@Poetist said:

I do believe Joan was strict and mean to her older children, who inherently might have problems passed down to them. Joan, a bit unstable herself, may not have known how to deal with them. By the time the twins came along, Joan may have settled in her ways or the twins might have been the perfect children for Joan.

Yes I believe exactly this.

According to Christina and Christopher, she was a monster, but I can see they were no angels themselves. Joan was taking no prisoners and that style didn't mesh well with those children. I will say Joan was at fault, but then we move into adulthood, and they still want to crawl back to "Mommy Dearest?" On the Youtube version, Joan actually helped Christina get into acting -- multiple times. At that point she was grown and or near grown, she didn't need to be returning to the well, if Joan was such a monumental monster. Christ went to a number of school due to his behavior. In life, he was not successful, didn't speak to Joan in the last 5 years of her life, and thought she was going to leave him something in her will. Again why? Anyway, I think perhaps Joan learned something from raising her older children and wanted to not repeat mistakes on the twins. That does happen.

That is why I said I have no problem believing all of it, the good and the bad. Great post.

By the way, I did find Christopher's one and only interview, and he confirms Christina's book.

https://www.joancrawfordbest.com/latimes78oct29.htm

Thanks for the link. Wow, so Chris had some stories to tell too.

"Your granddaughter needs blood and she needs it now. She might die.’ J.C. said, 'She's not my granddaughter. You were adopted.’ I lost my temper and slammed down the phone so hard I broke the receiver. That was it between J.C. and me."

"Now at Chris Crawford's Long Island house no Pepsi-Cola is served."

I can see Chris bugging out over a Pepsi the way Joan bugged out over the wire hangers.

@ScorpionQ2 said:

"Your granddaughter needs blood and she needs it now. She might die.’ J.C. said, 'She's not my granddaughter. You were adopted.’ I lost my temper and slammed down the phone so hard I broke the receiver. That was it between J.C. and me."

The point is Joan was right, but she should have said that she is not the bio grandmother. Why didn't Chris see this is beyond me? You can't give blood if the donor isn't compatible with the patient. What he probably wanted was a shoulder to lean on at the time, but I don't think Joan had that to give for him.

Scorpio : "Now at Chris Crawford's Long Island house no Pepsi-Cola is served."

I can see Chris bugging out over a Pepsi the way Joan bugged out over the wire hangers.

Me too. Plus, isn't he an alcoholic? I bet he was. He couldn't hold down a job and was on welfare.

@Poetist said:

The point is Joan was right, but she should have said that she is not the bio grandmother. Why didn't Chris see this is beyond me? You can't give blood if the donor isn't compatible with the patient. What he probably wanted was a shoulder to lean on at the time, but I don't think Joan had that to give for him.

Yes I know and I agree with all of the above.

Scorpio : "Now at Chris Crawford's Long Island house no Pepsi-Cola is served."

I can see Chris bugging out over a Pepsi the way Joan bugged out over the wire hangers.

Me too. Plus, isn't he an alcoholic? I bet he was. He couldn't hold down a job and was on welfare.

True.

@TheShredder said:

I'm watching this On Demand, and I think I might be an episode behind. But I will say that I sympathize with Joan, only because Jessica Lange does such a great job playing that character as both Jekyl and Hyde. I have a feeling in real life, Joan came out as a massive cunt/bitch. But her portrayal of Joan is almost human like. I have to say, I didn't think I'd get into this "chick" flick type story, but I am amazed by the performance of both actresses.

And I think the real Joan may have been gay. Look at the way Joan is touching her costar in this television interview. It's almost sexual @2:45 https://youtu.be/WW6RxRLLofs

I'm watching this On Demand, and I think I might be an episode behind. But I will say that I sympathize with Joan, only because Jessica Lange does such a great job playing that character

I would not conflate the real JC with the real Jessica Lange and her acting talent. Bette Davis was famously quoted, saying "I wouldn't piss on Joan if she was on fire." Joan was indeed a talented actress. Being acknowledged as the most beautiful actress wasn't enough for her. She wanted to be the most talented actress too, the honor bestowed on rival Bette. Mirror mirror on the wall ...

@SkyPowers said:

I'm watching this On Demand, and I think I might be an episode behind. But I will say that I sympathize with Joan, only because Jessica Lange does such a great job playing that character

I would not conflate the real JC with the real Jessica Lange and her acting talent. Bette Davis was famously quoted, saying "I wouldn't piss on Joan if she was on fire." Joan was indeed a talented actress. Being acknowledged as the most beautiful actress wasn't enough for her. She wanted to be the most talented actress too, the honor bestowed on rival Bette. Mirror mirror on the wall ...

Seems to me from countless television interviews with Bette Davis that Davis was actually more arrogant and egotistical than Joan ever was. Joan had beauty and star power whereas Bette had the awards. Joan's career and Oscar snubs remind me of Leo DiCaprio's career. Talent but not enough recognition from his peers.

@LadyGigi said:

And I think the real Joan may have been gay. Look at the way Joan is touching her costar in this television interview. It's almost sexual @2:45 https://youtu.be/WW6RxRLLofs

It's possible, ( and if so I don't care) but I don't believe she was gay. That would have been told after all this time and I have never heard that before. I think Joan was just being loving/comforting -maybe her co-star ( who looks to be very young) was nervous (or maybe she herself was- since it was her first TV interview ever .)

@SkyPowers said:

Joan was indeed a talented actress. Being acknowledged as the most beautiful actress wasn't enough for her.

Especially so after she was old.

She wanted to be the most talented actress too, the honor bestowed on rival Bette. Mirror mirror on the wall ...

Yes, from the Feud scene (if true, and I believe it) Bette envied Joan's acknowledgement she received for most beautiful and Joan envied Bette's for most talented. I thought they were both beautiful and both great actresses.

@LadyGigi said:

Joan's career and Oscar snubs remind me of Leo DiCaprio's career. Talent but not enough recognition from his peers.

Leo DiCaprio

@ScorpionQ2 said:

@LadyGigi said:

And I think the real Joan may have been gay. Look at the way Joan is touching her costar in this television interview. It's almost sexual @2:45 https://youtu.be/WW6RxRLLofs

It's possible, ( and if so I don't care) but I don't believe she was gay. That would have been told after all this time and I have never heard that before. I think Joan was just being loving/comforting -maybe her co-star ( who looks to be very young) was nervous (or maybe she herself was- since it was her first TV interview ever .)

Well if that's the case then her being loving towards her very young costar damages the child abuse/bitch label attached to Joan.

@ScorpionQ2 said:

I think Joan was just being loving/comforting -maybe her co-star ( who looks to be very young) was nervous (or maybe she herself was- since it was her first TV interview ever .)

I agree, and that was Joan's first TV interview. Plus, she said she was scared, and Joan was holding the interviewer's hand as well. I think there was nerves all around the set, but it didn't come across as anything but nerves and acting motherly.

@LadyGigi said:

Well if that's the case then her being loving towards her very young costar damages the child abuse/bitch label attached to Joan.

That co-star wasn't the one who accused her of being abusive or a bytch. A person can be different things to different people.

@Poetist said:

I agree, and that was Joan's first TV interview. Plus, she said she was scared, and Joan was holding the interviewer's hand as well. I think there was nerves all around the set, but it didn't come across as anything but nerves and acting motherly .

Exactly this.