Photo courtesy: People Magazine
The Internet is currently buzzing about the recent prison release of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, a Missouri woman who pleaded guilty for the second-degree murder of her mother Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard alongside her online boyfriend back in 2015.
The terminally ill girl the world had grown to love was a fabricated story made up by her mother, who had a disease called Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a psychological disorder in which parents or caregivers seek sympathy through the exaggerated or made-up illnesses of their children.
Blanchard was forced to stay in a wheelchair, relying on feeding tubes by the hands of her mother.
Blanchard’s release has been breaking news over multiple media outlets, getting most of the country’s attention. Even with Blanchard’s unique criminal case, it seems like students can’t get enough of this story.
Jabrea Ali, a criminal justice major at FAMU shares how this case caught her eye.
“Her social media presence was what brought the case to my attention,” Ali said.
Blanchard was granted parole after completing 85 percent of her original sentence of 10 years. Since her release, Blanchard has made a lot of public appearances with different media platforms like Good Morning America and Lifetime.
There are many debates going around saying Blanchard manipulated her then boyfriend, Nicolas Godejohn into murdering her mother.
Ali believes that this is not the case.
“When it comes to parents who manipulate and imprison their children in some way it is always easy to think that the child could have gone about escaping their parents another way,” Ali said. “The psychological trauma this is endured can have many effects and the outcome of this case is seen many times throughout abuse cases.”
Jacob Hernandez, a mechanical engineering major believes that Blanchard served an appropriate amount of time in prison.
“I think she did her time and hopefully she can just live her life now and learn herself better,” Hernandez said.
Due to her mother’s disease, Blanchard claimed in a podcast interview that fate was either going to choose herself or her mother, and Blanchard made that final decision.
Marley Pinto, a third-year pre-med student, shares how Munchausen syndrome by proxy makes this case morally complicated.
“I never think it’s right to murder someone, but I see where she was coming from, yes she could have gone to the police, but I see her thought process,” Pinto said.
With her mother forcing her to stay in a wheelchair, using a feeding tube and taking multiple medications, Blanchard was right in the middle of a life-threatening situation and wanted out.
“Her mom having Munchausen syndrome by proxy is very unfortunate because it is such a complex psychological disorder making Gypsy fell victim to it,” Pinto said. “In my eyes, Gypsy is a victim regardless of the circumstances.”