Yikes! Sunday's episode of E!'s Dash Dolls introduced us to Caroline Burt's mom Gahl Burt, and it was kind of tough to watch. See, Gahl is the former White House social secretary for Nancy Reagan (and, for that matter, her dad is Richard Burt who was the United States Ambassador to Germany in the 80s). Suffice to say, the life their reality star DJ daughter is living is one the Burts are unfamiliar with, and Gahl is less than thrilled. On the show, she insulted her daughter numerous times. She judged her makeup, her friends, her clothes, and her job every chance she got.
"You have to be smarter," she chided her daughter after finding out one of her friends was heavily tattooed. Gahl worried her daughter was tarnishing her reputation by hanging out with people like that, dressing like that, and having heavy eye makeup. "You are ruining your life," Gahl proclaimed.
It all seemed a little over dramatic to me. As far as I can tell, Caroline's doing pretty well for herself. But, for the Burt parents, who spent their lives in Washington D.C.'s upper crust, I guess Caroline's pop culture lifestyle is hard for them to swallow. Gahl moved from White House social secretary to Vice Chairman of the American Academy in Berlin. She's even met Hillary Clinton.
Gahl's a high-powered person in the political world, and her husband Richard is right alongside her. After serving as Ambassador to Germany, he was appointed chief negotiator for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty by President George H.W. Bush himself. From there he moved away from government to be a consultant in the private sector. I mean, these are important people with very conservative views who can't stand the fact that their daughter is a DJ and her friends have tattoos. (Her mother, at least. We don't know how Richard feels, but I can imagine it's in line with what his wife thinks.)
You see these types of parents in movies and shows all the time, but sometimes you forget they exist in real life. It's sad to see that Gahl can't just love her daughter for who she is, tattoos, eye makeup, and all. Of course viewers only got a brief, edited glimpse at the pair's relationship, but from what I can see there's a lot of work that needs to be done there to make things right.
By the end of the episode, Gahl and Caroline bonded over deciding to read Harper Lee's new book, just like they did when they read To Kill A Mockingbird together when Caroline was little. And, Gahl even finally said hello to Caroline's friend, even though he *gasp* had tattoos. I think the show ended on a sweet note for the two, but I doubt all their problems have been solved. It's going to take some serious acceptance on both their parts to come to the realization that they have to love each other for who they are, and stop trying to make them be people they're not. Hopefully we'll see Gahl again soon, and we'll be able to see firsthand how they're attempting to mend their relationship — because life's too short to fight with your family.
Image: Dale Berman/E! Entertainment
