Mackenzie Phillips, My Thoughts

Mackenzie Phillips in some ways is easy to get a 'read' on and in others is extremely difficult. She has led a weird and less than ordinary life and this shows through in her body language, gestures, and personality.

First the question everybody is asking: Did she have a incestuous relationship with her father? Yes, she shows no signs of deception when she is speaking about their relationship over the many years. However, she does show concealment when she is talking about how the sexual relationship started. She has repeated the same sentence almost verbatim in each and every interview about how the sexual relationship began; she also changes her speech pattern while stating this sentence; and she gestures less. When she reads it from the book, it is slightly different than how she describes it when being interviewed- the difference is significant in subtle ways- in some ways she further distances herself from the "act" while at the same time is more graphic about the act.

She does not accept any responsibility for the relationship, and in the interviews the focus has only been on the start and the end of the relationship. They way she describes the start would legally be considered rape. At what exact point did it become consensual? These questions are not asked (because of the nature of TV and the subject matter) and therefore we are left with the mystery of how she really felt about the relationship and what emotions she had, for instance was there anger, guilt, satisfaction, etc.



I began this article speaking to her odd body language and gestures. She does some things that are opposite of what we'd expect... When she says shocking things, she turns to the audience- whereas we'd expect some turning away from the words, maybe some embarrassment or even shame... it is like any attention good or bad is well received my Mackenzie. I believe collectively we feel uneasy watching her in interviews and contribute the uneasy feeling to the content of what she is saying, but I feel we sense something deeper in her mannerisms that contribute to the uneasy feeling we all share.◦

Mackenzie Phillips, My Thoughts