Teen Mom Recap: Farrah’s Still a Horrible Person

59 Comments

1. 1
   Andyourlittledogtoo
   Posted July 12, 2012 at 1:21 am

   My take on Farrah’s family (no proof, just my take on it): Debra inherited money and Michael married into that, giving Debra more power in the relationship. We know money seems to be no issue for them and Debra seems to be the one who holds those pursestrings and I have no idea what Michael does but he seems to be very laid back and not a go-getter in his own right. Anyway, there’s that IMO. Then Debra is a drunk. Again, I have no proof of this other than what I see on my TV but I’d lay odds on that being the case. Also, Debra is batshit, which again, see TV. So, foundation laid.

   Now, and I say this based on no proof whatsover, but it has bugged me for a long time here: the power dymamics between child and parents in this family are completely effed up. Farrah is completely filled with rage and has way more power in the relationship than is remotely normal. My suspicion is abuse that has filled Farrah with rage and completely upended her relationship with both of her parents. And now that she is older she the balance shifts and she holds power over them in that she can expose them and they know it so they put up with behavior that no one would ever put up with ever. She can say and do anything to them and they just have to take it because she can turn on them and that is a worse outcome for them than being treated like trash and publicly humiliated on national television as weak and ill used parents every week. Again, Farrah isn’t just a miserable person, she is a completely enraged person, and that rage is primarily directed at her parents. She cannot establish and maintain anything like normal relationships with other people either, which again speaks to a deep psychological damage somewhere. She is truly awful, but that didn’t spring out of nowhere. She needs serious therapy and a complete split from her parents IMO if she is to have any chance of changing and developing into a normal person with satisfying relationships with other humans on this planet. So….that’s my theory. YMMV.

   Maci is such a dipshit. Again, same person that drove Ryan nuts in the 16+P episode (and he had his faults, no lie) but she is impossible as a girlfriend and as a person. And I am beyond tired of her trying to upset Bentley all the time. She is supposed to help him grow and adapt to changing circumstances, not try to get him upset to stroke her own ego about how important she is to him. That is seriously efffed up.

   Still love Leah. Man, I wish that baby had somewhere else to go that was safe and secure and loving. I don’t doubt that they all love her but they are just so incapable of raising her without hurting her in some way that it scares me. Not physically necessarily but definitely psychological damage. And now mama’s in prison, that’s not going to help matters. Poor beautiful baby.

   Don’t even get me started on Farrah’s dog. I can’t even, I get too enraged.

   Great recap.

2. 2
   Andyourlittledogtoo
   Posted July 12, 2012 at 2:46 am

   And I’ll say this: Farrah is tragically damaged and just terrible to deal with and watch. But I also see her trying very hard to have a real relationship with her daughter and really be a good mother. She takes her places, she talks to her for real, she reads to her, she encourages her to relate to the world – she is flawed but I truly think she is doing her best as she knows how. Debra is like an octopus, you pull one arm off and seven more wrap around you, she has no boundaries and is totally enmeshed in Farrah’s life and now is doing the same with Sophia. She is not a normal grandparent and I don’t care if she was there for the early days of Sophia’s life, she does not have a healthy attitude toward that child and does want ‘Baby’ to be hers and hers alone. She would love nothing so much as to have Farrah go off and leave Sophia with her as her ‘Baby’. That woman is the worst kind of mother to have to deal with. I think nothing less than a brick wall falling on her would get through to her and that is adding to Farrah’s stank attitude toward dealing with her. Subtle doesn’t even make a dent in the boundary-challenged Debra. Farrah could handle it better but remember she has been raised by this octopus and has been shaped by her dealings with her.

   Compare her with Maci. Maci has everything. She has a supportive family, an involved baby’s father, supportive and welcoming baby’s father family, an involved and supportive boyfriend, and apparently the money to pretty much not worry every second where the rent’s coming from. Bentley is a healthy active articulate little boy who wants to interact with the rest of the word. And Maci, the dipshit, cannot appreciate this and keeps trying to keep Bentley from other people and activities that will help him grow and enrich his life. And she seems to do this because he is her validation for living — ‘won’t you miss mama? You don’t want to go to the beach do you, you’ll miss mama? You don’t want to see daddy do you? You don’t want to go to the scary day care do you Bentley? How will you ever survive if you are away from MEEEEEEEEEEE?’ She is so selfish and lazy. I can’t stand her.

   Amber apparently comes from an abusive and impoverished home and has all the fallout that sometimes comes from that upbringing. But Amber’s is the usual ho-hum everyday fallout that you see a thousand times a day from that. Drugs, anger issues, rootlessness, legal problems. You could write it yourself. That doesn’t mean she had to be that way, but her issues are regular issues you see all the time.

   Farrah’s issues are much more unusual and I do believe it is because Farrah’s upbringing was ten times more toxic and damaging for all their financial well-being. Farrah was raised by some seriously disturbed people and not disturbed in the way Amber’s family or Catelynn and Tyler’s family is/was. Farrah’s family is on the far end of the disturbed bell curve. And that is why I give her credit for her attempts to pull away and raise Sophia as best as she can even though she does have her problems too. Her attitude toward everyone on the planet sucks, but her attitude toward Sophia is very loving if immature at times.

   They always say we practice on our firstborn and make most of our mistakes with them. The next children usually fare better from the extra experience. That’s true of everyone (although not everybody gets it right the next time, good parents still don’t have it ‘down’ the first time around even if they are completely ready and prepared). Seriously, I’ll bet any parent on here can tell you five idiotic things they did with their firstborn that makes them cringe today and wonder how they managed to get them successfully to age five. But Farrah’s instincts seem to be mostly pretty good and her intentions seem to be pretty good. She screws up, but so do we all. Getting her away from her mother and her enmeshed octopus drunken craziness is probably one of the best things she could do for Sophia. Grandma is someone to be visited occasionally and with supervision IMO. I’m not sure about Michael.

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   melli
   Posted July 12, 2012 at 4:27 am

   I don’t think Farrah was abused or anything. Farrah has said before in interviews that Debra being the overprotective and obsessed mother that she is that Farrah’s led a very sheltered and spoiled life. There are people who have suffered terrible abuse and have grown up to be stable, healthy individuals. There are people who have had relatively normal upbringings and have turned into violent sociopaths or have committed other such atrocities. In the end, what matters is not just the experiences you have at a young age, but how you are programmed by your genetics to deal with them. Farrah is just a case of bad genetics clearly inherited from Debra’s side of the family. Sophia is another example of nature vs nurture.

   Also, I don’t think Debra inherited her money. I mean she has an MBA after all.

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   April
   Posted July 12, 2012 at 4:56 am

   I am pissed. Everytime I try to watch this on MTV.com it says video not available. WTF!?

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   Andyourlittledogtoo
   Posted July 12, 2012 at 5:03 am

   If you have DirectTV it may not be viewable right now because they are in a dispute with Viacom. I’m not sure if today was D-Day but it was all over the news today so it may be you are cut off as of today. And so DirectTV is telling viewers to go view the shows online, and Viacom is taking the shows off their free online sites in retaliation… It’s a whole thing.

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   April
   Posted July 12, 2012 at 5:14 am

   I think we would get along in real life, haha. I have a husband who is like a big child too when it comes to cleaning up. He still leaves his clothes in the middle of the floor. Plus you are a snarky momma like myself.

   I honestly don’t blame Amber for beating that jerkface. God, he is so much worse than she is and that is saying a lot since Amber is a pretty messed up individual. Free Leah!

   You nailed it on Maci raising Bentley to be so dependent on her. It is like if I act like I can’t let Bentley leave my side everyone will see what a good and devoted mother I am!!!! When really a good mother knows you have to learn to let your child go and spread their wings and spend time with other people.

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   Moli
   Posted July 12, 2012 at 5:25 am

   Leah is such a beautiful child, and the crazy thing is she looks JUST LIKE her parents. I just have no words for the insufferable Farrah, while I can say she is a good Mom she is not a good person. Love Sophia HATE the pacifier at the age of 2. Macy is simply a mess, but I have no fears for Bentley. The support system surround that little boy is amazing, he has so much love surrounding him. How in the world can you say anything mean about Cate and Tyler? I can only go as far as her hair style and even then I sometimes feel a tad guilty. We now know how these two became so amazing(in TeenMom/dysfunctional family way), Cate GrandMom and Tyler Mom appear to be wonderful level headed individuals.

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   bellabac
   Posted July 12, 2012 at 6:29 am

   my sister lost her husband @ 17 & pregnant! So Farrah u cant blame the world for life!things happen! Dnt b so disgruntled! Must b nice to move 2 florida and a month later come home! Not all can do that! And quit talking to sophia abt the bills , not her problem! maci, ur still in love with Ryan! Let that go! Quit hovering over Bently, he is just fine! amber&Gary!! Poor Leah! Dr.drew needs 2 be real with these woman & quit bqbying them!

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   Karen
   Posted July 12, 2012 at 6:51 am

   Farrah is a Bitch..end of story. Seriously she needs to pull her head outta her ass and realize that SHE can make changes to make her life better! Stop living in the past and using that as a crutch to be miserable. Every family has issues, maybe her mom did abuse her, or maybe she was a drunk…either way Farrah needs to either forgive and forget, or walk the hell out & stay away!!! If not Sophia is going to be exactly like her!! A selfish, ungrateful, evil, bitter, immature little Biatch!

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    Andyourlittledogtoo
    Posted July 12, 2012 at 7:01 am

    I didn’t say Farrah was a good person or that she didn’t have a responsibility to get herself together. I said that she was trying to be a good mother as far as she knows how and that I think there is some very serious disturbed shit that went down in that family that has caused her to be the way we see her now. That is not your everyday dysfunctional family dynamic right there, that is far end of the bell curve disturbed and it shows all over Farrah. That girl has some serious damage.

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    Sugarbush
    Posted July 12, 2012 at 7:33 am

    I totally get what you’re saying, AYLDT. I just have a really hard time having sympathy for Farrah like I do Amber. Amber is seriously screwed up, too, but she’s making an effort to better herself (not a successful one, but she IS trying) and isn’t always blaming everyone else. Farrah, unfortunately, is in a co-dependent relationship with her parents. I think that whole family needs to go their separate ways if anyone wants to get better. They’re all bad for each other and if she wants any hope for her daughter, she needs to keep her away from her mom. Michael seems OK as far as I can see, but Debra needs to take a long walk off a short pier and take Farrah with her.

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    BedHeadJen
    Posted July 12, 2012 at 8:40 am

    I think Farrah is so dismissive when they arrive at the airport because she is jealous of the attention that is showered on Sophia. I thought the same thing when Debra redecorated Farrah’s room for Sophia, and Farrah decided that Sophia would be going to Florida. Debra’s obsession with all things Farrah even extends to her Farrah Fawcett haircut. It is just a matter of time before she is rockin’ the Sophia Petrillo.

    Sugarbush, I tip Gary’s stupid hat to your perfect recaps. Douche Bigalow made my day.

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    Laurenb52
    Posted July 12, 2012 at 9:18 am

    I agree w AYLDT, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that there was some long term abuse (physical or emotional) in Farrah’s family. At first I thought she was just a snotty disrespectful teen but as the years have passed and the vitriol between Farrah and her fam has gotten worse I feel like all that aggression can’t have come from nowhere.

    Also, I saw a sneak peak for next week and Farrah’s sister let’s loose on Deborah, telling her that she’s the reason Farrah and her have messed up lives. Two kids can’t have come to that conclusion based on nothing. Who knows though?

    Maci has become awful. I don’t care that she still has feelings for her child’s father or that she is kind of lazy with her school work, there are much worse offenses, but she is extremely manipulative and thats the thing about her I can’t stand. Particularly since she’s trying to manipulate her child into being dependent on her and then uses him as an excuse for her failures. I don’t think it makes her a bad mom per se, just one who’s making mistakes with her first child, but I sure hope for bentley’s sake she watches these shows and stops what she’s doing before it affects Bentley negatively. If not he will probably have some problems later on or end up seriously resenting her

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    KRB
    Posted July 12, 2012 at 9:52 am

    I have got the feeling that maybe Michael sexually abused Farrah? That may be way off, just the way that she acts towards him, and her mom for possibly staying with him.She has never wanted to be in the same house as them and she is always really big on separation. She doesn’t seem to act normal towards the guys that she dates, maybe that’s why she seem to be pretty good with Sophia and not with everyone else? This is purely speculation, just my thoughts.

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    April
    Posted July 12, 2012 at 3:12 pm

    Maci is going to be one hell of an awful mother in law someday when Bentley is all grown up and in love with a girl.

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    Andyourlittledogtoo
    Posted July 12, 2012 at 3:31 pm

    @KRB – yeah, that’s my suspicion too, but I hate saying it because it’s so huge and I have no proof. But Farrah’s behavior is so classic in that regard and the power dynamics in the household are off in such a completely textbook way that it’s hard not to think so. She isn’t just a spoiled girl, she’s a ruined girl.
    You know? That doesn’t get her off the hook for her own behavior, just like it doesn’t get a criminal off the hook for his crimes if he had a terrible childhood that shaped him, but she is young and with help she can turn herself around and improve and start relating more normally to the rest of the universe. I don’t think there’s hope for her and her parents, I think she needs to be away from them frankly, but she has a shot she’s only nineteen. She just needs to get some help and some insight and really try. Hopefully she will. Meanwhile she does seem to be trying to be a good mom even if she does make some mistakes that make you hold your breath. I don’t buy the ‘oh the poor grandparents, they just miss Baby, they are just trying to help’ theory at all. I realize that would be the normal view with more normal parents, but Debra and Michael are not normal parents and I don’t think we can trust Debra at all.

    Sure, not everyone with a bad childhood is bad and not everyone with a good childhood turns out well. But there are some kinds of abuse that just overwhelm you to the point that it affects your personality and I think that this is what we are seeing here with Farrah. Amber, Cate, and Tyler seem to have had the more normal run of the mill rotten childhoods. I think Farrah’s life has been much more enmeshed in insidious psychological games and betrayals, and that affects you much more deeply. Still. Stank attitude. Needs to change it, definitely.

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    S-Natch
    Posted July 12, 2012 at 4:46 pm

    Sorry, not buying the Michael is an abuser angle. Deborah chopped his balls off long ago and is now using them as a doorstop in one of her rental houses. I think the “abuse” here is neglect. Farah learned long ago that the only way to get Michael’s and Deborah’s heads out of their asses was to yell and scream. I also think Deborah is a very driven woman who expected her girls to be just like her – and still does. Farah disrespects Michael because he has never been allowed to be “dad” so it wouldn’t hurt half sissy’s wittle feewings. If you watch, the very things that people claim make Farah a loving mother (and I do not disagree) are the same behaviors displayed by Deborah toward Sophia, so they are learned behaviors on Farah’s part, not her overcoming some kind of physical or sexual abuse.

    IMHO

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    begonia skies
    Posted July 12, 2012 at 5:40 pm

    i agree s-natch. michael couldn’t control or dominate shit. farrah has no respect for him because he never stood up to deborah. i’m sorry but making someone’s biological daughter call her father “michael” rather than “dad” because he wasn’t your other daughters biological father and you didn’t want them to call him different names is crazy!

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    Classy Drunk
    Posted July 12, 2012 at 5:44 pm

    Farrah is just a brat. I get being irritated with your mom. Lord know I get it, but not everything Deborah does is irritating. She whines and cries about everything. How do you get irritated trying to ask your parents to pick you up from the airport?

    Maci is focused on being a wife. She has no desire to finish school.

    Poor cute little Leah.

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    April
    Posted July 12, 2012 at 7:12 pm

    I also am not sure about the abuse thing. I think Michael seems like a nice guy who just like someone else says has zero balls. You can tell her just does whatever the women tell him too.

    Debra is a bitch, but I don’t know about abusive either. I think in their way they do love Farrah and Sophia and want to be good to them. Sometimes they seem to try really hard to get along with her and Farrah won’t have it for whatever reason. I don’t know if abuse is that reason though. My parents did not abuse me and I have a lot of issues with them that are not a real problem but are still there. Just like that I was expected to be perfect as the only child and I was pretty darn perfect yet they still and still to this day found/find things to criticize me about. Or just other things. None are abusive, but don’t mean it won’t cause some resentment or angst or short temperness.

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    Chicken Lips
    Posted July 12, 2012 at 9:43 pm

    “Gawd MYKULL, I know I can raise my daughter better than you raised your daughter because your daughter is a rip roaring bitch to the point where men have to bring holy water, galic and wooden stakes whenever they are within 50 inches of her.” – Farrah three seconds because I kicked her in the head after a traumatic head injury that made her honestly self aware.

    “Gawd Mom, stop trying to compliment me by telling me that I act older than I am even though both you and I know that I act like a spoiled rotten 10 year old. Why do you even try to make me act human?” – Farrah after a traumatic head injury (perhaps from a kick to the head) that made her honestly self aware

    Granted, her parents should know better than to talk to that little rhino anus, but not everything that comes out of their mouth is nagging. I can’t wait until Sohia needs help with homework “Gawd Sophia, stop nagging me about helping you with your homework – I’m really busy working hard and ‘earning’ everything I wanted!” Mother of the year

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    Chicken Lips
    Posted July 12, 2012 at 9:48 pm

    Hmmm…huge proofreader error! Let’s try this again: “Gawd MYKULL, I know I can raise my daughter better than you raised your daughter because your daughter is a rip roaring bitch to the point where men have to bring holy water, galic and wooden stakes whenever they are within 50 inches of her.” – Farrah three seconds after I kicked her in the head and caused a traumatic head injury that made her honestly self aware

    Oh and to Maci – Yeah, you need to break your kid of the habit of being a leech. You don’t want him to grow up to be the type of person that takes a vacation at the exact same time and the exact same place as his baby mama and her family when it is her time with the kid so that Bentley can still see his kid every day. That’s just crazy and something only a leech would do – you need to break that shit like 5 minutes ago.

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    Bronwen
    Posted July 12, 2012 at 10:00 pm

    There is likely something to the theory of Debra being abusive. Don’t forget just two years ago, she was arrested for popping Farrah in the mouth and then being menacing towards the police when they responded to the call. The way Debra behaved towards Farrah in her 16 & pregnant and the first year of Teen Mom was very different than how she behaves now. That being said, I still think Farrah is the worst.

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    Andyourlittledogtoo
    Posted July 13, 2012 at 3:43 am

    Let me put it this way: From what I have seen from Farrah so far (16+P and all three Teen Mom seasons) pretty much ALL of her obnoxious pustule on the ass of life behavior has been defensive reactions to everything and everyone around her. She is not aggressively obnoxious in the way Amber and Maci are, trying to manipulate and punch out first. She is just a huge pile of reactive defensiveness that comes across as totally bitchery and assholishness. She is at DefConFour (or whichever level is the top one, I always get the order mixed up) pretty much 24/7 and that is an exhausting way to live and guaranteed you a place in the One is the Loneliest Number Hall of Fame for life. She is simply incapable of letting out a breath and letting someone have any benefit of the doubt whatsoever.

    That kind of defensiveness is learned early and often, whatever her trauma may have been. She is still a pustule, but I think she comes by it honestly. And I think Michael’s passivity toward Debra and Farrah has roots somewhere too. He is a very weak man. Not all abusive people are angry type As, some of them are passive and introverted when cornered. And Debra is seriously messed up.

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    April
    Posted July 13, 2012 at 5:05 am

    I am a seriously defensive person too. I earned it by my parents being overly critical of me all the time. They weren’t abusive though. I just come from a family of perfectionists.

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    SMH
    Posted July 13, 2012 at 6:21 am

    I have degree in literature so I am completely qualified to offer this explanation for Farrah. I just kept thinking she was very narcissistic. Then I thought, maybe that doesn’t mean what I think it means. So I looked up Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Every characteristic points to Farrah. And it points out that parenting can play a part in developing this disorder. Anyone else think that her parents doted on her the same way they dote on Sophia and that doting stopped when she started exhibiting her current personality traits? (Similar to the way that Farrah is with the poor dogs she brings home.) Basically, they created the beast, couldn’t control it any longer and now she’s a raging monster. It’s the less sinister explanation for her behavior (which, by the way, is completely unacceptable). She’s not as pretty as she thinks and certainly not pretty enough to get people to overlook her awful personality. (Sorry. Tried to keep it as nice as possible but she annoys the bejeebies out of me.)

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    JudgyWudgy
    Posted July 13, 2012 at 6:45 am

    Who is to say what “classic” behavior due to abuse is, other than a certified psychologist? Are there any among these commenters? Come on people, let’s not go overboard.

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    classy drunk
    Posted July 13, 2012 at 6:56 am

    Debra: there’s not that much of a difference now than before. I don’t think it was worth the trouble (meaning: your teeth were fine before you didn’t need to spend that type of money. You’re my beautiful daughter)

    Farrah whines and stops away.

    I whined the other day to my mom why did she make me go through that awkward stage with those weird red glasses and my mom said what weird phase you were always so cute to me. UGH mom I WASN’T. I looked crazy with chicken legs and too long monkey arms. My mom said you were beautiful when did you see this? That’s when I realized that fairies throw dust in parents eyes when their kids are born and they are never able to see them clearly, because I was definitely a weird looking person in middle school.

    I ended that conversation telling my mom thanks for always thinking I was beautiful. I didn’t hang up on her and yell that she was stupid.

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    Andyourlittledogtoo
    Posted July 13, 2012 at 7:01 am

    Well, LCSW, so…yeah. I can say what is ‘classic’. What I can’t say is what absolutely is happening in her family. I’m just saying I’ve been watching that trainwreck for a few years now and I have some definite opinions. I’m not demanding you agree with them, but I’m entitled to them and they didn’t sprout out of the ether. Whatever. I hope she gets help. She’s still really young and could conceivably improve (although she seems pretty well done but I hope not).

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    considerthis
    Posted July 13, 2012 at 11:12 am

    Thank God smellovision is not available as I can even now almost literally smell Gary’s BO thru the TV plus that guy that they left with Leah gave me the creeps.

    Glad you saw that when Macy says good-bye to Bentley first it takes over 30 min and second it is pretty close to psychological torture. Bye Bent – Mommy has to go away from you for a while. I love you but I am not going to be around as I have to leave. You’re gonna miss mommy while I am away – right? OMG STFU and GTFO (decipher that).

    We should play the “baby” game as every time Sophia is called “baby” drink or cut your self. When Deb does the baby talk I want to throw something at the TV. Final thought is that if dogs had the intelligence to find a way to commit suicide – Farrah’s dog would do it in a heartbeat. There was one shot of him in her purse where I swear you could see it in his eyes – Please KILL ME NOW.
    Love Kait Hate the Hair!

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    Sugarbush
    Posted July 13, 2012 at 11:39 am

    @considerthis – Cut yourself? LOL That’s awesome. I also envision the purse Chihuahua collection of Paris Hilton in South Park whenever I see Farrah’s poor doggy. I just know if he could, he would have already put a bullet in his brain.

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    bumblebee
    Posted July 13, 2012 at 11:55 am

    Every time Farrah talks to her mother, I’m surprised Debra just punched her in the mouth and didn’t at least get few kicks in. They should show these episodes to the judge and she could probably get that incident removed from her record. In all seriousness, it must be torturous to be Farrah. Like another poster said, she’s so full of rage and I would add self-loathing. She has isolated herself from everyone except the people who HAVE to be nice to her.

    I wouldn’t be surprised if Farrah and Debra go all Grey Gardens someday. Debra will feed the raccoons that come in the holes in the walls and Farrah will yell at them for peeing every where.

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    Adelefig
    Posted July 13, 2012 at 1:14 pm

    Did you notice Farah’s new boobs? No wonder she couldn’t swing the golf club on her date…..speaking of her date, I felt sorry for him! Farrah is just a b#tch to any and everyone! If she hates her parents so much she should quit accepting money and help from them! I wish Debra and Michael would just pull back and watch and see what happens, while offering no support in any way….Farrah would not know how to act. I can’t blame Debra and Michael for the obvious deep love they have for Sophia. Since becoming a grandmother I know the intense love. Maybe they can’t show love for farrah because they are constantly getting their heads bitten off., even when they are being nice to her. Yes, none of us know what truly went on in their household years ago, but hopefully someday Farrah will watch herself on these shows and try to improve her personality/temperament so she won’t be alone her whole life.

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    Lurker
    Posted July 13, 2012 at 4:49 pm

    I have my Psy.D and graduated from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology almost 5 years ago. I only mention this because I have been through many, many years of schooling and I feel that it is premature to try and diagnose or make the accusation that someone has been abused (without any evidence) based on a television show. There can be many reasons why Farrah acts the way she does and more than likely it is a combination of biological, psychological, or social factors. The truth is the “root” issues to her behavior cannot be diagnosed through watching her on television.

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    Andyourlittledogtoo
    Posted July 13, 2012 at 6:08 pm

    Well, there’s education and then there’s clinical experience so I don’t know where you stand in that regard. However, what I do know is that we have had several years of watching this family dynamic play out in whatever way and it’s not out of line to speculate on what may be happening here. If all we saw was Farrah and her stank ‘tude that would be one thing but we have seen her family relationships and interactions with the rest of the world as well so we might speculate on how it all plays together. Most clinical therapists don’t have as much access to their patients interactions and relationships as we have had over the last few years with this girl. SOMEthing is seriously fucked up in that family and it’s not just Farrah is a brat, poor widdle loving parents are just victims etc. That’s all I’m saying. I realize that usually we view other families through the lens of our own experience and expectations and it’s hard to see beyond that. If you are a loving grandparent then you tend to expect that what you are seeing is a loving grandparent. I’m trying to say, look at the whole picture and think outside of the normal box. Because that family is not inside the normal box. Just my opinion and I’m sticking to it.

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    Liz
    Posted July 13, 2012 at 6:30 pm

    Yeah, I’m not sure I think Farrah was abused sexually. I can conceive of Farrah being physically abused by Debra, since Debra had those charges pressed against her, and since we have seen Debra hit Farrah on other occasions. I don’t see Farrah as narcissistic either, because she clearly is defensive, and narcissistic people don’t get defensive because they have nothing to feel defensive about (in their minds). She gets mad because she is insecure, which isn’t very narcissistic. But you know, just my opinion! Obviously none of us have seen them as clients or anything. I agree with whoever said she does it for attention; she seems to think it’s the only way to get her parents to stop whatever it is she thinks they are doing wrong, and truth be told it’s effective – they do stop when she does it. So she keeps doing it. I have seen in the past times when I could understand why Farrah would feel that her parents were questioning her, which she takes as an insult, and which she has always really overreacted to. But for some reason, this season she seems worse than ever. Especially since she’s acting that way with other people. She needs to just accept herself and her situation and then she won’t be so hurt and angry all the time, and won’t take what other people say as some huge insult or pain. She also needs to work on being independent.

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    begonia skies
    Posted July 15, 2012 at 7:04 am

    Andyourlittledogtoo – you get defensive and say to people who don’t agree with you that they’re your opinions, you’re entitled to them, and we don’t have to agree. which is all fine and dandy, until someone who is equally as qualified as yourself to have opinions on the matter in a professional sense disagrees with you. and then you go on the attack questioning their clinical experience. as you stated about yourself, that is their opinion and they are entitled to it. you’d think as a licensed social worker you’d have more patience for others in a public forum.

38. 38
    Andyourlittledogtoo
    Posted July 15, 2012 at 12:14 pm

    I’m perfectly fine with other people expressing an opinion. I was responding to the idea that no one has a right to express an opinion on the matter is all, and there is a big difference between a clinician and an researcher or someone who has the degree but no experience so I had no point of reference in regards to that poster’s background, a poster who was frankly trying to ‘one-up’ me by pointing out their educational attainments. So, I didn’t start that. I was merely responding to it with my own bona fides and a counter argument. That isn’t defensive, it’s just a response. There’s a difference. This post is ‘defensive’, it’s just responding to your statement with what I am thinking and why I said what I said. Roll any way you want to, I don’t care. I’m just expressing my opinion here and trying to back it up.

39. 39
    Andyourlittledogtoo
    Posted July 15, 2012 at 12:16 pm

    *isn’t defensive” Gah, I wish there was an edit function here so we could fix typos.

40. 40
    Poopsicle
    Posted July 15, 2012 at 12:54 pm

    Whoa! I finally got around to reading this recap and comments. First off, @Sugarbush! Excellent recap as always, Superb!!
    Now on to the comments, REALLY!!?? Michael might be sexually abusing Farrah-that’s far fetched to say the least, if there’s anybody suffering any kind of abuse in that fucked up family it’s Michael. But I’ll go along and make up my own diagnosis.
    Farrah:she suffers from extreme CWAS(cunt wad asshole syndrome). Symptoms include being an absolute horror of a human being to everybody and everything around her bitchy bony ass. I prescribe 5 solid punches to her face and removal of that dog and baby. That is all.

41. 41
    SMH
    Posted July 15, 2012 at 2:21 pm

    Poopsicle, make sure you get CWSA on Wikipedia ASAP. I’m sure it will be referenced often in the future.

42. 42
    Lurker
    Posted July 15, 2012 at 2:41 pm

    I was in no way trying to “one-up” you. I mentioned my educational background because I felt it was important in expressing my opinion. If I wanted to “one-up” up I would list all of my educational background and current work experience … but I do not feel that is important. I am not trying to argue with you. I am merely stating my opinion as well.

43. 43
    KRB
    Posted July 16, 2012 at 1:44 pm

    Would it not be possibly for Michael to have done something in the past and now concede to everything because of guilt?? Something seems off, like I said, I have no proof, it was just speculation. Farrah could just be a bitch, but she seems to angry at her parents, not just disrespectful, angry, so maybe Debra beat her and Micheal did nothing so she resents both of them?

44. 44
    Andyourlittledogtoo
    Posted July 16, 2012 at 5:02 pm

    @lurker – Actually I didn’t feel like you were trying to one up me when you posted, the other poster just set me off and pointed me in that thought. Sorry.

    And it doesn’t have to be a sexual abuse thing, although the completely off power situation in that family suggests it, it could be something else entirely. Whatever it is it is a complete mindfuck done on that girl. She may as well have a personal force shield or body armor on for her ability to relax and relate to other people with any degree of trust. I don’t think she’s a ‘spoiled girl’ I think she is a ‘scared shitless girl’. She just has so many shields up in so many different ways that it comes off as ‘cuntwadishness’ to the rest of the universe. I don’t even think she realizes she comes off that way. And the rage she feels toward her parents she can’t even contain. None of that is ‘spoiled princess’ behavior. It’s damaged behavior. Somebody did a huge number on her. That doesn’t mean I like her or excuse her behavior. I am just trying to understand her.

    Maci is a smug petty manipulative person. She has a large number of friends who like her just fine and her issues although personally very annoying to me are still pretty normal run of the mill girl problems on the whole. Amber is an angry controlling bully who also has friends and is also pretty run of the mill – a dime a dozen in the prison set. But Farrah is an extreme outlier – no one fits naturally into her dysfunction, there is no gaggle of other spoiled princesses, there are no passive followers, there are no rivals opposing her for ‘position’ in the pecking order — none of that. There aren’t really any relatives at her side either. She is pretty much alone. She is not a natural fit for anyone to ‘puzzle piece’ into. Somebody mindfucked her, early and often. It didn’t have to be a literal physical thing (although that is possible too) but that girl is ruined, not spoiled. I loathe her, but I also feel sorry for her. And I don’t feel sorry for her parents at all. Reap. Sow.

    Now Sophia….I worry.

45. 45
    April
    Posted July 17, 2012 at 4:29 am

    Farrah looked like she did have friends before she got pregnant on 16 and Pregnant. She was a cheerleader and it showed her hanging out with other girls. But then one of them that was her friend was badmouthing her or something, so she quit cheerleading and then never talked to any of them again.

46. 46
    Andyourlittledogtoo
    Posted July 17, 2012 at 4:39 am

    I remember that scene where they were all sitting around talking about how Farrah got pregnant, her telling them etc. It was the usual thing we see on Teen Mom. I remember thinking at the time that that was the most unfriendly group of ‘friends’ I ever saw, like they were there for the cameras and because they were part of her squad but nothing more. I mean they seemed rather hostile and catty. And they disappeared from her life almost immediately afterward. Farrah didn’t really have any true ‘Megans’ even back then. I remember being really struck by that at the time.

47. 47
    Andyourlittledogtoo
    Posted July 17, 2012 at 4:41 am

    I’m sorry, I meant the usual thing we see on Sixteen and Pregnant not Teen Mom. That scene was from back then. I need more sleep.

48. 48
    Elisabeth
    Posted July 17, 2012 at 9:33 am

    @Andyourlittledogtoo. I am also an LCSW and I think you make a very good point about most clinicians having limited access to actual family dynamics and relationships. I agree that what we are seeing play out on TV has roots in a seriously dysfunctional up-bringing. I have often thought Farrah’s therapist seems completely incompetent – she should really be picking up on the obvious early childhood trauma (whatever the nature of it may be) and taking some steps to address the root of Farrah’s sour sour personality.

49. 49
    katiecorner33
    Posted July 17, 2012 at 9:21 pm

    Hahaha SMH…sooo since when does a degree in literature qualify an individual as an expert on sociological/psychological disorders? Just curious…

50. 50
    katiecorner33
    Posted July 17, 2012 at 9:34 pm

    Lemme give all y’all a rest for your purty lil’ heads people…Farrah is an overly indulged, overly monied brat with overeducated parents and the lot of them has zero friggin’ common sense. Mom and ‘Michael’ have allowed that bitch to run the show since she was a little kid and THEN when she was 16 decided it was no longer cute nor appropriate so momma decided to smack her in the mouth. Maybe if someone would’ve done a little proactive parenting when Farrah was still a baby none of those a-holes would be in the effed up family dynamic they’re having to deal with now.

51. 51
    Andyourlittledogtoo
    Posted July 17, 2012 at 10:06 pm

    Literature? Where the hell did you get literature out of LCSW? Licensed Clinical Social Work. Masters or Doctorate in Social Work, a gazillion clinical hours, etc. You know – LCSW. Look it up.

    Anyway, my position’s been stated ad nauseum so I leave it at that.

52. 52
    katiecorner33
    Posted July 17, 2012 at 10:26 pm

    I’m well aware of the meaning of the acronym LCSW. If you reread my post, you’ll see that I was addressing the poster ‘SMH’….look it up.

53. 53
    Andyourlittledogtoo
    Posted July 17, 2012 at 10:31 pm

    Oh!! I’m sorry. I thought You were saying you were ‘smack my head’ at the LCSW thing. I totally misunderstood you. Okay, then that makes a lot more sense then.

54. 54
    Rachryker
    Posted July 17, 2012 at 11:17 pm

    I dont buy the whole abuse scenario with Farrah. I think if she was abused as a kid then she would be smart enough not to leave Sophia alone with the abusers. Sophia has be left alone many times with debra and michael, and i dont think farrah would knowingly allow sophia to be in a situation where she could potentially be abused as well. I just think she is an entitle bitch.

55. 55
    KnJ
    Posted July 18, 2012 at 9:20 am

    I don’t think Farrah was sexually abused, not by Micheal at least. There is definitely something strange about the entire family though. I once knew a girl who had the exact personality traits as if you combined Farrah with Amber. One of the craziest, narcissistic people I have ever known. She snapped at everyone like Farrah does, but had the temper of Amber. It didn’t matter what you said, “oh the sky is a pretty blue today!” and you’d get a “No it effing isn’t, there’s clouds in it!!”. Thing is, her family life growing up was pretty normal. IMHO, some people are just mental.

56. 56
    Christabel
    Posted July 18, 2012 at 8:59 pm

    @ “Andyourlittledogtoo”:

    I find your comments entirely refreshing.

    Finally, someone in the neversphere sees beyond the tiresomely childish “Farrah’s a spoiled brat” BS.

    I think Debra Danielson is the real story in that situation, and have thought that since “16.” There’s something about the stoicism and the overall image consciousness that belies the notion that she’s an innocent bystander and mere victim.

    In fact, as much as Farrah does need to reel it in, the phoniness that is Debra Danielson is almost too much to bear, particularly when she invokes the ol’ “It isn’t Christian” and then seconds later slaps her own daughter in the face over what seemed like nothing (remember that in “16″?). She made the same claim in the restaurant in the ep. 6 clip (“It’s against my religious beliefs” – who knows what “it” might be? – even after Ashley points out that Debra doesn’t speak to her back in Iowa. Good for Ashley for calling Debra’s bluff and for not caring that they’re on camera. Indeed, I’d say that the cameras and Debra’s awareness of them (and predictably phony cheerfulness and bright-eyed and equally phony interest) was probably the spark.

    In short, Debra sort of reminds me of Sissy Spacek’s mother (Piper Laurie, I think) in the movie “Carrie”: convinced she is an expert on all things; a certain way in front of outsiders but a completely different way at home; claiming religious piety while possibly doing some pretty horrendous things on the side.

    Anyway, just wanted to gab.

    P.S. We’ve got a MSW in our household; according to him, you’re right on. Hope that helps in this sea of binary “Farrah bad/Farrah’s mom good” ridiculousness.

57. 57
    Nesta
    Posted August 25, 2012 at 7:15 am

    Farrah is a brat. She needs her butt beat. If mama smacked that butt more maybe she would not be so self-centered. Amber might have come from an dysfunctional, improvished family, but so has a lot of people. That does not excuse her abusive conduct toward others. Gary has faults, but we all do, he is a great dad. Leah is articulate, healthy, and very happy. This is thanks to Gary and his mom, not crazy Amber. Maci, don’t get me started. She thinks she has the right to dictate Bentley’s whole life because she is mom. Guess what wicked witch, it took two to create Bentley, he has a great dad. Everyone stays on Ryan’s case when it is Maci that dominates when Ryan can see him and what he can do with him and then complains that he has a loving support system. If she was living with her parents that would be fine, but Ryan who works and pays child support is considered shiftless and lazy. She insults him in front of his son. The last episode, Bentley’s bithday, she tells the two year old to invite dad to party after Ryan already made plans. Then she gets mad when he calls her out. She is trash. Catelyn and Ty are true parents.

58. 58
    stephanie
    Posted October 27, 2012 at 10:44 pm

    It’s months later and I have just enjoyed reading these comments. It’s like reading a book. I completely agree with those who feel that Farrah is loaded with pathology and that her issues are so much deeper than those of the other girls. Despite the everyday issues we see in the others and despite how bad it gets at times, this is everyday stuff. Farrah was as someone said mindf#@*ked long and hard and I am here to tell you that it leaves scars. My mother was Debra Danielson who would have thrown me under a truck to get permanent hold of my baby. I won’t even share the story as this isn’t the forum. People thought she was nice unless they were around for a while and then they knew what I had to deal with. I didn’t realize that she was a narcissist until a psychiatrist told me years later. I only wish that I’d had the money and the sense to get far away from her at 20 years of age. She ran off my friends and my baby’s father to whom I was married. This too was her idea so she wouldn’t have to pay for my college. Oh and Debra may have money but believe it she spends none of it on Farrah. She probably has Farrah pay her plane fares and motel bills. My octopus of a mother was also a tightwad. I was given nothing. I wore rags until I could babysit. It was sad because we were not poor. She refused to give me anything that I wanted and eventually I stopped asking. Everything was about her. My father also lived just for her and if she told him to drop the house on my head he probably would. The power did shift some but I didn’t know how to use it as Farrah does. At least she knows what they did. I was oblivious for most of my life. You can see blatent abuse but what people like Debra do is far worse. Trust me, the world revolves around her and she wants what she wants. Right now her daughter has Sophia and she wants to take her away from her. And she puts up a good fight. Together they have made Sophia an awful brat who has a “suckie” in her mouth for comfort. The suckie will turn to booze and drugs in time. Debra will be unable to stop until she destroys everyone around her and everyone looking in will blame Farrah more than Debra which is a shame. Someone wondered why there was no group of friends around Farrah. Debra is why. Enough said. Farrah, take Sophia and run and do not look back even for a minute. You are doing much better than I did so don’t give up. Don’t give an inch or soon you’;; find that she has Sophia in her clutches and you can;t get her back. I too needed a babysitter that I thought I could trust.. Keep Sophia completely away from her. I should write a sequel to your book. I too was a teen mom with my own Debra Danielson. There is a kind of mother that can have any given name but her real name is narcissist. She lives to destroy her daughter. It may be one or more. One will bear the brunt and fare the worst. My mother lived to rain on my parade. She’d convince my teachers that I was a horrible child. One day this woman really liked me and the next, after a parent conference, she’d avoid me like the plague. She never wanted anyone to like me. She’d try to convince me that I was unlikeable and I just knew that I was. Only I didn’t realize that I was getting this from her.

    Like Farrah, I was and still am attractive, intelligent and an achiever. I’ve done a lot with my life and I have only recently realized how very jealous this made my mother. Unlike Debra, my mother laid back and let my dad take care of her. She’d say nobody would help her pay for school. Years later when education is mandatory she wouldn’t help me. She did, however, pay for my brother’s college because she believes men are inherently worth more than women. When my marriage ended I was a little girl without job skills and an infant. She said that I’d made my bed and now could lie in it. She would not even give me food. I was my ex’s responsibility and not her’s. Fortunately I had people who cared about me and felt sorry for me because of a situation that I could not control. My mother-in-law included. When my brother’s marriage ended he was in his mid 30s with a good job and older children. She cried for him and told me how terrible my sister-in-law was for leaving him. The rest of the world felt that it was his own fault. My mother, being a true narcissist, had a golden child and a scapegoat. I bear all of the scars of my assigned role. I know that there are people who just dislike me at face value and I don’t easily make friends. Neither would you if you had lived through my life. My son told me that he felt sorry for me as a little girl. It took him years to arrive at the knowledge that I was the one who truly loved and cared about him and not her. Farrah really needs to run…….Refuse to allow her time alone with Sophia. That time will be used to convince the child that she is better off with her “real mother” who is her grandmother. My baby was just like the dolls that I had so wanted as a child and could never have. She didn’t want me to have this child either. It’s more than love of the grandchild. It is hatred of the child’s mother who happens to be her daughter. As long as she lived and breathed I would have nothing that I wanted.

59. 59
    MERMAIDSRREAL
    Posted December 18, 2012 at 10:26 am

    Shame on some of you for making assumptions and spreading rumors with no merit. Newsflash, you can’t blame your parents for you being an asshole. I think Michael seems very loving and protective of Farrah. He has spoiled Farrah to death. He waited on her hand and foot after she got a boob job for crying out loud. To accuse him of incest just because his daughter is weird is pretty messed up. Do you think she would still allow him to take care of her baby on his own if he had done that? As some of the others state, it’s clear Debra was the head of the household. I don’t know where Debra’s money comes from. I don’t think it was inherited. I think she is very successful in her career, whatever it may be. She comes across as an alpha female to me. In regards to her MBA, she only recently earned that after Sophia was born, but they already had money. I think she’s just working an upper level management/corporate job. Debra is used to being in control of her family and it’s obvious on the earlier episodes of Teen Mom. She did have some serious anger issues when she wasn’t in control. She got mad at Farrah on camera because Farrah wanted a Dodge Neon and Debra said she hated Dodge Neons. Debra wants to control everything. Now she can no longer control Farrah, since Farrah has her own money from the show, so she wants to control Sophia. I knew a girl like her when I was younger. She too had a kid at 17 and her mom controlled everything the baby wore, how the baby’s hair was styled….everything.