Talk about symbolism gone wrong! It was beyond disturbing watching Jodi pound the mask of her face with stones. I don't think this is good for anyone, even Jodi. Especially since this is someone who already feels like her looks are ugly. I have believed from the first day that that show biz place was supposed to make the mask out of something breakable like plaster of Paris. Instead of IV saying that it wasn't don't right, she creates her worst exercise to date (Jill's sock puppets are a very close second). After unsuccessfully stoning her face, Jodi throws it of the side of the building onto concrete! WTF?

I am not a fan of Jodi's but she did not deserve this. It was mean and degrading.

• RE: Jodi stabbing her face!!!,kree, 09:44 PM, 04-18-06
  • RE: Jodi stabbing her face!!!,standinmytruth, 10:06 PM, 04-18-06
    • RE: Jodi stabbing her face!!!,Baxtera, 08:12 AM, 04-19-06
      • RE: Jodi stabbing her face!!!,EMTBGRL, 08:34 AM, 04-19-06
        • RE: Jodi stabbing her face!!!,Lanna42, 10:21 AM, 04-19-06
          • RE: Jodi stabbing her face!!!,Baxtera, 11:05 AM, 04-19-06
            • RE: Jodi stabbing her face!!!,Juliejo, 11:17 AM, 04-19-06
            • RE: Jodi stabbing her face!!!,EMTBGRL, 11:18 AM, 04-19-06
    • RE: Jodi stabbing her face!!!,Girl41, 02:32 PM, 04-21-06
• RE: Jodi stabbing her face!!!,Cleverone, 12:29 PM, 04-19-06
  • RE: Jodi stabbing her face!!!,punkin123, 01:21 PM, 04-19-06
    • RE: Jodi stabbing her face!!!,Baxtera, 01:26 PM, 04-19-06
      • RE: Jodi stabbing her face!!!,standinmytruth, 02:09 PM, 04-19-06
      • RE: Jodi stabbing her face!!!,Cleverone, 01:20 AM, 04-20-06
• RE: Jodi stabbing her face!!!,JustBNMe, 06:55 AM, 04-20-06
  • RE: Jodi stabbing her face!!!,Baxtera, 08:06 AM, 04-20-06
    • RE: Jodi stabbing her face!!!,tac_2, 02:05 PM, 04-20-06
      • RE: Jodi stabbing her face!!!,Baxtera, 02:27 PM, 04-20-06
        • RE: Jodi stabbing her face!!!,alaholly, 01:23 AM, 04-21-06
• RE: Jodi stabbing her face!!!,maryellennaco, 05:52 PM, 04-21-06

I didn't see the show today and am really glad I missed that. The mask was horrid, but what the heck is Iyanla thinking? She uses a lot of pschotherapy and goes a little too far sometimes. If that exercise was meant to help Jodi, I can tell you form your description that it was mean and wrong, and probably sent Jodi in the wrong direction emotionally.

The stones were suppose to symbolize Jodi's commitments to herself. When the stones wouldn't crush her face--I swear that think was made of iron--then Iyanla tried to save the already failed symbolism by saying, "See, your commitments aren't stong enough." Oh, there's more, Iyanla has Jodi throw it from the balcony down to the pool patio it chips a bit and then they show Jodi's face at the bottom of the pool. Itwas like her face was a monster in a horror film that could not be distroyed.

Jodi should have left today while she had the chance.

It was rather funny when the thing wouldn't die. It was like it was mocking IV. I was waiting for her to get out her hammer and start beating on the thing.

It was a rather bizarre exercise to destroy your own face.

OK. I am not a Jodi fan, but this exercise was over-the-top to me. I also was disturbed by the other HG's standing at the glass doors, staring out onto the balcony, watching Jodi "destroying her mask." Ugh. Nosy. If I had been watching that occurring, I am not sure that I wouldn't have butted in and grabbed the mask and ran! Yelling, "Jodi I'm saving you from yourself and this EXERCISE!!" Then again, what would I DO with that thing?? I couldn't keep it in my house because it would keep me up at night!

The symbolism of Jodi destroying her mask with rocks (How do 'rocks' symbolize 'committments?' they are 'written in stone?' --I don't get that--but I digressed)--final thought:

There is nothing HEALING about self-mutilation of any kind. Since the mask was a direct plaster mask of Jodi's ACTUAL face? It was beyond bizarre to ask her to destroy it with rocks. Then? When she can't break it with rocks, to toss it off a balcony? Half of which lies in the bottom of the pool looking up at Jodi with a half crushed pathetic look of "Save Me!"--Yeah. That would help anyone. (NOT!)

Another one of Dr. Iyanla's "experiments" gone terribly wrong.The thing that wouldn't die is a great analogy for that bash and drown session Jodi had with her mask. Jodi needed to destroy it but there was no internal recognition of what it represented so as far as I could tell it was a waste of time.Jodi doesn't get what the mask represents.The symbolism is lost on her completely.And it did turn into almost a self-mutilation exercise.You can't solve a problem if you can't define it and Jodi hasn't defined it yet.At least her motivation seems genuine which is more than I can say for for some HG's.

I do put this on IV not on Jodi. The high priestess again has put little effort into her client and then blames the client for not succeeding. Gee big suprise.

I find it highly disturbing to encourage someone who already lacks self-esteem regarding their looks to take rocks and self-mutilate a picture of themselves. I fail to see how that utlimately helps to not encourage to continue to work at continuing the self beating.

As usual IV screws up and the band plays on while the Titanic sinks.

It reminded me of a Voodoo show I watched on TV when I was a kid. I dont' see how this exercise is helping Jodi one bit. But I am glad the mask is broken and maybe Iguana will move on to something else. It was very disturbing to watch Iguana and her Voodoo exercise.

Hi Baxtera!

Jodi--as the Titanic?? That's funny! Especially since the third ship in the White Star Line was supposed to be called the "Gigantica" --how appropriate for Jodi!

However, let's not compare the heroism and courage of the eight men that played music for other people as the Titanic went down (and them with it.)

The idea that Jodi would do anything for other people as the "ship" was sinking? Yeah, right. None of the LC's, either. More like, Be the First Ones in the LifeBoat! You are fighting for your OWN lives! Eh?

If they'd been on the Titanic? I am guessing eyes would have been clawed out (by Jodi) to save herself, the All-About-Me Queen. Right?

It was
>like her face was a
>monster in a horror film
>that could not be distroyed.

Maybe one morning when Jodi wakes up, the mask will be reassembled and on her bedside table!

LAST EDITED ON 04-19-06 AT 12:30 PM (EST)

I know that "I am the minority here", but I disagree...I saw the attempts to destroy the mask as a metaphor to get Jodie to see that her half-a$$ed commitments to herself were no more than the small stones that she used to try to break the mask...the exercise was meant to show her that it's going to take more than what she's given at this point to make real change.

It was Jodie who decided to finally be rid of her obsession with parading around with a mask (her sheild for life so she says) on. Iyanla was trying to show her that unless she decides to make a real commitment to really get down to the basics of who she is, she will never change.

I didn't find any thing demeaning or degrading about it as it wasn't truly Jodie's face, but a representive of the way Jodie hides behind the front she so aptly puts up. I believe that Iyanla is really trying to break down Jodie's resistance to the change Jodie claims to want sooo badly (hah,she hasn't shown me anything worthy of real change at this point).

Unfortunately, Jodie gained nothing from this exercise because in her next trip to Curves...she went back into her song and dance about the scale A-G-A-I-N ... Jodie should leave because she doesn't want to change and in spite of everyone and everything they've done to try to help her, she retreats back to her same old ways. She's the most obstinate HG to date....(she and that Christina---the horse lady from Virginia---are running neck and neck in their resistance to change)...she's a waste of space in the SO house.

Someone had suggested in another thread that she's there only to create friendships...it's looking very much like that as I'm sure she doesn't have many friends because she's so shallow and controlling that not many people would hang in there for long...she's very boorish.

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"I walk in my own shoes..."
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I agree with you Cleverone. That mask wasn't supposed to break with a few taps from little stones. Jodi stagnated in her progress and has been unwilling to make a real commitment to change. The BOR C was well deserved. She justs looks desperate for attention and unwillingly to do the work.

I do put much of the blame on IV because she picks one metaphor and drives it into the ground instead of recognizing this approach isn't working try another way. She often accuses the hg of being stubborn or resisting the process but I find her to be stubborn and lazy because if the HG don't "get" her she doesn't try to teach it another way but keeps yelling louder. It's the old adage it's not that I'm deaf I speak another language. IV keeps yelling it's not that Jodi's deaf she speaks a different language than the voodoo priestess and the mask isn't meaniful for her, she needs another activity to make this work for her. IV would get an F at the BOR if I was grading her progress as a LC.

i'm not a fan of jodi's or iyanla's and i still found the whole thing gross. did anyone notice that it WASN'T a mask? a mask is something that is WORN. the whole thing was stupid from the get go. i think they got the order wrong when making the face, then jodi symbolically painted it with NO sybolism involved, then they couldn't get her to throw away the thing much less distroy it. if the stone analogy was planned you can't argue that the throwing off the side of the house was because the darn thing would have shattered instead of chipped. this was an example of SO's perfect inefficiency.

Baxtera, I know from your postings that Iyanla isn't a favorite of yours and you're entitled to that opinion and sometimes I agree with your assessment of her antics, however, Iyanla is very wise and probably doesn't care for some of these exercises herself (not sure who comes up with them)...you can almost tell which ones she really feels good about . She just isn't breaking that hard outer shell that Jodie keeps on and I'm not sure if anyone can. I'm at the point of wanting them to" smack some sense into her".

Jodie does speak a different language and the exercises haven't done a thing for her to open up and take a good look at how she portrays her self...no matter how much she looks in the mirror...she "only sees what she wants to see" . I don't think anyone can help Jodie until she's ready to change and it ain't happening right now...they need to send her on her merry way if she doesn't let somebody into that thick head of her's real soon!

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"I walk in my own shoes..."
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As usual this was just another one of Iyanla's stupid exercises which went nowhere. That being said Jodi isn't going to get anything they are tryong to teach her because she has no interest in changing and really likes herself the way she is. If she wasn't happy she would be at least trying to get things instead of fighting every single thing clear down to being rude to the nutritionsit and refusing to get on a scale 99% of the time. I bet the only reason Jodi was doing her crying act when it came time to get rid of the plaster mask was because it meant she could keep it nor could she give it to Iyanla to remember her by. It looked like a halloweeen mask before she even painted it.

Where does it say Jodi's goal is weight loss? I know the obsession has been getting her on the scale and getting her to lose weight but I thought the goal was about control and releasing it? However, the obsession has seemed to have been on her weight and diet.

Maybe a better approach would be looking at some trust exercises, ropes courses on which she has to depend and release control to others. I don't know but I'm no life coach and that's the first thing that came to my mind, not masks, painting or dieting. If you want someone to release control put them in a situation where they don't have control and they have to get used to it.

>
>Maybe a better approach would be
>looking at some trust exercises,
>ropes courses on which she
>has to depend and release
>control to others.

But that approach would be too mainstream for IV, never mind that they work. She's more into ground-breaking forms of therapy that keep our eye on her, not on her victims.

Jodi doesn't care what Iyanla makes her do so long as she can remain in the house until she's got something better to do with her life. So it all works - two control freaks playing together, both getting what they want.

That's why I see IV as a voodoo priestess out there giving motivational speeches guru and not a life coach. She will continue to bash Jodi for not getting exercises that don't meet her needs instead of developing exercises that are outside IV's comfort zone but actually meet the needs of her client. IV wouldn't necessarily have to go herself she could arrange for someone to come and do the exercises with Jodi but rather than sending her to a mask shop and an art therapist find someone who would actually reach her client. IV is a fake.

I totally agree. She may be a good motivational speaker (I don't know for sure but some people seem to think so) but she rarely really connects with her clients. She either patronizes them, bullies them, plays with them using humiliating exercises, or if she happens to like them (Allison), she mothers them. She doesn't get Jodi at all. Not that any of us do either but she is supposed to be the "Professional". She probably should have let someone else work with Jodi because Jodi has some pretty deep issues that haven't been uncovered yet. Maybe Dr. Stan could help her if they would let him.

What was that thing MADE out of?? Did you see it from the backside when Iguana was holding it?? Looked like about a 3 inch wide hunk of concrete or something. That was no plaster of paris!!! That thing looked to be quite substantial... And it was a horrible abuse of Ben Franklin.