The Twisted Case Behind Hulu’s Hit Series: The Act
On March 20th, 2019, Hulu debuted their latest true crime series, The Act, which took the internet by storm before its scheduled release. Sneak-peeks of the new series have appeared on social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter for weeks prior to the first episode. With leading actresses, Joey King and Patricia Arquette, and the fact that the show is based on a particularly bizarre murder case, it is easy to see why its release was so highly anticipated. So is The Act really worth all the craze?
I began watching The Act the moment that I had some spare time on my hands, and I was immediately captivated yet disturbed by the eerie tone of the show. The show opens in June of 2015, with a distressed 911 phone call from a seemingly concerned neighbor. The camera pans through the hallway of an oddly cluttered home that boasts bright pink walls and an array of child costumes and stuffed animals in containers lining the floor. The camera then cuts to a scene in which the two main characters are introduced. The first being Clauddine Blanchard, (Patricia Arquette), the mother of a visibly ill child, Gypsy Rose Blanchard, (Joey King). What follows is a behind-the-scenes television interview of both Gypsy and Clauddine, affectionately referred to as Dee Dee. Dee Dee is portrayed as a devoted mother, caring for her chronically-ill child, Gypsy. During the interview, Dee Dee’s overprotective tendencies become apparent, as well as Gypsy’s childlike mannerisms. Dee Dee’s overprotective nature soon morphs into something much more sinister, as the following episodes soon reveal.
Warning: Possible Spoilers Ahead!
The case behind the The Act gained national recognition after HBO released a documentary called Mommy Dead and Dearest, according to Time magazine’s, “The True Story Behind Hulu’s The Act”. The show is a dramatized version of a series of events that occured between the real-life Clauddine and Gypsy Blanchard, whose tale of events are shocking as they are unfathomable. It was well-known by neighbors and doctors alike that both the real-life and fictional Gypsy Blanchard suffered from a never-ending list of illnesses that had plagued her since birth. In June of 2015, neighbors close to the mother-daughter duo reported suspicious online activity and were unsure of both Clauddine and Gypsy’s whereabouts. Authorities later found Clauddine Blanchard dead in her home in Springfield, Missouri, but there was no sign of Gypsy.
Gypsy was eventually found in Wisconsin with her online boyfriend, Nick Godejohn, who helped her devise a plan to kill her supposedly mentally and physically abusive mother. It was soon uncovered by authorities that Gypsy was completely healthy, contrary to the claims made by her mother. In February of this year, Nick Godejohn was found guilty for the murder of Clauddine Blanchard and sentenced to life in prison. During the court proceedings, it was soon learned that Clauddine had in fact fabricated the stories of her daughter’s illnesses in an attempt to keep her under her control. Dee Dee’s list of her daughter’s ailments in The Act included epilepsy, paraplegia, and cancer. The real-life Gypsy’s supposed illnesses were quite similar, including epilepsy, sleep apnea, and muscular dystrophy to name a few. Gypsy was also taught to act as though she had the brain development of a child, which was very accurately portrayed by Joey King in the first few episodes of The Act. It was believed that Clauddine suffered from Munchausen syndrome by proxy, which is a mental disorder in which a caregiver will create or be the cause of an illness or injury in the person under their care. Gypsy was sentenced to only ten years for conspiring to kill her mother.
If you would like to watch the official trailer for The Act or learn more about the twisted case behind the show, visit the links below for more information.
The Act Official Trailer