... taking everything into account, what I've read free on Amazon books, what I've read on other websites, certainly what I've read here. I have to conclude that Abigail must have been at her lowest in terms of happiness in the weeks/days leading up to her death. Was it as common back in the sixties to be seeing a shrink five days a week? We know she felt totally disillusioned with the world given what she'd seen as a result of her work in the Watts ghetto and her work with poverty stricken children. She wasn't close to her father, who was rumoured to have come down on her like a ton of bricks for supporting a black would-be mayor's campaign. We always hear how happy and joyful Sharon was in the weeks leading up to the baby's birth and why shouldn't she have been? She was in a good place, but we never discuss the flip side of the Sharon coin which was Gibby. Again it's a situation where the two dead girls were polar opposites. Sharon was joyful and Gibby seemed to be deeply unhappy. Someone on here said Gibby's short life wouldn't make a good book, I know I'd read it!
First, it scares me how much we think alike ; Second, once again, I totally agree. She wasn't involved in social work (she quit prior to moving into Cielo), she was unhappy with her drug habits, and she was unhappy with her boyfriend. She seemed willing to fix those areas, so perhaps she would have been happier after cleaning up her life a bit. As for Dr. Flicker, there are many possibilities. One is that since therapy wasn't as common or socially accepted back then as it is today, they took cases more seriously and had intense treatment. Another possibility is that she really was that low and depended on constant care (she could confide in Flicker more than Voytek, I'm sure). The last thing I can think of is that perhaps Flicker purposely scheduled her that way to take advantage of how wealthy she was and get paid more for seeing her so often--I certainly hope that wasn't the case, though.
Perhaps in a former life, we were twins > You raise a good point about that doctor Flicker. For a start, we know he didn't appear to respect patient confidientiality, given that we know what she had discussed with him. (That info should have only gone to the police). So him seeing her five days a week for an hour (That's five hours in therapy a week) could have been the result of him being a total wanker and seeing what most saw in Gibby (a cash cow). I believe her control over her own life spiralled as soon as she came to L.A. Though I still think something occurred pre-New York, pre-Voytek for her to seek comfort in drugs. She was too smart to be just experimenting.
and she was only 25 years old too. So young and probably still 'finding herself'. Anyone remember that term from the 60's?
Mentally, she must have felt 10 years older. I bet she was a unique one in the circle. Out of the actresses, singers, models she hung out with... she wanted to be a social worker. Was it common to be seeing a shrink so much in the 60's. I know the Sex & The City culture see a shrink over a cold these days but what about back then? I was just reading Polanski's biography and apparantly Voy had proposed to her but she hadn't said yes, and she was concerned by their mutual coke habit. She must have felt very low in the months leading up to her death.
Seems to me the intellectuals like to experiment with drugs just as much if not more than those just wanting to escape.
[quote author=moonglow link=topic=4650.msg42651#msg42651 date=1259345599] I was just reading Polanski's biography and apparantly Voy had proposed to her but she hadn't said yes, and she was concerned by their mutual coke habit. [/quote] Which Polanski bio? I've only read his autobio and I don't remember reading that part (I could be forgetting it though)
[quote author=moonglow link=topic=4650.msg42691#msg42691 date=1259371275] By a man called Paul I think. I'll double check. I tried reading it on Amazon. [/quote] How odd that someone with the name Paul would write that book.
I could be wrong, because I was pretty young back then, but in the early 60's I think that seeing a shrink was something that unless you were fabulously wealthy, didn't want bantered about in gossip circles. Now, as the mid to late 60's, from all that I've read, it was cool to see a shrink. Now, I could be wrong, but that is my understanding of how it was. Also, I don't think they had Doctor/Patient priviledge back in 1969. Not sure when it was started-any lawyers out there??? And even if there were Doctor/Patient privileges back then, Abigail was dead and I thought once a person is dead, the doctor can release records and talk about the patient to let the police and district attorneys know if anything weird was going on in the victims life. And yes, I agree with you. She must of been at the lowest ebb of her life. She had poor little rich girl syndrome, in which she tried to fill it with working, picked the wrong job to try to fullfill herself, got herself experimenting with drugs and then met Voy who gave her a whole new powerful drug and SHE LIKED IT. Maybe having to deal with a constipated, stuffy father and a constipated and stuffy society protocol really pissed her off, so she did more drugs. Being a woman was still pretty bad back then. Maybe all the social changes she wanted weren't coming fast enough for her and the way that they should come, and poor thing is just at wit's end. She's doing things to escape the life and not making good choices. Okay, I'm done with my speech. Thank you, thank you.
You feel that? That's a bunch of roses being thrown at you. Applause Applause! These days, women like Gibby, heiress' to fortunes, get their own reality shows on MTV or pretend to be actresses and sell their name on bottles of perfume. Had she been here today, I think she would have been repulsed by this generation of rich girls.
[quote author=moonglow link=topic=4650.msg42787#msg42787 date=1259453864] You feel that? That's a bunch of roses being thrown at you. Applause Applause! These days, women like Gibby, heiress' to fortunes, get their own reality shows on MTV or pretend to be actresses and sell their name on bottles of perfume. Had she been here today, I think she would have been repulsed by this generation of rich girls. [/quote] Aaahhh! Thank you for the lovely roses, moonie. And you might be right about Abigail had she lived. I think that she would of faded into the wood work and we would of never heard from her again, except for her and her husband's name being dropped in the society pages.
Being a depressed person, myself, I think that there are certain jobs that people like us should stay away from, and this includes Abigail. SOCIAL WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think one has to have a very, very, very strong constitution and to be able to let the water flow off your back when things don't work out the way you think it should be, because its not! I was thinking about going into Social Work when I was young, idealistic and in college, but my mom told me that I was depressed enough as it was, that would really send me over, and I believe that is the only advice I am glad that I followed from my mom. I think its sad that Abigail decided to choose that job to get into to help fill her void, because as I stated before, Social Work is absolutely the wrong choice for "soft" people, such as myself and Abigail. It would and will crush us and leave us a shell of our former selves, and I think that's exactly what happened to our poor Miss Folger, and I can also understand what she must of been going through, if indeed her father was as caustic as he MIGHT of been. Criticizing her for not being a lady of society and of her breeding, by hanging out with the Hollywood dregs of society (doesn't matter that they were Alisters-anyone in acting are the dregs), working of all things in a bookstore and a social worker, etc. I lived with my grandma when I went to college and she was SO SO SO great for one's self esteem. All I got was criticized, belittled, made fun of, you name it, I had to endure, so in a way, if Peter Folger was like that to Abigail, I can totally empathasize with her, but alas, I didn't do drugs to try to hide my pain.
Friends of Abigail's did say she was quoted as saying "Many people go home, take a bath and wash it all away but it gets under your skin" I can't make a judgement on whether or not she was clinically depressed, but in the months leading up to her death, in an almost foreshadowing manner, to me she seemed the most haunted/unhappy and lost herself in this hazy world of celebrity parties where the drink flowed, and psychedelic drug fuelled sex romps with Voytek on Sharon Tate's American flag covered sofa... I jest, I jest... I'm sure they didn't go that far in their quest to disrespect the flag.
Well, moonglow, you never know-about the sexual romp on the American flag. > There's something deliciously WICKED about doing it on the American flag-uh, to some folks that is, not me. My flag is outside flying in front of my house as we speak Seriously, if those two, meaning VF and AF, thought it was hilarious to drape the back of the sofa with the flag (I myself don't see the joke in it), I can see them thinking it was REALLY hilarious having a romp or two on the flag! ;D ;D
Well they were hell bent on disrespecting it by turning it upside down which I found out this week from my American friends here, that it is very offensive to do that. I wish our country had that kind of patriotic outlook.
