnesses, all while needing none of these things. When she was around 22 years old she met Nick, who would later become her boyfriend and murder her mother.
Gypsy played a significant role in the murder, but she wasn’t the one who committed the actual act. She helped plan the murder and when she was found and sentenced, was charged accordingly. She was sentenced to 10 years of jail time while her ex-boyfriend, Nick, received a life sentence. She was sentenced in 2016 and now, released 2 years early, she is back. When people first found out what had happened Gypsy was treated like a monster. The majority of the people who knew her story thought she was evil and deserved the worst sentence possible. Now, eight years later, people love her.
Gypsy is all over social media, amassing millions of followers within days. People view her as an icon and have literally begun to idolize her. Many people still maintain that what she did was wrong, but over the years people have started to see a justification for what she did. A lot of people are also downplaying what happened, and almost making a mockery out of the whole situation. What she went through was absolutely horrible, but one has to consider whether she should be given this big of a platform. She played a remarkable role in a murder, and though some feel it is justified, it is still murder. She has come forward and spoken about how she does acknowledge and regret what she has done, and in all her fame I think people forget that she did help commit a very serious crime. No one should ever have to endure what she went through, but idolizing her to this extent could be dangerous.
I also think it’s interesting how Gypsy never really was free, and now, never will be. As a child, her life was enveloped in lies, so she wasn’t free then. She was forced to live by what her mother said and wasn’t allowed to have any opinions of her own. After the murder, she was convicted and sent to jail, where there was obviously no freedom. Now, she is out in society, but she is in the public eye. Everything she does will be monitored and watched by both her haters and supporters, so she isn’t free at all. She might physically be free and out of jail, but she won’t ever be able to be a “normal” person, which is a horrible situation for a person to have to experience. This also ties into why it is so bad to idolize her. The best thing for her would be to learn to live a normal life and try to learn how to truly live. By being idolized by all these people she is not free, unable to live a normal life.
Now that Gypsy is out it also seems that she is trying to capitalize off her fame. With the multiple documentaries, interviews, and books coming out about her it seems pretty obvious that she is taking advantage of her fame. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, especially since she is also trying to raise awareness about what happened to her. It does feel kind of wrong though, given that the fame and money are coming from a murder that she played a role in. It’s also important to remember that there is not much else she can do now that she is out of jail. She is a convicted felon who is famous for helping murder her mom, which probably wouldn’t sound that great on a job application. The best thing is, she is spreading awareness about what happened and being truthful about her past.
Gypsy Rose, though controversial, seems to be trying to do the right thing. When she appears in interviews she always takes accountability for her actions and never tries to play off the severity of what she did. She acknowledges that her part in the murder was wrong and also tries to provide reasons for why she did it. I think the people who still believe she is a monster are unjustified, but the people who idolize her and treat her like an icon are also in the wrong. She did some horrible things, but she did also have a horrible life. Everyone’s opinion of her is different, but it is important to remember her past and acknowledge what she went through leading up to the murder.
