Hillbilly psychologist "Dr. Phil," scored ratings by getting wacko Shelley Duvall to expose her paranoid delusions on national TV.
In the "teaser" leading up to Friday's broadcast, CBS ran clips of Duvall muttering that Robin Williams isn't really dead, and that she's being stalked by The Sheriff of Nottingham. There was this LURID graphic used in the ads:
This led the daughter of sadistic director Stanley Kubrick to insist on a boycott of the show:
"“You are putting Shelley Duvall ‘on show’ while she is suffering from a
pitiable state of ill health. Unquestionably, this is purely a form of
lurid and exploitive entertainment — it’s appallingly cruel … I recoil
in complete disgust. I hope others will join me in boycotting your
utterly heartless form of entertainment, because it has nothing to do
with compassionate healing.”
Stanley Kubrick, it's been widely reported (including by Duvall herself) was incredibly obnoxious and dangerously nasty during the filming of "The Shining." In this, the most notable film of Duvall's career (er, playing Olive Oyl in the Robert Altman bomb "Popeye" is the other), Kubrick insisted upon take-after-take. While Jack Nicholson watched in REAL horror, Kubrick abused Duvall over and over in scene after scene, till he got what he wanted, which was a woman visibly on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
Now? After the show was aired? Kubrick's boycott-minded daughter apparently saw it and decided to play Dr. Phil herself. Dr. Phil didn't do much, did he? Daughter of Kubrick can do more. How? Oh, sit back and let the good-hearted saps toss their money into the GoFundMe pot. Raise money that will go to somebody or other who somehow speaks for Shelley Duvall's interests. Her mother. Her boyfriend. Somebody who hasn't been doing such a good job so far.
The "Dr. Phil" show was impossible to watch. If you have any sensitivity about mental health issues, you could take only so much of Duvall's clueless delusional ravings. Dr. Phil made sure to bait her with grim, pointed questions like, "Do you have a recorder implanted in your body?"
With Dr. Phil asking for any and all lurid details of her physical pains, Duvall said that she was bitten by a hornet on the vertebrae, and she doesn't sleep well, and that strangers were out to murder her.
It reminded me of listening to a drunk in blackout mode. Nothing made sense but was spoken as if it was all real. "Get the Bermuda Triangle off me," Shelley said, "I don't want to have a hair chest. I'm not a Chia pet." Later she began to complain about her nipples, but fortunately Dr. Phil changed the subject.
You expected Dr. Phil to stop the pre-recorded interview segments to explain how this woman descended into madness, or how one treats paranoid delusional people. Nope. The times when he stopped the tape, he merely went into Psych 101 babble, by pointing to a projection screen and noting how Duvall repeated certain phrases. He circled a chart full of words to point out what we already saw, which is that Duvall could jump from topic to topic with no reason. But why, Dr. Phil? And what are YOU gonna do about it?
I had to fast-forward through the 40 minutes of Duvall's nightmare responses, all delivered with bug-eyed zeal and conviction. It was bad enough seeing how this weirdly attractive woman had become a pudgy and worn out, without knowing her brain was no longer wired right.
Ultimately, Duvall broke down in tears, declared she was sick, and agreed to get free treatment as long as Dr. Phil promised "not to murder" her. Another segment had invasive cameras recording her as, scared and confused, she was hustled into a limo and being driven in the dead of night to a sanitarium.
The pay-off? Dr. Phil drawled that Shelley left the therapy center after three days, refusing medication and insisting on going home to Texas (where the rent is cheap and it's often hard to tell who ISN'T crazy). He said she was getting care, and her "boyfriend and family" were helping her (even though none had appeared on camera).
Enter, Kubrick. How she knows the status of Duvall's bank account, I have no idea. Why she thinks throwing a check to unknown people is a good idea, I also don't know. She just took it upon herself to do the simplest, flashiest thing possible: go online and play the GOFUNDME game. Has anyone heard of this woman before she began bitching about boycotting Phil McGraw's show?
At 67, Duvall is on Medicare. It's a safe bet Dr. Phil's show paid Duvall to make the appearance. The show most certainly paid for her sanitarium stay, and Dr. Phil pointedly said he would provide FREE therapy for her.
So as this internet windfall climbs up from $20,000 to the goal of $100,000, who the fuck is going to administer it properly? Kubrick doesn't say. Yes, a typical GoFundMe campaign. I've seen people, even ones with good intentions, happily squander hundreds of thousands of dollars when they were put in charge of a charity project.
But let's not think of that, let's think of how GOOD it feels to DONATE. Why, Bill Hoobastank might want to contribute 2001 PENNIES. He won't spend more than that, since he saves the big bucks to get his autographs and travel to graveyards. Other Kubrick fans might toss more into the pot. Fans who love to get the better of stars, can smile and think, "It's a good thing I've spent my life as a sewer worker, and got a pension. Now I can toss some money at one of those fools who dared to live a dream." And there are all the good souls who say "Have a blessed day" to you (if you're White) and who donate so that Jesus will notice and absolve them when they cheat on the spouse.
Kubrick dangles that final piece of bait: that Duvall, who no longer looks or acts like herself, will somehow return to acting and ENTERTAIN US. That will be the reward for tossing an arbitrary $100,000 at a mental incompetent who might not see any of that money. Alcoholics and paranoids can indeed simply refuse treatment and unless they are violent, can't be compelled to enter an institution or take medication.
Shine On You Crazy Duvall, some people want to make money off you.
