Saturday, July 4, 2015

Personal Story: Roseanne

        Rosanne Barr after treatment by her therapist in 1991, revealed to the public that she had "repressed memories" of her father's incest on her TV show.  After publicly defaming her parents she then fired her sister (who refused to become a co-accuser).  Rosanne publicly accused parents of horrid crimes based on fantasies generated by medication and fraudulent therapy or harmful prayer ministry.
       Rosanne's false sensationalized public accusation fueled similar false accusations nationwide. Thousands of families and their victims were harmed using the same type of fraudulent treatment. Using her fame, power and wealth Rosanne defamed her parents and harmed her family based on generated fantasies thought to be "memories".
       Ten years later Rosanne admitted the memories were not true. During a guest appearance on a national TV show called "Oprah" Rosanne stated "it was the worst mistake of my life....I lost touch with reality in a big way.....I was taking multiple medications and in a bad relationship...." She indicated that there was no incest and regretted the public accusations. There are many thousands of other similar retractions that came after families were destroyed, lives ruined, innocents jailed and many imprisoned (often for decades.)
       The long discredited idea, once called "repressed memories", explains Roseanne Barr's experience.  It also explains Grace's experience.
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My Sister Roseanne: The True Story of Roseanne Barr Arnold
by Geraldine Barr
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Truth is More shocking than lies...
ByJGCon September 6, 2009

     I have always been enamored with Roseanne because her TV show was one of the only true depictions of a realistic American family.  Like many of her fans, I followed her through all of her countless "revelations" and hairball claims during the '90s when she made up story after story for more fame, attention and money.
     Geraldine rips the veil of secrecy off of all of Hollywood while she discusses things that have rarely made it into mainstream popular books up until now.  She talks about money, contracts, the love of attention and the proverbial fame game years before any other top star had the courage or the will to talk about these things.  Her writing is not only factual, but also inspiring and revealing.
     "My Sister Roseanne" was published in 1994 when Roseanne was at her most powerful and most successful (at the time this book came out her show was number-1) and perhaps with all the clout that fame brings a woman who achieves a hit sitcom, Roseanne was able to collectively get this book blackballed.  The same critics that panned this book as poultry and subversive were the same ones that praised Roseanne's book that came out 6 months prior to this; yet no one called Roseanne money-motivated or greedy, even though her second autobiography was published less than 5 years after her first.
     This book is a truthful depiction of Geraldine's life and association with her sister, Roseanne.
     Geraldine discusses in intimate detail how she was Roseanne's chief writer and business manager for over a decade only to be callously fired in a matter of seconds because Roseanne simply didn't want her in her life anymore.  Geraldine also writes about how Roseanne became drunk and inebriated on her own fame and would say and do things for no other reason than to get attention and to stay in the spotlight.
     I strongly believe that Mr. and Mrs. Barr (Geraldine's parents) got a really bad rap by their ungrateful and dishonest daughter, Roseanne.  Geraldine writes about how Roseanne's false claims of incest nearly killed her parents (I honestly cannot imagine anything worse for a parent to go through). In detail she even takes the time to describe how her entire family was affected and afflicted by Roseanne's malicious and deceitful claims.
      Perhaps what was least surprising was how Geraldine took the time to even go into specifics concerning her parents' innocence regarding these hateful claims.  Yet, this is just one more thing that the media never talks about.  It is sad that when someone gets famous their words are held up like concrete that causes the masses to believe anything that is said.

     Since the book has been published Geraldine has been vindicated.  Roseanne reconciled with her estranged family after 10 years of claiming the lie to be true but has since recanted all of the hateful and notorious statements that were made, such as being an incest survivor at the hands of her innocent parents. Yet there wasn't a big press conference to state this.

     I have a lot of respect and admiration for Geraldine because she told the story that no one really wanted to hear.  It's ironic in a way, isn't it? I mean she was really ahead of her time with this book.  For its time period it was rather groundbreaking because it came out during a time period when many celebrities (everyone from La Toya Jackson to Patty Duke) were (falsely?) claiming to be victims of abuse.  Yet if Geraldine had written the book now it likely would never have been published or seen the light of day.  The story is very dated and only people who really want to search out the truth would probably pick it up.  Nevertheless it's a fantastic book.
NOTE: Retraction is always an example of integrity and courage. Many live with the false memories their entire lives and rob their children of grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles.  Losing contact at a time when the children most benefit from that contact.
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Location: Walla Walla, WA, USA

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