But while Richard Heene clearly comes off as a jerk dad with an unhealthy desire for media attention, what about wife and mother Mayumi? Friends say she was clearly subservient to her husband, and will probably stick with him all the way to jail: Balloon Boy Mom: Co-Conspirator or Abused Wife?
"She's from Japan. She told me stories about her life in Japan with her father. He was very overbearing and abusive. She came over here to be an actress," Slusser said. "Who does she meet? Richard Heene. They met in acting school when she could barely speak English. He wowed her. She kind of went from the frying pan to the fire."Ugh. Like the stereotype of a docile, subservient Asian wife, Mayumi seems to be doing everything to back up her husband, even to her own detriment. And with a guy like Richard calling the shots, that's an extremely bad combination:
"It's a cultural thing and he leveraged that knowledge," Stevens said. "He believed that Asian women can be subservient and that's what he wanted. But it takes two to tango and she was with him for more than a decade. Every day that was the dynamic in play."There were even past indications of a domestic violence situation. I wouldn't doubt it. Mayumi's lawyer is apparently pushing against accusing her of being a co-conspirator in the alleged hoax. I wouldn't say she's completely innocent, but it's fairly clear that Richard, who has referred to Mayumi as his "ninja wife," is the real asshole here.