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'Extremely Disturbing': Dance Moms Faces Major Backlash Over Routine Inspired By JonBenet Ramsey's Tragic Death
Dance Moms is criticized for a routine inspired by the tragedy of JonBenét Ramsey's death, with many viewers calling it insensitive.
Trigger Warning: This article contains mention of death and murder
Dance Moms: A New Era recently aired an episode that has sparked a lot of controversy over a performance inspired by JonBenét Ramsey’s tragic murder. Ramsey was a 6-year-old pageant star who was brutally killed in 1996.
In Episode 8, titled Glo Don’t Give with Both Hands, dance instructor Gloria Hampton gave Ashlan Scheide who is an 11-year-old student, a performance that drew on the gruesome details of Ramsey's tragedy. Scheide went on to perform the dance routine dressed as Ramsey, having worn a similar hairstyle as hers.
The audience was quick to react, and their reactions were intense. Several fans took to the internet to express how uncomfortable they were with the way that episode dealt with this sensitive issue. The overall consensus was that using a real-life tragedy as the foundation for a dance routine by Dance Moms: A New Era was incredibly tasteless. Critics maintained that the routine did not honestly tackle the case but rather exploited it, making a dreadful murder amusing.
Users on Reddit expressed their discontent with one user saying, "The worst part to me was Ashlan’s mom sharing the entire story with her. It clearly upset her. I couldn’t believe how much Ashlan looked like Jon Benet."
Another user pointed out, "It was extremely disturbing. I feel with cases like Jonbenet and Gypsy Rose where the cases are incredibly public, several documentaries and movies made about them…people start to blur the lines and forget these are actual real life children."
The user added, "I think a dance about Jonbenet could never truly be done in taste. Simply because there is no happy ending, it’s just emphasizing a horrific murder of a child. They could’ve easily done a beauty pageant routine without exploiting Jonbenets murder."
The portrayal of Ramsey’s murder was seen as exploitative because it turned a very grave and tragic event into mere amusement. The handling of this routine also drew criticism from viewers who felt that by retelling her story in this manner, the show’s creators had no regard for respect towards the victim and her family.
JonBenét Ramsey's case remains one of the most notorious, unsolved murders ever recorded in the history of America, hence making it a particularly sensitive subject. Her story was used by the show to make a dance number out of it which many people thought was unnecessary and exploitative of a real-life tragedy thus raising queries on ethical boundaries regarding its content.
Dance Moms has received plenty of negative feedback for its insensitiveness and disrespectfulness towards victims of real-life tragedies, thus emphasizing the necessity to be more thoughtful when referring to such delicate issues.
ALSO READ: 'I Liked Her': Abby Lee Miller Says She Felt JoJo Siwa Had 'Star Quality' During Dance Moms Days
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