Dance Moms Season 3 Episode 6 online TBA t's been called a guilty pleasure, as we seem to take pleasure in
watching people worse than ourselves. It's also been called child abuse
for the way it exploits girls already getting everything from tween
sexualization to vicious insults (against which their own mothers may
or may not come to their defense) pushed on them. Now, I'm nowhere near
what people would call conservative. I'm not bothered by gore or nudity
in movies, and crude humor can entertain me. But the issues here go
straight to questions of basic morality. This show is despicable, and
to recommend it on any level is to promote some of the worst
competitive values still held today, as well as add just a little more
damage to its helpless cast of girls.
The most common defense of the show's dance instructor, Abby, is that she cannot be faulted for being "strict" and "short-tempered", and since she "works hard" and is "an expert instructor", she is at least respectable. She's not. An instructor who places high expectations on someone relative to their abilities and doesn't tolerate mistakes is strict. Abby bases her approval around the place her team takes in a competition and blows up when they lose to someone she wanted to beat. The only time she seems to care about how much of an achievement their performances are by themselves is when they are poor enough to make her angry. For example, when she entered her team in the same competition as a rival studio, she preached nothing but the need to beat said studio to her team every moment she was on camera. When her team placed 5th, the lowest place recognized, she celebrated joyously because the other studio had not placed.
Eventually, her actions all blend together into one long line of self-promotion. When she "corrects" mistakes, the message is not that the girls are capable of doing better; it's that Abby has a need to throw tantrums when they fail. When the mothers wish something else for their daughters than what Abbey has chosen, Abbey does not hesitate to insult them in front of the girls. And when one of her dancers does well, she gives speeches about how she is the one who "made" that girl. (Not so when the same girl loses of course. According to Abby, she can "just blame that" all on said girl.) We always hear at least something from her about the reputation her studio has, and her need for her dancers to win seems more and more like a need to use their talent for advertising her business.
The moms are perhaps not as appalling as Abbey, but they come across as even more petty. Often, it seems the reason they place such value on their daughters' dancing is a need to swipe the spotlight and bask in their girls' reflected glory. They attempt to act as important coaches in matters they are clearly less knowledgeable about, and constantly refer to their daughters' achievements in ways that group themselves in. They argue with Abbey over the right approach when they want more glory, but when they think they might lose that particular argument, they'll bow their heads and wait for the lecture to end, even if she insults their daughter. The girls, by far the most physically capable and impressive people on the show, are given the most discouraging treatment.
The most common defense of the show's dance instructor, Abby, is that she cannot be faulted for being "strict" and "short-tempered", and since she "works hard" and is "an expert instructor", she is at least respectable. She's not. An instructor who places high expectations on someone relative to their abilities and doesn't tolerate mistakes is strict. Abby bases her approval around the place her team takes in a competition and blows up when they lose to someone she wanted to beat. The only time she seems to care about how much of an achievement their performances are by themselves is when they are poor enough to make her angry. For example, when she entered her team in the same competition as a rival studio, she preached nothing but the need to beat said studio to her team every moment she was on camera. When her team placed 5th, the lowest place recognized, she celebrated joyously because the other studio had not placed.
Eventually, her actions all blend together into one long line of self-promotion. When she "corrects" mistakes, the message is not that the girls are capable of doing better; it's that Abby has a need to throw tantrums when they fail. When the mothers wish something else for their daughters than what Abbey has chosen, Abbey does not hesitate to insult them in front of the girls. And when one of her dancers does well, she gives speeches about how she is the one who "made" that girl. (Not so when the same girl loses of course. According to Abby, she can "just blame that" all on said girl.) We always hear at least something from her about the reputation her studio has, and her need for her dancers to win seems more and more like a need to use their talent for advertising her business.
The moms are perhaps not as appalling as Abbey, but they come across as even more petty. Often, it seems the reason they place such value on their daughters' dancing is a need to swipe the spotlight and bask in their girls' reflected glory. They attempt to act as important coaches in matters they are clearly less knowledgeable about, and constantly refer to their daughters' achievements in ways that group themselves in. They argue with Abbey over the right approach when they want more glory, but when they think they might lose that particular argument, they'll bow their heads and wait for the lecture to end, even if she insults their daughter. The girls, by far the most physically capable and impressive people on the show, are given the most discouraging treatment.
