Hulu’s The Act tells the fascinating story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy. For those unaware, Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSP) is a psychological disorder where a caregiver will act as though their victim is ill when in reality, they are perfectly healthy. Dee Dee, Gypsy’s mother, convinced her peers that her daughter had leukemia, epilepsy, asthma, learning disabilities and much more when in reality she had none of these things.
As the show states, the events on The Act are based on the true story of Gypsy Rose and her mother Dee Dee. Here are 9 things The Act leaves out from the true story as of episode 2.
9. Gypsy Didn’t Know Her Real Age Until She Was Nearly 20
On the show, viewers get a peek of Dee Dee convincing her peers that her daughter has the mental capacity of a 7-year-old. What The Act doesn’t tell us yet is that Dee Dee tried to convince Gypsy Rose that she was much younger than her actual age. This was done in an attempt to keep Gypsy under her control for a longer period of time.
When Gypsy finally turned 18, Dee Dee tried to convince everyone that she was actually 14. It wasn’t until Gypsy found papers saying she was born in 1991 that she realized her mother had been lying to her for all those years in regards to her actual age.
8. Dee Dee Has A History Of Poisoning Loved Ones
If you think Gypsy Rose was Dee Dee’s first victim of being poisoned, think again. Dee Dee was suspected of poisoning her own stepmother with Roundup weed killer when she was much younger.
Her stepmother, Laura, was then bedridden for nine whole months after she was poisoned. Perhaps Dee Dee had attempted to be Laura’s caregiver as well. The thought is chilling…
7. Dee Dee Is Suspected Of Killing Her Biological Mother
This just keeps getting darker, doesn’t it? According to family members of the woman, Dee Dee had allegedly starved her own mother to death.
After Dee Dee was murdered, her own father and stepmother claimed that she “got what she deserved” and that the entire family considered her to be a “Bad seed”.
6. Gypsy Rose Strongly Identifies With The Movie Tangled
Tangled (2010) retells the story of Rapunzel who was trapped and isolated by her mother for nearly two decades. Gypsy Rose always felt a strong connection to the Disney film.
The parallels between Rapunzel’s relationship with her mother and Gypsy’s relationship with Dee Dee are staggering, so it is no wonder she felt such a connection with the movie.
5. Gypsy Rose Is “Thriving” In Jail
The victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy feels as though being locked up in prison is much more freeing than all the years she had spent living with her mother.
According to Blanchard, she feels as though she has been reborn since entering prison. She finally gets to experience a “normal” life now, without the tight grip of her mother’s endless control.
4. Gypsy Was Lied To About Her Father’s Intentions
As we know from The Act, Gypsy believes her father, Rod, was a deadbeat dad. From the scene where she confides in Lacey about her father’s neglectful behavior, we as viewers are led to shake our heads at the thought of her careless biological dad. This is just one of the many lies told by Gypsy’s mother. Dee Dee tried to convince Gypsy that Rod wanted nothing to do with her when in reality he was constantly trying to be involved in his daughter’s life.
He would send a check to Dee Dee every month in child support, sent his daughter many expensive gifts, and tried calling a handful of times. Yet because Dee Dee had full custody of Gypsy, (and because his ex-wife was a master manipulator who would do anything to keep her daughter all to herself), Rodd never got the chance to get to know his own child.
3. Gypsy And Her Father Now Have A Close Relationship
Although Ron Blanchard and Gypsy Blanchard were not able to communicate for decades, they now talk regularly over the phone and through email while Gypsy serves her sentence in prison.
According to Gypsy, she never blamed her father for anything even though he blamed himself for not being able to protect her after all those years.
2. Gypsy Believed That A Motorcycle Accident Had Caused Her To Be Wheelchair-Bound
When Gypsy was eight-years-old, she had been involved in a minor motorcycle accident. The result was a scraped knee, but her mother led Gypsy to believe that matters were much worse and thus she needed to be wheelchair-bound.
1. Gypsy’s Confusion With Fantasy And Reality Helped Lead To Her Mother’s Death
As we know from The Act, Gypsy is obsessed with Disney princesses and fairy tales with happy endings. According to the HBO Documentary on Gypsy Rose’s story, Mommy Dead And Dearest, Gypsy desperately wanted her life to be like a fairy tale with the perfect ending.
That perfect ending, in Gypsy’s mind, would require the villain to die off in the end so that she could live happily ever after. The villain, a.k.a Dee Dee had to be killed in Gypsy’s mind, in order to follow the proper fairytale formula. Ultimately, as we know, that is exactly what ended up happening after Dee Dee was stabbed to death by Gypsy’s order.
Obviously, there is a lot to unpack when it comes to the upbringing of Gypsy Rose Blanchard. To follow her story, watch The Act on Hulu.
