Maybe her foods were controlled, or used as a reward and taken it away as a punishment? To me, it sounds like there were snacks, (popcorn, potato chips at home), things that she liked but only permitted to have when she was “good”?
The parents were telling her now you’ll not be able to have any because you’re not coming home with us because you’re going to jail.
Maybe the popcorn was merely meant to represent normalcy and "before jail"? Again, I'm appalled the more we look at this, the more it seemed like the parents were doing LE's interrogative job putting pressure on Skylar; but then again, I suppose this is why LE tapes chats with the parents.
I'm also not particularly enamored with the fact that Skylar's father greeted the fact that the police wanted to meet with her, by calling her up on the cell and growling "Get over here, now." (They're pretty consistent that those are the words he used; this may even be a quote direct from he himself.) I myself added the "growling" as a bit of editorializing, though one could quite easily say "barking", because from the very context we know it wasn't "gently, evenly, or measuredly", because there's really only one way to say those words - the "boy, are you in trouble now" inflection.
While understandable and I'm sure many overwhelmed fathers would have responded in the same manner, I don't love it in the overall scheme of reactions.
We all bring our own history to how we view these cases. Eating disorders have popped up in several lines of my husbands family...always starting in late adolescence...as many mental disorders do. It almost seems genetic since the family structures are not similar.
I’d like to offer a different perspective.
My sister-in-law was her families youngest and the favorite, no doubt...she even mischievously admits to that. Her Mother and Father thought she walked on water. Her issues caused her periods to stop, caused hair loss...and terrified all who loved her. The “cause” seemed to be bullying at school...though she was never really overweight, pretty and smart. My in-laws even moved for her sake...but through different schools and college, the disorder still continued, despite medical intervention. Eventually, she adopted extreme exercise and began eating somewhat healthier.
Two other cousins have followed in the same track. In one family, the laidback parents produced a daughter, not just pretty but beautiful, not just smart but brilliant. Things came very easy for this girl. As she got older, she seemed to impose on herself the need to always be THE BEST...if anything the parents tried to reassure her she was wonderful just as she was. This one honestly was driven by something in herself.
She is an MD today having gone through some of the most prestigious programs. She still comes to family dinners but doesn’t eat...and exercises also to extremes.
These parents became “watchers”...”controllers” but after the fact. Living with someone with this disorder produces its own side effects on others in the family. Watching someone destroy their health daily, dealing with constant lies and deception...is a hell of its own.
Yes, sometimes, controlling families cause this...but in some cases, the control comes AFTER. “Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?” Is there an emphasis on weight...how can there not be...when food is part of the “medicine.” Do we hound love ones to take their medicine when they refuse to? I watched this in this family...for those who live it...I have compassion for their heartbreak and frustration. Ask yourself, what would you do?
How do you “monitor” eating and purging without it being “control?”
In some cases, the child with the eating disorder realizes it is a weapon to control the family. They punish by refusing to eat or starting to purge, if denied their own way. I saw this in two of these families. Refusing to eat becomes a teenage power trip. “Why aren’t you eating?” “Because you won’t buy me the designer purse my friends have! I’m too upset.”
Maybe that’s why I see manipulation and react with dislike and disgust. Thank God I was spared the nightmare of this disorder on a child!
The Mother “sins” whether true or not, are being used in the trial by the prosecution as George Anthony’s “sins” were used in Casey’s trial to provide a narrative.
I will be very interested in her testimony.
I had a friend and roommate who joined Weight Watchers. This was an insane decision, IMO (the girl wore many pairs of shorts, miniskirts, etc. - I knew she wasn't fat); and we were indeed worried about said friend, because largely it seemed like she was trying to diet away "her father's barrel chest", i.e. "ribs" (we knew the family also).
After a while, we heard very little about the Weight Watchers gambit, but several years later she embarked upon marathoning with her husband (no offense to marathoners intended, but I call that "extreme exercise").
Now, if she had merely been worried about her general overall health and then took up marathoning, I wouldn't have said a word. At one point during the Weight Watchers gambit, she also assured us "there are girls in the meeting smaller than me", which similarly alarmed me and the other roommates on the behalf of everyone represented in this story; especially since I am sturdy, and the other gal was unquestionably plus-sized.
It is an insidious message we are giving the world, and each other. I don't really know the answer.
