TIME Blogger attacks Audra for Tony Speech

[thomas_hardy]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 12:29pm

Sorry, Belinda Luscombe, You Need Attention-
Isn't being an unknown blogger and lousy mother enough? Do you have to start attacking innocents as well?

Dear Ms. Luscombe -
I’m unfamiliar with your work. Who isn’t? Oh, those of us who just became aware of your noxious existence through your warrantless attack on Audra McDonald in your TIME blog. You take Ms. McDonald to task for thanking her parents for not medicating her as a child.

For those mercifully unaware of your “pay attention to ME” blog, I’ve broken it down:

Paragraph 1- YOU (allegedly) love (Audra)

Paragraph 2- YOU love (her dress)

Paragraph 3- YOU hope your kids will thank YOU someday; you infer that you are your husband are superior because you have children and are, you know, HUMAN; you put down Audra for having relatives who are musical; you admit your family is NOT musical or talented and that your parents were not supportive

Paragraph 4- parenting is HARD- you admit you SHOUT at your child, which could be considered child abuse

Paragraph 5- you admit you are anxious- you complain you don’t get a trophy- you put her down for being talented and say your child isn’t- you further illustrate how resentful you are

Paragraph 6- you delusionally think she was specifically singling YOU out in her speech; again you put her down for being accomplished; at what point in the speech did she tell people to NOT use drugs- she’s not a Scientologist? It wasn’t Romper Room where she looked in her Magic Mirror to single people out by name

Paragraph- Brave you for being a martyr; Audra’s accomplishments aren’t that great and may easily be bettered; you think you’re just swell.

Your blog tells us much more about you than the plight of children and parents who suffer with ADHD. You are resentful Ms. McDonald is accomplished while YOU, wonderful, poor put upon you has SO much to deal with- it must be challenging to have a child who acts out. Why aren’t YOU being recognized and lauded for being so swell- some poor writer who didn’t have four members of her family in a gospel singing group, who doesn’t wear a “seriously kickass red and white gown”, someone whose own child doesn’t have talent?

There’s something called Muchausen Syndrome, which is a psychiatric factitious disorder wherein those affected feign disease, illness, or psychological trauma to draw attention, sympathy, or reassurance to themselves. You might want to research that and deal with your own psychological issues (your Twitter icon is a caricature of you in a strait jacket- no, seriously, it is).

Maybe you were just exhausted from “removing gum”. Or cataloguning all the things at which your child was not accomplished- sports, theatre, art. In a world where everyone’s given a prize for just showing up and the culture of entitlement it brings, you are an angry, bitter woman and deep down beat yourself up for not being a good parent. That is heavy but something much better dealt with in private in therapy than on a blog.

How dare you try to ruin someone’s glorious achievement because you feel you are entitled to being lauded for being….YOU? Your bizarre and ugly blogpost makes it abundantly clear that this is NOT about Audra- it’s about you, your child, your anger and shortcomings as a writer, parent and human being. You posted a YouTube video of you reading nasty things said about you online- Martyr much?

Knowing you’ve accomplished so little must be as bitter a pill to swallow as the pill you shove down your child’s throat daily- and according to most recent data, ADHD medication is not a cure- it’s just a way of delaying the inevitable problems- be they genetic and/or environmental.

Shame on you for everything.

http://time.com/2848405/sorry-audra-mcdonald-my-kid-needs-his-adhd-meds/

[tazber]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 12:40pm

Ok.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 12:55pm

I KNEW this would happen after I saw her speech. Although I figured that it'd be coming from tumblr.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 1:00pm

Kind of curious why the poster joined today just to share his/her outrage.

Are we suppose to run to the blogger's page and berate her, too?

I can pretty much assure you, Thomas_Hardy, that the blog post likely upset YOU more than it did Ms McDonald.

Updated On: 6/10/14 at 01:00 PM

[FishermanBob]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 1:01pm

Yes, and make sure you reiterate that she's a lousy mother.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 1:08pm

So much more important issues going on in this world. I am sure Mrs. Swenson will not be losing sleep over this.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 1:12pm

She'd probably be more upset about Carlos defining her by her husband!


Updated On: 6/10/14 at 01:12 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 1:25pm

I don't care about any of this snake eating its own tail bee-ess, not when there's a new Body Count album to blast. (Honestly, Pop Bubble is the funniest song of the year.)

Having said that, the following is the best one-two punch maybe ever:

I’m unfamiliar with your work. Who isn’t?

[KathyNYC2]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 1:29pm

I took no offense at Audra's comments. She was thanking HER parents for not choosing medication when she really just needed a outlet, not making a blanket endorsement for the medical field. Good for them and good that it worked out so well.

I am not upset with the blogger because unless you have a special needs child at home that you care for 24/7, you have NO idea what the pressures are and what you have to deal with. So if she blew Audra's comments out of proportion, I don't agree with her but I do understand it. As an educator, I have seen many parents who feel they can't do anything right and are failing their children no matter what they do. It doesn't take much to upset their balance. I get it..

I do NOT understand or condone the original poster in this thread however who seems to have not one bit of compassion and understanding for what this woman obviously deals with every single day of her life.



Updated On: 6/10/14 at 01:29 PM

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 1:32pm

Or why the poster chose this as his introduction to the board.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 1:41pm

thomas_hardy00--tell me again: How does one define "Internet Troll"?

[FishermanBob]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 2:01pm

The complete list of qualifications needed to become an Internet Blogger are the following:

1) The ability to type the words "My Blog".

That's it.

Enjoy the bloggers who resonate with you, ignore the rest and by all means don't get worked up over the ones you think are idiots and give them the "run" some of them so desperately crave.

[smartpenguin78]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 2:14pm

Person A is accomplished and distinguished.
Person B uses Person A to make a relatively unrelated point while still disparaging Person A.
Person C is up in arms and posts about it.
Persons D-K are up in arms about Person C.
Persons L-J are up in arms about Persons D-K being up in arms.
Person Z fell asleep.

Person A continues to be accomplished and distinguished.
Repeat onwards forever.

I'm glad to see BroadwayWorld (and the world in general) has not changed.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 2:31pm

But were parents really medicating "hyper" kids in the 70's?

[SFFrontRow]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 2:36pm

I am just being snarky and have had my fill of working with "moms" in my office...

Decided to spend my 2 cents to comment rather than on my meds today. If this blogger spent more time with her kids and less blogging about someone's acceptance speech at an awards show, maybe her kids would not need medication.

Before anyone has heart failure from my post and derides me for it, I AM JUST BEING SNARKY AND A LITTLE IRONIC.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 2:38pm

"Moms," like they're not really moms?

[SFFrontRow]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 2:41pm

By "moms" (in quotes) I mean those that will decry being limited because they are a mom while asking for accommodations that others without children dont receive. They dont want their status to be defined by their kids but then use their kids to dictate what others can expect of them. Updated On: 6/10/14 at 02:41 PM

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 2:46pm

EL OH EL @ Phyllis. Whoops...you're probably right!

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 2:50pm

I want to go on record and say that I would like to be defiled...err defined by Will Swenson....sorry Audra.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 3:50pm

But were parents really medicating "hyper" kids in the 70's?

Yup.

[beltingbaritone]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 6:06pm

Audra's response.

[indytallguy]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 6:34pm

Lots of class in that response. More than I would have been able to muster.

Updated On: 6/10/14 at 06:34 PM

[Addison D.]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 6:49pm

"Last Sunday night, I was overwhelmed with gratitude and love for my parents, who put me on the path that somehow, miraculously led to my standing on that stage, clutching that Tony. I am ashamed to admit that I don’t think I had ever truly thanked them for that before. Unfortunately my father is now deceased, but my mom was there, and I’m so grateful that in the 90 seconds allotted a winner to say thank you — and as the completely addled wreck of an emotional mess that I was at that moment — I was able publicly, from that stage, to look into her tear-filled eyes and acknowledge her struggle and thank her for making that decision. Not for driving me to rehearsals, helping me with my lines or keeping me calm, as you suggest I should have said to her, but for the actual decision she made. That is exactly what I wanted to thank her for, and I did. It was a decision that was very personal and it ended up being the right one for me. It was a moment for and about my parents and their love for me: nothing else and no one else."

Intelligent. Compassionate. Respectful. Unapologetic. Proud. Thoughtful.


Audra McDonald is remarkable.

[uncageg]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 6:56pm

She is class, personified.

[HorseTears]

Posted: 6/10/14 at 7:05pm

Absolutely perfect response from Audra.