(Untitled screencap of Dandy and Gloria Mott)
Various forces affect perception, including the positivity bias. People in love may "look at each other through rose-colored glasses, overestimating the partner's positive qualities while underestimating or ignoring his or her faults or shortcomings (Floyd, 2011, p. 123). Perhaps no one in the history of American Horror Story demonstrates this better than Gloria Mott in the way she views her son, Dandy, even though the relationship is not a romantic one.
Dandy is essentially an egocentric, spoiled child in a grown man's body. However, he also demonstrates disturbing qualities. When the Motts' maid, Dora, confronts Gloria about this in the second episode of the fourth season, Gloria completely ignores these signs (Minear & Gomez-Rejon, 2014).
"Miss Gloria, I have some bad news. I found some of those, uh, parts behind the tool shed. There was some fur and teeth, and neighbors been stopping by all day, looking for their cat. And people have been disappearing all over town," Dora says.
"Dandy had nothing to do with that. He's just bored," Gloria argues.
Dandy is essentially an egocentric, spoiled child in a grown man's body. However, he also demonstrates disturbing qualities. When the Motts' maid, Dora, confronts Gloria about this in the second episode of the fourth season, Gloria completely ignores these signs (Minear & Gomez-Rejon, 2014).
"Miss Gloria, I have some bad news. I found some of those, uh, parts behind the tool shed. There was some fur and teeth, and neighbors been stopping by all day, looking for their cat. And people have been disappearing all over town," Dora says.
"Dandy had nothing to do with that. He's just bored," Gloria argues.
(Untitled gifset of Gloria Mott and Dora)
These idealized ways of viewing someone typically stop over time, and "people who cling to an idealized view of their romantic partners may experience disappointment when they realize the person is not as perfect as they thought" (Floyd, 2011, p. 123). However, Gloria never really experiences this. In episode 8 of season 4, even after Dandy has murdered Dora and Gloria has helped him cover it up, Gloria still has a hard time admitting that there's anything wrong with Dandy. She convinces him to see her psychiatrist by saying it's an appointment to measure Dandy's I.Q. Dandy, of course, sees right through this (Murphy & Buecker, 2014). "Do you think I'm sick, Mother?" Dandy asks. "Of course not. You're spirited," Gloria replies. | (Theultimatecomicmovielover, 2015) |