Comments on: More on the Dr. Phil Show Little Boy Lost – Sparks fly among guests

By: Rander

Rander — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:43:36 +0000

The mother quite clearly expressed that she wanted nothing to do with nicolosi or his approach to her son’s issues.
Anything that is disrespectful of her choices is in my view downright abusive. Nicolosi should have shut his gap, and just tried to get in a little blurb towards the end with a referral to a web site.
As far as Dr. Phil he has always been abusive. Why do we act surprised now?
Rander

By: Eddy

Eddy — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 20:40:31 +0000

It wasn’t as painful to watch as I thought it would be. I put the blame on Dr. Phil.
The mom thought she was there to talk about what it’s like to be the parent of a transgendered child; I think she came both wanting to speak for allowing a child to live transgendered and for personal support. She and the Dr. next to her seem like they came together to represent that option.
Nicolosi and his bud thought they were there to present their viewpoint. Polar opposites in viewpoint. Both trying to advance a way of looking at things. Neither side having much real exposure prior to this. So–anything she says that comes across as valid negates them. She clearly felt totally disrespected by them…finally had it! Not only did she not get a chance to say what she wanted to say but she took a bit of a bashing in the process. Given that she was frustrated enough to speak her annoyance on camera, I’ll surmise that one or two of her later statements might have been hyperbolic. Is it possible that she was a mom who felt her child was being attacked? That she had walked a long road before finally accepting her child’s ‘condition’…for lack of a better word. And she didn’t even get to explain how she saw it…and how she saw her child. (I saw ‘bristle’ in her a few times…made me think of a mama bear protecting her cub.)
Re Nicolosi…
Let’s just say I won’t be referring anyone in his direction. Maybe he comes across differently in a personal session, but this persona was over the top agressive.

By: Eddy

Eddy — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 20:03:45 +0000

Carole–
Excellent insights! Best ‘read’ of my day thus far.
Next time out for karaoke, “Only In America” by Jay and the Americans. “Only in America can a kid without a cent…get a break and grow up to be president”.

By: David Blakeslee

David Blakeslee — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:41:09 +0000

agreed Carole

By: carole

carole — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 06:00:00 +0000

This was very upsetting. Over on another thread, posters are discussing the state of the world’s economy and ruminating on vile commercialism and right here on Dr. Phil’s show that’s what we have– vile commercialism. The good doctor is selling human suffering and putting everyone in a boxing ring while millions, including us, pay to watch. Everyone comes out bloodied, including the viewer because we don’t learn anything.
Some thoughts:
Dr. Phil–the guiltiest of all. Seems that his people didn’t tell Toni exactly how her appearance would be structured if we can believe her. If they were dishonest with her, I assume they were also dishonest with Nicolosi and Stanton.
If she was not truthful when she said she didn’t know this is how the show would be set up, then Phil and his people are off the hook for that, but not for the obvious confrontational set up. Had Phil not wanted conflict, the guests would not have been placed on stage together, and they wouldn’t have been physically seated as they were–on opposite sides with Phil in between. Phil got what he wanted and what I assume many viewers enjoy–confrontation. He could have guided the discussion so that it would have been more civil; he took sides, but what the hey–he’s an entertainer, a denizen of Hollywood and keeping up those ratings to support his lifestyle is what it’s about.
I think I said before that this show is nothing more than a spruced-up Jerry Springer. I still believe that. It’s Jerry Springer for the middle class.
Toni–I like her even less after watching this clip than I did after watching the first clip. This is what she said: “This isn’t what I wanted to do…I thought I was coming here to discuss how my life fell apart after allowing my child to do something so that he wouldn’t hurt himself.”
My observation after watching the first clip was that this is a very self-centered woman. I said then it was all about her, not about her child, and this comment seems to reveal that sentiment again. She wanted to talk about herself: “how my life fell apart…” It’s all about her.
Then this comment: “As a matter of fact, I wasn’t attached to him at all!” This is the same thing she said in the first clip. She emphasizes it this time too. She never says, “I was as close to my son as any mother would be”. So…sounds to me like she wasn’t close to her son. I can’t imagine a mother saying this if it weren’t true. She says it in both clips; she stresses it each time.
Her manner, body language, her sarcasm–all of it– is off-putting, but if she felt ambushed, or if she was ambushed I can understand her manner. However, I cannot understand a mother saying what she said about not being close to her child.
So, she wasn’t close to her son and she came on Phil’s show to talk about herself. Just great. Some mother.
It is also clear that she knew that Nicolosi and Stanton had certain positions for she says that she “saw them on the last show.” I’ve no idea which show that is. Knowing that might help us understand why she agreed to come on in the first place, but even knowing that doesn’t obliterate her comment that she agreed to come on the show to discuss how her “life fell apart.”
Nicolosi–looks as if he must struggles to contain himself, as if he is struggling to be “reasonable, ” to modulate his voice and tone down the gestures; made some good points about how he wasn’t being allowed to give “their side” of things. Not having seem the whole clip, it’s hard to know what happened before this, but Nicolosi is hardly a calming influence or a benevolent appearing partisan for his position. One can see he moves easily to sarcasm–not a good thing for anyone, much less a therapist. Had I never heard of him nor seen him, I am sure I’d not have thought much of him–too defensive as if his position on this subject defines who he is rather than what he thinks.
Stanton–didn’t see or hear enough of him to come away with much. I didn’t like his nodding of his head as Toni spoke. It seemed as if he were acting rather than really listening to her.
The “parenting expert”–acted like Burgess Meredith in Rocky only I loved Burgess Meredith and really didn’t like this guy at all. Swollen head–“the expert.”
The studio audience–I would have preferred that they didn’t clap at all.
Us? –I’d like to think we watched for the right reasons, to learn something, but I think we suspected we wouldn’t. Forgive me, I shouldn’t speak for you. I suspected I wouldn’t learn anything. I didn’t. Had Phil set it up differently, things could have been different.