The Big Picture

HBO’s Mommy Dead and Dearest provides a more accurate and comprehensive portrayal of Clauddine Blanchard, shedding light on her fraudulent behavior and decades-long control over Gypsy Rose. The documentary delves into the extent of Gypsy Rose’s abuse by examining medical documents and interviews, providing a better understanding of her actions. Mommy Dead and Dearest offers a balanced perspective on Nick Godejohn, presenting evidence of his involvement and the complex dynamics of his relationship with Gypsy Rose, without demonizing or infantilizing him.

On December 28, 2023, Gypsy Rose Blanchard was released from prison on parole after serving a little over seven years of her ten-year sentence for the murder of her mother, Clauddine Blanchard. Blanchard’s story — now the most famous case of Munchausen by proxy — has held national interest since it broke in 2015. Naturally, there’s no shortage of films, television episodes and series, and books about or based on the case. However, not all of the media about the case is created equally. The most popular of the films and TV made about the Blanchard case is probably Hulu’s 2019 series The Act, which is a dramatic retelling of the events that is supposedly only “based” on the true story, though it uses Gypsy Rose’s and Clauddine’s real names without consent and the producers didn’t hold the life rights to the story.

Gypsy Rose discussed a lawsuit against Hulu for the series for these reasons, and while nothing came of it, the family seems to detest the series for its portrayal of the case and for the way writer Michelle Dean cut contact with them during the show’s development, giving them little to no input on the series. While it’s the most popular one, it’s by no means the best examination of the case. That instead goes to 2017’s Mommy Dead and Dearest, an HBO documentary that tells Gypsy Rose’s story through the use of interrogation footage, interviews with Gypsy Rose, her family, and her lawyers, and the chat logs between her and her accomplice Nick Godejohn.

‘Mommy Dead and Dearest’ Gives the Most Accurate Portrayal of Clauddine Blanchard

Mommy Dead and Dearest benefited greatly from the use of interviews, particularly by interviewing not only Gypsy Rose’s father and stepmother but Clauddine’s parents as well. The documentary provides more insight into who Clauddine was as a person through these interviews. They shed light on Clauddine’s fraudulent finances, the beginning of her medical abuse of Gypsy Rose, and her decades-long control over her daughter. Many of the people interviewed note how Clauddine never allowed Gypsy Rose to go anywhere on her own, and that she was always holding and squeezing Gypsy Rose’s hand — a common method of coercive control. There are multiple images of Clauddine’s extensive medicine closet and her unkempt home, and interviews with Gypsy Rose herself reveal that because she had a feeding tube, her mother could give her medication even while she was sleeping, so there were times that she had no idea what was being put into her body.

The documentary goes to great lengths to help the audience understand the circumstances of Gypsy Rose’s life with Clauddine by examining the extent of abuse using medical documents, as well. Many of the documents note that Clauddine was a poor historian when it came to Gypsy Rose’s medical records, and others say Gypsy Rose’s scans returned without any abnormalities, and in total between 2005 and 2014, she’d been to the hospital over a hundred times. While some other documentaries and series don’t explore Clauddine’s past and the extent of her abuse — or in The Act’s case, represent it inaccurately at times — Mommy Dead and Dearest uses its evidence and interviews to create a more complete picture of her and provide a better understanding of why Gypsy Rose did what she did.

The documentary makes good use of interviews with both Gypsy’s father Rod and stepmother Kristy, who provide insight into who Clauddine was as a person (including her history with financial fraud and how she kept Gypsy Rose from her father) and describe Gypsy Rose’s childhood and the extensive list of medical diagnoses and procedures she received. These testimonies help the audience understand the extent to which Gypsy Rose was isolated from the world as well; there’s a particularly sad moment in one of Rod’s interviews where he says Gypsy Rose cried during one of his visits as a child as though she was scared of him, and that he felt as though Clauddine had told her something terrible.

The Role of Nick Godejohn Is More Clear
Image via HBO

While some media places Gypsy Rose’s then-boyfriend and accomplice, Nick Godejohn, at extreme margins — The Act portrays him as a victim, for instance — Mommy Dead and Dearest tries to be impartial. It shows scenes from Nick’s interrogation where he says he would never have stabbed Clauddine had Gypsy Rose not explained her situation and asked him directly to do it, while also pointing out that he had a history of sexual misconduct and violence. This is the first documentary where Gypsy Rose mentions that Nick had wanted to sexually assault her mother after the murder; in a heart-wrenching moment of her interview, Gypsy Rose describes the moment when she offered herself to Godejohn in her mother’s place. The documentary more thoroughly explores his and Gypsy Rose’s relationship through actual exchanges they had over text and social media and through Gypsy Rose’s interview from prison, which provides a more complete and accurate telling of events.

Related HBO’s Newest True Crime Docuseries Offers Much More Than You Think ‘Last Call: When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York’ gives more insight on the victims than the killer.

When compared to other media, Mommy Dead and Dearest feels less exploitative while talking about their relationship and feels less like there’s a side to be taken between Nick and Gypsy Rose by not using Nick’s history of mental illness as a method to either demonize or infantilize him. It also doesn’t shy away from explaining Gypsy Rose’s involvement with him, featuring incriminating evidence of her asking him to kill Clauddine and providing him with the tools to do so. The documentary does a good job of juxtaposing Gypsy Rose’s and Nick’s stories to tell one that is more complex without putting all the blame on one person.

Mommy Dead and Dearest is Empathetic to Gypsy Rose – While Also Being Honest

However, Nick is not the only person the documentary wanted to be impartial to. It’s also very careful while talking about Gypsy Rose herself, attempting to not cross the line in either direction. While The Act shows Gypsy Rose as cold and manipulative, a mastermind pulling Nick’s strings to get what she wants, Mommy Dead and Dearest is less condemning, despite having all of the evidence laid out. The documentary has Gypsy Rose speak about her experience living with her mother, with her expressing fear of disobeying Clauddine (who would sometimes hit her) and the discomfort caused by the many unnecessary surgeries and procedures she had.

Mommy Dead and Dearest shows sympathy for Gypsy, acknowledging that she was a hostage in her own home due to her mother’s fraud and lies. However, it also provides an interview from Buzzfeed’s Michelle Dean — who wrote an impressive piece on the case, “Dee Dee Wanted Her Daughter To Be Sick, Gypsy Wanted Her Mom Murdered” and would go on to be the screenwriter for The Act — during which she says that Gypsy Rose “doesn’t have a language beyond manipulation and retaliation,” which stands alone in the documentary to be judged by viewers as either a statement on Gypsy Rose’s mental state after years of abuse or possibly a slightly accusatory statement about the way she now perceives the world. However, the tone of the rest of the documentary definitely leans toward the former interpretation.

The documentary provides testimony from Dr. Marc Feldman saying that victims of Munchausen by proxy often have trouble distinguishing between what’s real and false, and Gypsy Rose herself expresses a similar sentiment in her interview, saying that it feels like she doesn’t know right from wrong, but that she’s sorry for her mother’s death and that she wished it never happened or that she’d done things differently. Regardless of the claims made, the portrayal of Gypsy Rose never strays from being a tragic victim of circumstance who was desperate to escape. It always strives to make clear that the case is multifaceted and complex, and for that, it earns a title as one of the best pieces of media covering the case.

‘Mommy Dead and Dearest’ Provides Many Different Interviews About the Case
Image via HBO

The documentary ends in a way that shows great empathy for Gypsy Rose. She’s reunited with her father, Rod, and her stepmother, Kristy, during a full contact visit, and though she’s in handcuffs and can’t hug her father fully, she wraps his arms around her and holds her tight, telling her to stay strong and that she’s come this far. He tells her he’ll come to see her often, and it makes Gypsy Rose cry. Throughout the documentary, we find out that she was often kept away from her father, and we see her father’s guilt at not stepping in when he felt that something was wrong. In those final moments, it’s like seeing Gypsy Rose’s light at the end of the tunnel. She still has a family and something to look forward to.

Of course, that isn’t to say that it’s without fault. As it stands, we, the general public, will never know the whole truth, and neither will the people creating these shows, movies, and documentaries. They’re created with the best information possible (hopefully) and come to a conclusion based on this information. At the end of the day, we aren’t owed any of the information, and hopefully, people will keep that in mind now that Gypsy Rose has been released and trying to have a normal life that’s her own. However, if the Blanchard case fascinates you — or you want to know who Gypsy Rose is after seeing a sea of articles about her release — Mommy Dead and Dearest is the documentary you need to see. It will give you the rundown of the case just in time for the release of Lifetime’s The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, which features interviews that discuss her time in prison, including her engagement and marriage to Ryan Anderson, and the crime itself with new information and details.

Mommy Dead and Dearest is available to watch on Max in the U.S.

Watch on Max