mamadrama

I WISH I'd had all of mine filmed. At the time I was like "ugh" but a decade later I've forgotten a lot of what happened. Ari knew they'd be filming her delivery when she signed up for the show. I thought the birth scenes that the show has filmed so far (Olga, Emily, Karine, etc) have been very respectful and tastefully done. I've been happy to see that they don't shy away from topics that are still not that talked about in public-miscarriages, emergency deliveries, etc.

Yes, that was the good thing. The worst part, other than the embarassment, is that a child was involved.

Yeah, I know we're not meant to victim blame but some of her choices were very poor-like pulling her kid out of school and quitting her job before she'd even seen the house in Barcelona.

Those attitudes, and others, are why I don't belong to any online mommy or parenting groups. I don't like them either.

It was definitely about Bonnie. It was the exact same story she told in The Vow, right down to the same word choice.

I was like that with my vaginal deliveries... I'm kinda like that now and my oldest is 13. It DOES happen with c-sections, but it also happens with vaginal deliveries. It happens with medicated ones and with natural ones. It happens with first babies and with second, third, and fourths. It happens. Everyone is different. The problem is with Bibi's ignorance in thinking that it's factual that it always happens with c-sections.

Considering what's happening IRL with some of these couples (*cough* Deavan) I have zero shits to give about their storylines.

I don't get it, either. It's a little like the Fyre Festival. What did they think people would do when they showed up and had no villa? No activities? No 5* dining? Maybe Paolo was so delusional he literally thought things would magically come together at the end. If he planned on breaking up with her a week before the wedding. This was a weird one.

Well, I mean, we can't ALL be judo champions at 11... 🙄

Yes! They have occasionally referenced some of the things that Mark had problems with, but Keith was doing/saying bad and weird shit from the very beginning and Mark was right there. Filming it. I think that is also what happens when, as a documentarian, you're so close to your subject (or give them a lot of control). Mark supported a man who gaslit his wife into licking a puddle and called her "ugly" because she refused to faceplant a tree.

I think this situation is complicated. IMO Sarah, Mark, Nippy, and Bonnie (to an extent) are definitely victims. They were also at fault and part of the problem. I don't really find it to be an either/or thing here. That's what it sounded like to me-they scored a convo with Keith AND apparently with Nancy.

I can't believe that they'd basically done nothing to prepare for a baby and we're waiting on Mama to bring everything. A baby is technically due at 40 weeks, but they're full term at 38 and can come even before then. Dummies.

That's not really what I meant... My problem is that I can't compartmentalize what we've seen on this series with what else is out there. Having listened to the various podcasts, interviews, etc and listening to Mark and Sarah speak over the course of the past year it DOES feel like they're still defending a good portion of NXIVM and what happened. Mark often tries to come across as a good guy doing good things who just happened to get caught up in "evil" (especially in this last episode). This series has put a lot of emphasis on DOS, especially the branding, while glossing over a lot of the other stuff: money laundering, underage sex trafficking, identity theft, Keith's crazy views on pedophilia.... Yes, they spent a little time on SOP, but even that came later in the series. After watching SEDUCED I have a better understanding of JNESS in one episode than I did in 9 episodes of this. And Sarah, Mark, and Bonnie have spoken positively in hindsight at times. The biggest portion of this series HAS focused on the evils of DOS. Meanwhile, there were a dozen other programs under the NXIVM umbrella that were screwy in their own way (like the school/daycare center). It's not surprising. Since this series focused on just a handful of people it's natural they'd only discuss the things that they were a part of. The 3 of them are only 3 years out. This series probably started filming 9 months ago. IMO they're still too raw to have full perspectives on what went on. As Nippy said, their psyches are probably still enmeshed. India has been out for even less time and I think the same thing about her. The difference is that her series isn't being completely run by filmmakers who were an actual part of NXIVM.

I know a lot of people who think this, or think that if you're not delivering natural that you can't feel your delivery and can't bond. I was medicated up the wazoo (literally) and I still felt shit. I think being medicated helped me enjoy the process. Bottom line, there are incentives and drawbacks to everything. People need to just let people do themselves. Bini seems sweet but a little...dumb? Lol. Or something.

Throughout this whole thing they've talked about being "brave" and how they were the first. Only, they weren't the first. That would be the NXIVM 9-the poor women who left in 2009 and we're harassed by members (aka Mark) for the next several years. And Toni Natalie. And Barbara Bouchey...