History Series / TheAct

* InducedHypochondria: Dee Dee does a combination of this as well as drugging Gypsy to actually induce symptoms in order to convince doctors that Gypsy is actually sick. Even Gypsy herself believes this to a degree, to the point that [[spoiler:when she overreacts to feeling ill in prison, the doctor firmly tells Gypsy that she's is one of the healthiest people she has ever treated and that she doesn't need anything more than an aspirin.]]

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler: Dee Dee heavily disapproves of Gypsy's relationship with Nick and chains Gypsy up to her bed as punishment. This became the final straw that Gypsy ask Nick to kill her mother in her sleep.]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/8cc910fe_b59e_46a5_9966_16c4e0ed208d.jpg]]''The Act'' is a {{Creator/Hulu}} original true-crime series.

The first season is based on a [[https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/michelledean/dee-dee-wanted-her-daughter-to-be-sick-gypsy-wanted-her-mom 2016 Buzzfeed article]] that detailed a shocking 2015 crime. Creator/JoeyKing, Creator/PatriciaArquette, Creator/AnnaSophiaRobb and Creator/ChloeSevigny star.

** The real-life events are much closer to a [[BittersweetEnding happier version]] as Gypsy went to prison for eight years and Nick was sentenced to life without parole but was still relieved to be away from her mother, even stating she felt more free in prison than with Dee Dee, and even got married while incarcerated before being paroled and released at the end of 2023, reunited with her birth father and stepsister and was welcomed into her husband's family and [[https://www.instagram.com/gypsyrose_a_blanchard/reel/C1hxEWAOAeE/ has stated that she is happy and excited about her future]]. There's also the fact that her story has garnered her a lot of sympathy from those who believe she was unfairly sentenced for her acts and see her as a victim of abuse who was forced to fight back for her own safety, particularly among other survivors of similar abuse.

* AssholeVictim: Gypsy's plan to murder her mother and run away does not come unprovoked. In fact, in real life, many people felt sorry for Gypsy after learning of the abuse she endured since childhood and felt she didn't deserve prison time for, basically, being an abuse victim who finally snapped against their long-term abuser.

** And how. [[spoiler:Dee Dee is dead, but Gypsy and Nick's lives are ruined as they're sentenced to long prison terms, and countless benefactors and friends of Gypsy feel betrayed from her and mother’s years of lies that they all detached all association from her.]]

** The real-life events are a bit closer to a [[BittersweetEnding happier version]] as Gypsy went to prison for eight years and Nick was sentenced to life without parole but was still relieved to be away from her mother, even stating she felt more free in prison than with Dee Dee, and even got married while incarcerated before being paroled and released at the end of 2023, reunited with her birth father and stepsister and was welcomed into her husband's family and is [[https://www.instagram.com/gypsyrose_a_blanchard/reel/C1hxEWAOAeE/ generally happy and excited about her future]]. There's also the fact that her story has garnered her a lot of sympathy from those who believe she was unfairly sentenced for her acts and see her as a victim of abuse who was forced to fight back for her own safety, particularly among other survivors of similar abuse.

** The real-life events are a bit closer to a [[BittersweetEnding somewhat happier version]] as Gypsy went to prison for eight years and Nick was sentenced to life without parole but was still relieved to be away from her mother, even stating she felt more free in prison than with Dee Dee, and even got married while incarcerated before being paroled and released at the end of 2023, reunited with her birth father and stepsister and was welcomed into her husband's family and is [[https://www.instagram.com/gypsyrose_a_blanchard/reel/C1hxEWAOAeE/ generally happy and excited about her future]]. There's also the fact that her story has garnered her a lot of sympathy from those who believe she was unfairly sentenced for her acts and see her as a victim of abuse who was forced to fight back.

** And how. [[spoiler:Dee Dee is dead, Gypsy and Nick's lives are ruined as they're sentenced to long prison terms, and countless benefactors and friends feel betrayed.]]

** The real-life events are a bit closer to a [[BittersweetEnding somewhat happier version]] as Gypsy went to prison but was still relieved to be away from her mother, even stating she felt more free in prison than with Dee Dee, and even got married while incarcerated before being paroled and released at the end of 2023 and has said she looks forward to living her own life. There's also the fact that her story has garnered her a lot of sympathy from those who believe she was unfairly sentenced for her acts and see her as a victim of abuse who was forced to fight back.

* ParentInducedExtendedChildhood: Dee Dee not only keeps her daughter Gypsy Rose sick for the sake of FakeCharity, but also tries to prevent her from growing up as literally as possible via real world methods. It's left ambiguous if this is to make it easier to scam money and other material benefits from well-meaning observers, or to make her easier to abuse, or some combination of the two. Either way, Dee Dee starves Gypsy Rose, keeps her medicated, subjects her to unnecessary medical treatments, [[{{Gaslighting}} gaslights]] her into believing that she's much younger than she actually is, and forces her to make use of AgeInappropriateDress -- such as Disney Princess costumes.

* BodyHorror: Gypsy's teeth rot and fall out, and later she is forced to go under anesthesia to have her remaining teeth pulled.

* DownerEnding: And how. [[spoiler:Dee Dee is dead, Gypsy and Nick's lives are ruined as they're sentenced to long prison terms, and countless benefactors and friends feel betrayed.]]

* GrassIsGreener: Lacey's life seems this way to Gypsy, and for good reason. Not only is Lacey is healthy, able-bodied, and beautiful... she has a social life including a boyfriend and a circle of friends. These are all things typical for a teenage girl, but so unattainable for Gypsy.

* HistoricalBeautyUpgrade: Patricia Arquette is naturally attractive, but not even the necessary BeautyInversion and added body weight could do anything to make her look like [[https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&authuser=0&tbm=isch&sxsrf=ALeKk03MuC-CzyQ3X9pksKHvVv-AnpRSRg%3A1599078090858&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=657&ei=yv5PX8qLMdK0tQWrqLTQCw&q=dee+dee+blanchard&oq=dee+dee+blanchard&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzIFCAAQsQMyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAA6CAgAELEDEIMBUAxYwBVg-RZoAHAAeACAAccBiAGHD5IBBDAuMTaYAQCgAQGqAQtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZw&sclient=img&ved=0ahUKEwjKmMiMpsvrAhVSWq0KHSsUDboQ4dUDCAc&uact=5 Dee Dee's]] ApronMatron.

* JerkassHasAPoint: Dee Dee's mother may have belittled Dee Dee and she was mentally abusive towards her, but Dee Dee was worrying too much about the baby (who, as the doctor said, was perfectly fine, they just needed to find a system) and Gypsy ''was'' happier, healthier and better off with her grandma than with Dee Dee.

* WideEyedIdealist: Gypsy has unrealistic expectations of romance, based on years of watching Disney Princess movies, and the real world in general. It's only to be expected given how much Dee Dee is sheltering her.

* ArtisticLicensePrison: The prison scene before the trial. There is ''absolutely'' no way that Nick would have been able to talk to Gypsy that long at the fence. At least three guards would have tackled him before he could get out two words, especially when the other inmates are up against the wall.