Replies to '05/22 The True Life of Marcia Brady'

This has happened over the last two years. Things arnt that  balck and white in life!

I'm puzzled by your stating that as a daughter, even if your father was in the wrong, you could not do this to him in public.  What exactly do you think she is "doing" to her dad?  Were you even watching the same show?  Maureen wasn't doing anything to her dad except trying to open up a dialog with him.  She was trying to get him to talk to her.  She was trying to get to the bottom of the trouble and attempt to close the distance between them.  In other words, she was trying to get her family back.  Is that so wrong?  Kids do tend to cause their parents grief when they're younger.  That's human nature.  You say "Somehow I felt they were never connected."  Dah!  Did you get the part where Dr. Phil pointed out that she hasn't been able to see her dad for two years because her brother has kept him away from the rest of the family?  He's been isolated from everyone.  Did you hear the part where Dr. Phil said the brother tried to get Maureen to sign a document stating she was mentally incompetent so he could gain control of his dad's finances?  And have you ever been the victim of mind control?  Until you've walked a mile in the shoes of someone who has, you should not question Maureen's desire to set her dad free.  It's quite obvious that the whole situation is very distressing to her and that she's not acting.  What would her motive be for acting?  She only desires to see her dad again, and have him and both her brothers in her life.  She wants everyone to get family therapy so they can be a family again.

So what if she approached her dad in public.  It seems that she had no success doing it at his home or anywhere else private so she had no choice but to approach him in public.  Don't you think it was down right creepy the way the brother could never answer a direct question, or any question for that matter.  Dr. Phil summed up his behavior perfectly by saying the brother's way of isolating his dad and dealing with Maureen was to attack her, drag her down, make her think she's the bad one, the wrong one, the problem child in the family.  But isn't it interesting that even though she repeatedly asked him to tell her what she had done wrong, to explain what he meant by his vague responses, he could not answer her except in very vague terms.  In a "normal" family, brothers and sisters take each others' inventory quite easily, reciting chapter and verse the wrongs committed against each other,  sometimes going back several years; i.e., "You dented my bumper when you borrowed my car last year." or "You never paid me back that $200 loan I gave you at Christmas", etc.  Kevin couldn't do this because his arguments are not based in reality.  When pressed, Kevin did mention that Maureen had stolen her dad's retirement fund but when she asked him to explain, he couldn't.  Kevin spouted vague accusations that were obviously not based in reality.  My sister today could state that I stole my father's retirement fund.  But the funny thing is, my dad never had a retirement fund so there was nothing to steal.  But she could say it and caste some doubt and suspicion.  Making wild accusations without backing them up with proof is the MO of someone like Kevin.  He's obviously very paranoid.  Did you see the photo of the chairs barricading the door?  What normal person does this?

Also, what in heck did you mean by your last sentence?  It simply did not make any sense.  I'll say it again.  Did you even watch the show?

I got the impression that Maureen was sincerely distraught.

Perhaps if the dad were penniless, the wicked and manipulative brother wouldn't be trying so hard to control him.  However, it appeared to me that Maureen and her other brother were motivated by love of their father ~ not greed.