The Act
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Genre art uses spectacle to convey in images what words alone cant.
Thats baked into the premise of genre from the start.
Gypsy Blanchard is a real person, and Dee Dee Blanchard was a real person too.
Maybe we didnt experience these things at the scale the Blanchards did.
But in the moment, did they feel any less intense, overwhelming, disfiguring,spectacular?
The throughline for all three is the fate of Gypsys teeth.
Yet continuing to deny herself a pleasure she can feel in her bones is hers by right is unbearable.
So Gypsy starts sneaking sugar by the pound and liter every night after Dee Dee goes to bed.
But this behavior has a consequence: Her teeth rot until they fall bleeding from her mouth.
The damage has been done, and its lying right there in the bathroom with her bloody toothbrush.
Dee Dee discovers her daughters dental problems and springs into action, just as youd expect.
This leads to the second major spectacle: the forcible extraction of Gypsys remaining teeth.
But the show must go on.
Then comes a highlight in Joey Kings already extraordinary performance: My teeth!
I wouldnt be surprised if this was a tap-out point for some viewers.
Its very, very hard to see and hear.
Even in a preLeaving Neverlandworld, this song in this context comes freighted with darker overtones.
Its hard,hardto watch and to hear.
Some people, at least, are starting to see this for what it is.
