Mackenzie Phillips ~ The Commerce of Family Secrets

For better or worse, I say for better, we live in a society that is less secretive than it was back in the days before Oprah, and far less secretive since the advent of the Internet, mobile phone, cable television, network television, radio, movies, and the original landline…in fact ever since Gutenberg broke out his printing press the world has been less hush-hush on every topic.  Thus it seems that one of the last taboos has been broken on the September 23^rd episode of ‘Oprah,’ Mackenzie Phillips not only confessed to an incestuous relationship with her father John Phillips (founder of the 60’s mega group ‘The Mamas and the Papas’) but stated that the relationship was mutually consensual and lasted for a decade.  In a pop culture world that has experienced a pop princess shave her head during a bi-polar breakdown, and a president that kept reading a story about a goat when 9/11 was going down, few things are so shocking that they produce a comment from practically everyone. 

                At one point of Phillips’ interview with Oprah, she said something like she wanted to be the face of consensual incest (I imagine her wish will be granted).  Besides the occasional article one might read about a couple (usually father and daughter) who live some place off the beaten path existing as if they are husband and wife, to have someone somewhat famous utter such words is still an eye opener.  Over a decade ago writer Kathryn Harris wrote about a similar situation in which she kissed her biological father who was virtually a stranger to her until either her late teens or early 20’s.  To be honest, besides that kiss, I don’t know how far Harris’ relationship went with her old man.  I know that the book caused a stir in publishing circles but I don’t think it made too much of a cultural impact. In fact, a few years ago I had to alert the Barnes & Noble on the Plaza that they probably shouldn’t suggest the book as a Valentine’s gift (HELLO!).  Overall, Phillips has really broken shattered ground when it comes to consensual incest.

                At the beginning of the show, Oprah stated that she and her producers had to sign confidentiality agreements in order to read Phillips’ book, ‘High on Arrival’ before the release date (September 23^rd).  I’m sure that there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that an autobiography of Mackenzie Phillips would not have caused such headlines if her revelation wasn’t revealed.  Although she talked in almost a jovial manner about having sex with Mick Jagger, as if the experience was the cat’s pajamas, I’m afraid that most of us who watched cringed at the thought of short wrinkly Mick doing the deed.  Let’s face it, his time as a sex symbol has come and gone thus bragging about getting intimate with him is passé and vomit producing.  Perhaps I am selling short Phillips’ best-seller lists chances minus the revelation, because apparently most of her life she has been high, those sorts of memoir confessions always earn at least an article in ‘People.’  If anything, her book is a testament to why drugs are bad.

                Lordy, the drugs.  According to her interview on ‘Oprah,’ the first time Mackenzie tried coke was when she was eleven.  The first time she shot up daddy dearest taught her how…at the age of sixteen.  What the fudge?  Seriously, what the fudge?  It sounds as if John Phillips had no compunction about using drugs in front of his kids because apparently he thought he was California dreamin’ every single day.  As of this writing, late night September 23^rd, two of Phillips’ ex-wives have stated that John Phillips was incapable of having an incestuous relationship with any of his children.  The most prominent ex-wife, Michelle Phillips, stated that her ex-step daughter has had mental issues, but acknowledges that Mackenzie did tell her daughter Chynna (who was also fathered by John) that she had been sleeping with their father back in 1997.  Another ex-wife, the mother of the notorious Bijou Phillips, Geneviève Waïte gave this statement to Winfrey’s program, "John was a good man who had the disease of alcoholism and drug addiction.  He was incapable, no matter how drunk or drugged he was, of having such a relationship with his own child."  Oddly, it was her statement, which also included some hints that Mackenzie acted in a sexualized manner around John, that is probably the most damning and convincing when it comes to Phillips’ allegations against her father.  Waïte was his wife when the incestuous affair was going on and it has been rumored for years that both Waïte and John were so drugged out that they couldn’t take care of themselves let alone their children.  I don’t think you can ever say with absolute certainty if the incest was true or false, all you can state is that the man you knew wouldn’t have done that and if the man you knew was addled with drugs, then the chances go up that he did things that were outside the normal bounds of civil behavior.  In other words, it sounds as if some folks are surfing on a river in Egypt.

                One of the reasons Phillips says she is telling her story is because she wanted to “earn the right to forgive” since she claims to have forgiven her father for his role in their affair.  What was unstated, of course, was that this shocking revelation wasn’t released to the general public until her book became available for sell thus Phillips is making money from a horrific event that happened in her life.  Yet then again, just from what I heard on ‘Oprah’ the woman sounds like she has had more than her share of horrific events in her life.  The downside for her family is that now they are all tarred and feathered by the sins of their father – mind you, they aren’t going to be blamed, but they are all going to be questioned.  After all, being a drug addict is one thing; knowingly sleeping with your daughter is something else.  In fact, the only redeeming grace in John Phillips’ column is that it doesn’t appear that he was a pedophile.  Further, in the near future few people will be able to listen to any ‘Mamas and Papas’ songs without thinking about the Phillips family relationship.

                We can always count on Oprah to hit the nail on the head when it comes to public reaction.  Phillips confessed that the earliest she remembers having sexual relations with her father was when she was eighteen.  Winfrey stated that even at that age the public will question her participation in the incest, as well as the decade long continued involvement with her father.  While the episode was still being shown in some American time zones Bill Maher twitted, “So...Mackenzie Phillips got drunk one night and had sex with her father for 10 yrs?”

                I have to confess that as a book reviewer I don’t think I will be reading Phillips’ book.  It’s not that I don’t believe her, because it just feels as if everything she is saying is accurate, but I’ don’t think I want to read about her sadness.  As far as her journey it just feels like she is starting the initial steps in being honest (although her honestly doesn’t require telling her story to the public) yet I don’t feel as if she has gotten to the other side of the fire.  I suppose I would be more inclined to read her story in ten to twenty years.  As of now, it just feels as if her main confession is just too raw and that reading it will make me more of a voyeur than someone who has picked up a star biography for light reading.

                I’m guessing the real litmus test will be if her career picks up.  I hate to be so jaded but would Phillips have ever aired her relationship with her father if she was an A lister or even a B lister?  The last time she was in the public eye it was because of a drug arrest before a ‘One Day at a Time’ reunion show on Rachel Ray…now she is sitting across the from the big O.  I’m getting a bit queasy thinking about this, but will all her revelations result in Phillips getting a spot on a future season of ‘Dancing with the Stars’?  If she wants to be the poster child for survivors of consensual incest, where does she want to take the cause?  We survived having sex with a parent and it wasn’t our fault despite being an adult?  Even though I am a connoisseur of all things pop culture I have to admit all of this it is a lot to take in.

Westerfield © 2009