"Horrified" Katherine Heigl thinks "Dance Moms" is "demeaning" and "belittling"

To Katherine Heigl:

We don't want to hear your opinions. Just show us your tits already so we can roll over, fall asleep and forget about you forever.

Sincerely,

Every man in America

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I must say, I would put my weight in this opinion if I felt Katherine had understood what she watched. I'll elect to break down the final paragraph if anyone is interested in reading my analysis of it all. I will say I find it interesting she stated the obvious, yet never dared to take on the issue of wanting to be the best, thus needing the best teachers and if that is how they act, must your child give up their dream or are their ways to handle it so you can build up a good force field. I felt she just ignored the real issues that needed tackling.

But first, I must say as much as I don’t like how terribly Abby so often talks to the girls, even though I know being the best comes at a cost, I think she takes her power to a ridiculous level and could do with a lot of mental help and some psychological training but maybe being teachers in roles with such verbal power of young children one should have to complete some level of psychological training and have some standard set by the governing body of dance so the dancers or even mothers aren’t punished for standing up to an abusive teacher, rather spot checks where the teacher is held liable if not living up to a certain standard of treatment. I’m sure she’d improve how she treated her girls if her livelihood depended on it, and not by girls walking out having had enough or mothers pulling them out, but from running the risk of the studio being put on probation and other penalties that serve as a better incentive not to abuse your role.

That aside, I think from what I’ve seen, I’ve no concern those girls are going to end up dancing provocatively in jobs that demand it because of that routine, the more likely outcomes will be mental. Self-esteem issues, though thankfully at least the mothers of the not ‘favourite’ have a clue and I think give guidance outside the studio and really try to undo the damage Abby creates but also try to build them up to a place where she can’t keep hurting them. I think progress has been made in the department with Nia and Chloe and Brooke … Paige is really introverted about herself, so I can’t tell so much with her. But I find all of those girls to me appear as though they will be fine, where the one who it seems is rarely ‘abused’ will suffer the most in the long run. Maddie’s mother already believes everything is about her daughter (eg. “I’m so excited a Hollywood Producer is coming to see Maddie”, even when Mackenzie will be there to and it’s for all the girls) and is so manipulative in her efforts to do whatever she can to give her daughter the edge; she’s ruthless. On top of that, between the doting from Abby and the lack of balance her mother also has, how can that girl become anything but an entitled ‘brat’. No matter how good she ends up, Melissa is already so entitled on Maddie’s behalf, what hope does she have. Shame really as she seems very sweet most of the time.

As for Katherine’s comments, this is just the last paragraph:

"It terrifies me, the amount of value we place on a woman's looks, body, and ability to drop it like it's hot on the dance floor."
- I really have not seen this show emphasise looks & body, let alone the remainder of that remark on any level that would terrify you. Might give you pause, but when are their looks and bodies really ever scrutinised, let alone in a way that would make you worry. As looks was separated from body, have any of the girls been insulted for the way they look by anyone? They all have different facial beauty and I find they're embraced for being different and having their own identities. As for the body comment, dancing actually lends itself just by the nature of practise and the way muscles are used, to the girls naturally having the type of bodies that non-dancers aspire to because of other pressures, but not those put on by the dance teacher, ironically by those in the media, like Katherine herself who certainly portrayed some messed up concept of anything in My Father The Hero and a body conscious, beauty conscious teen in Wish Upon A Star. Not to mention that if as an elite dancer you are carrying extra weight (and you aren't going through puberty), it would likely be a sign that you aren't doing all the work associated with competing at a high level or you aren't eating healthy thus noticing that Vivi needed to lose a few pounds was normal I felt. More so acknowledging that you have to work harder than she clearly was to fit in with that top junior group, which would mean the training hours and level where she would drop some weight and not to fit an image, but a by-product. It was also made clear by Abby that she didn't have to (and I'm not advocating Abby). Her mother insisted she wanted the benefits of working like the other girls did, but that mother also couldn't deal with firstly expecting the discipline from her child that it takes and secondly realising that she really knew far less about quality dancing than Abby did (and frankly, many of the mothers); oh and that her daughter simply doesn't want to dance.

“It's one thing to walk into a club and see twenty-somethings embracing their sexuality and having some fun,… “
- Because being that partially dressed as a 20-something would be something to aspire to? Or using sexually suggestive movement is a part of embracing your sexuality? All in the name of fun of course, so is it about fun or appropriate?

“… but it's another thing altogether watching seven-year-olds shake their booties, bellies, and non-existent boobies on a stage in a room full of adults and be handed a trophy for it. What in the world are we telling them? That sexy is the prize and is the talent they have?"
- how nice of her to misrepresent that episode SO very much. The mothers who realise there is a world outside of their daughter/s (all bar Melissa I do believe) were not pleased with the costume from the get go and even though their children didn’t understand the look they were portraying it didn’t stop the parents from never once approving of the costume or the dance. Holly & Christi were specific in what they felt was the height of inappropriate dance moves after they competed and managed to disapprove of Abby’s choreography without dragging the issue in front of their daughters to the point they would’ve known it was sexual and provocative and begging for the wrong attention and is completely un-necessary for them to win dance competitions. They even showed they realised it would be even less accepted in the town they were going to than say, New York. They have plenty of time to explain how it was inappropriate when they are older and it is a better time to really understand how and why it was, but also to not have it impact them in a poor way AND should such a dance style come up again, pull their daughters from that group number. Which I’m sure they would and looking back may feel they should have the first time, but it’s a complicated situation re: repercussions. But we just saw Hollie take away a feature part from her daughter so she didn’t portray a bully, which is something she deals with in her day-to-day life at her current age.

Also, they weren’t handed a trophy for it, the entire point was they didn’t place and it seems everyone bar Abby (and possibly Melissa) grasped why they didn’t; the girls even knew why they didn’t. So shame on Katherine for saying that routine won them a trophy, as despite being the better dancers than those who did place and win, the judges made the right decision in not rewarding, thus encouraging such routines; sadly I don’t think ABBY got the message. But she values winning more than anything, so I’m sure she knows the style cost them the win and such a style won’t pop up again, she just won’t admit she cost them the win.

So they weren’t told sexy is the prize or that sexy is the talent they have. Did Katherine just not see any of the episode after they did the dance at all, and selectively watched the rest of it.

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