One of the most compelling figures on the first season of VH1’s Family Therapy has been former Jackass star Bam Margera who’s simultaneously working on his relationship with his mother, April Margera, and detoxing after more than a decade of severe alcoholism.
On this week’s episode, April speculates about the cause of Bam’s lifelong attraction to danger and self-destructive behavior:
“Well, Bam had this show, and before I knew it he was able to have a show about anything he wanted on the whole planet, to be a reality,” April says during a group treatment session.
“When Bam was younger, [his father] Phil kind of started the little pranky thing. Like when I was walking into my room, he’d be hiding behind the door,”
“Taking them to ‘Incinerator Road.’ Incinerator Road was this scary, spooky road. So he’d take the kids and he’d put his arm out the window and bunk on the roof. You know, [saying it was] dead people falling on the roof, and it really affected him!”
It felt like a bit of a stretch at first (Lots of folks were frequently pranked as kids, and they didn’t all grown up to put crocodiles in their parents’ house or befriend Michael Lohan.), but Bam seems to agree that his reckless lifestyle began on Incinerator Road.
Later in the episode the Margeras participate in an emotional experiment that reveals the depth of April’s concern for her son.
The patients are taken to a cemetery, where April is forced to quite literally confront her worst nightmare.
It seems that Bam’s alcoholism had gotten so bad in recent years that April frequently feared for his life.
In the cemetery, she breaks down after seeing a tombstone with his name on it.
“I will never let that happen,” she sobs. “That’s why I am here! I don’t want that to happen.”
Powerful stuff, and a potent reminder that reality TV can – on very rare occasions – be a powerful force for positive change.
Watch Family Therapy Wednesdays on VH1 for more.
Just be warned that the show has an incredibly high Lohan factor.
