I caught this programme part-way through, about the relationship between glamour model Alicia Douvall and her 14 year old daughter, Georgia.
For anyone who missed it, their relationship bears striking similarities to the one depicted in Absolutely Fabulous, with the typical parent/child responsibilities reversed. While the daughter shows an unusual maturity, being mainly interested in her schoolwork, improving her knowledge and considering various future career options, her mother on the other hand believes that image, makeup, fashion, celebrity and a woman using her body for money are the best professional choices.
While I would usually recommend people to steer clear of reality TV nonsense in general, I actually found this one to be surprisingly fascinating, if only for the insight it gives into a unique relationship and a girl with such a mature outlook despite her upbringing.
As an example, the film shows so many occasions where Alicia feeds her daughter misinformation, mainly due to her own lack of knowledge and past negative experiences. Discussing Georgia's chemistry homework, Georgia expressed how interesting she found the subject and contemplated the opportunities it could open up for her and what she could potentially achieve, even citing the cure for cancer as a possible goal. For someone so young with this drive and foresight, there is certainly no reason to doubt it. The mother, however, felt this was a pointless ambition, because chemistry had never been of any use to her. This was not surprising, as she views "getting your hair done" as a productive activity.
Even more concerning was after Georgia categorically stated that other people's opinion about her mother did not affect her, because they do not know her as she does. Her mother then proceeded to attempt to convince her daughter that her life will be forever tarnished because of her mother and that she will inevitably struggle in everything she attempts to do. Even though this is obviously not true, and despite Georgia's stoic attitude, if these types of conversation happen a lot, they could easily have a detrimental effect on a young mind.
Alicia seems to constantly seek reassurance from her daughter about one thing or another, including whether she loves her, whether she is attractive and whether she is making the right decisions. The aim of most of her actions seems to be to place herself at the centre of any given situation and, to an untrained eye, she appears to exhibit at least some passive-aggressive behavioural traits.
That said, she is obviously a sensitive person, a loving mum who has a kind heart, and in many ways she has a fantastic relationship with her daughter that many parents would envy. However, her totally oblique views, needy nature, her desire to mould her daughter into a "mini-me" and her obsession with the superficial could potentially have a very damaging effect on her daughter's future happiness. I hope when she sees this film, it may help her change her attitude and become a much more supportive figure in her daughter's life.
In short, this programme/episode is certainly worth a watch.
For anyone who missed it, their relationship bears striking similarities to the one depicted in Absolutely Fabulous, with the typical parent/child responsibilities reversed. While the daughter shows an unusual maturity, being mainly interested in her schoolwork, improving her knowledge and considering various future career options, her mother on the other hand believes that image, makeup, fashion, celebrity and a woman using her body for money are the best professional choices.
While I would usually recommend people to steer clear of reality TV nonsense in general, I actually found this one to be surprisingly fascinating, if only for the insight it gives into a unique relationship and a girl with such a mature outlook despite her upbringing.
As an example, the film shows so many occasions where Alicia feeds her daughter misinformation, mainly due to her own lack of knowledge and past negative experiences. Discussing Georgia's chemistry homework, Georgia expressed how interesting she found the subject and contemplated the opportunities it could open up for her and what she could potentially achieve, even citing the cure for cancer as a possible goal. For someone so young with this drive and foresight, there is certainly no reason to doubt it. The mother, however, felt this was a pointless ambition, because chemistry had never been of any use to her. This was not surprising, as she views "getting your hair done" as a productive activity.
Even more concerning was after Georgia categorically stated that other people's opinion about her mother did not affect her, because they do not know her as she does. Her mother then proceeded to attempt to convince her daughter that her life will be forever tarnished because of her mother and that she will inevitably struggle in everything she attempts to do. Even though this is obviously not true, and despite Georgia's stoic attitude, if these types of conversation happen a lot, they could easily have a detrimental effect on a young mind.
Alicia seems to constantly seek reassurance from her daughter about one thing or another, including whether she loves her, whether she is attractive and whether she is making the right decisions. The aim of most of her actions seems to be to place herself at the centre of any given situation and, to an untrained eye, she appears to exhibit at least some passive-aggressive behavioural traits.
That said, she is obviously a sensitive person, a loving mum who has a kind heart, and in many ways she has a fantastic relationship with her daughter that many parents would envy. However, her totally oblique views, needy nature, her desire to mould her daughter into a "mini-me" and her obsession with the superficial could potentially have a very damaging effect on her daughter's future happiness. I hope when she sees this film, it may help her change her attitude and become a much more supportive figure in her daughter's life.
In short, this programme/episode is certainly worth a watch.
