Trending True Crime: Gypsy Rose Blanchard

In 2015 Gypsy Rose Blanchard and her boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn were arrested and convicted of the murder of Gypsy’s mother, Deedee Blanchard. The 2017 documentary, Mommy Dead and Dearest tells the story of the abuse that Gypsy suffered at the hands of her mother and what ultimately led her to asking Nick to help her murder her mother. Gypsy served 8 years of her 10-year sentence in prison and was released in December las year.

With her release, parts of the documentary trended on video sharing platforms, such as Tiktok and Instagram. Scenes from the drama series The Act, starring Joey King as Gypsy, which was based on what happened, were also shared widely. True crime sleuths made their own videos detailing what happened, details about Gypsy’s life now and their own opinions about what happened back in 2015.

True crime stories have become widely popular over the past decade, fuelled by the speed with which we can now source and share information. Now with video sharing platforms even a six-year-old documentary can have a resurgence as clips are posted and the real-life developments about the people involved are scrutinised widely. However, seeing parts of interviews and scenes about such a complex murder case can be jarring and intense without much context, and it can also leave people wanting to know more.

Before seeking out the documentary and drama series to learn more check out the information below to keep yourself and your whānau safe. Everyone has their own line of what they like and what they like to avoid before pressing play, and what happened in both Gypsy’s life and the murder of her mother could be challenging for some viewers.

Mommy Dead and Dearest has been self-rated by Neon as M with a note for content that may disturb, cruelty, sexual references and violence. The documentary goes into detail about the psychological and physical abuse Gypsy suffered at the hands of her mother, how Gypsy asked her boyfriend (Nick) to murder Deedee resulting in Nick stabbing Deedee to death and references sexual violence. We’ve written a detailed breakdown of the type of difficult stuff in the documentary that means that Mature age rating is necessary. Viewers could find the documentary confronting or upsetting, especially if they have or know someone who has experienced similar struggles, such as family violence and sexual violence.

The Act has not been classified or released on a streaming service within Aotearoa and is not available at this current time. This means it does not have a New Zealand age rating, classification or content warnings. However, we would anticipate that the content of the drama series will be similar to the documentary and if viewers are able to watch it, they should expect challenging scenes and themes. For more information check out this review of “The Act” by The Guardian.

Helplines:

The violence, cruelty and sexual content could be upsetting for some viewers. If you are struggling with what you have seen on-screen please reach out for help. If you or someone you know needs to talk:

• Free call or text 1737 any time for support from a trained counsellor
• Lifeline

Further reading:

• Mommy Dead and Dearest breakdown
• The Act review – true crime drama tells a staggeringly disturbing story – The Guardian
• What we classify
• Watching scenes, episodes, films and Grey’s Anatomy on TikTok
• The true crime genre is popular, but is it ethical? (University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication)
• How to talk to teens without being cancelled - NZ Herald