Ever since Mackenzie Phillips dropped her bombshell on Oprah – her father John Phillips raped her while high on drugs, and the sex even eventually became consensual – there’s been all of this discussion. Some people have been focusing on whether or not father-daughter incest is always rape, and others have been screaming “she has a book coming out! Poor John’s not even here to defend himself! She’s a money-grubbing skank!”
Oh dear, oh dear.
First of all, it makes perfect sense for Mackenzie Phillips to start talking about this long after her father’s death. Who could deal with the fall-out of a public revelation like this when both parties are still around? Very few people, I think.
But most importantly, Mackenzie Phillips has every damn right to cash in on this. Believer her or not, she’s telling a story, and that story is her own. Michelle Phillips might disagree. We might question Mackenzie’s motivation. But ultimately, I’m all for taking something that has hurt you terribly and making money off of it. As Steve Buscemi famously said in the postmodern cinematic masterpiece known as “Armaggedon,” – “I don’t mean to be the materialistic weasel of this group, but do you think we’ll get hazard pay out of this?”
If she wants to make money off of it, then that’s what it is, hazard pay. And anyone shedding big fat tears over poor John should honestly be glad he’s not around anymore, ’cause it would be that much bigger and uglier if he was.
As for Tracy Clark-Fory’s question – is it always rape? I’m going to go with a yes. Mackenzie Phillips was actually pretty brave to admit that the sexual relationship became “consensual,” but to an outsider looking it, it just looks like a case of Stockholm Syndrome taking hold, because – and this is important – I’m sure she cared about her father. No matter how awful he got, she probably loved him. And when the people we love do horrible things to us, we tend to disassociate from what the hell is going on in an attempt to protect ourselves from the betrayal being perpetrated against us.
As her dad, John Phillips had tremendous power over Mackenzie Phillips. On top of that, you must consider the drugs and the general batshit lifestyle of the man in question. This is John Phillips we’re talking about here.
Do all unequal relationships automatically translate to rape? I don’t know. I don’t think so. If you’re lucky enough to want the person in power, you might be alright. For a while, at least. But in the case of, say, a dad and his daughter, or, as recently discussed on Feministe, a slave owner and his slave, how real can consent be?
