I don't watch reality television. I don't watch much television to begin with. I'd rather read a book, have a nap, have a conversation, create something than sit in front of the TV. I don't understand the need for "reality" TV. Life is real enough is it not? Don't we all have enough reality going on to cope with ... do we really need to be voyeurs about what happens in other people's lives? And quite honestly, does anyone seriously believe that what is touted as "reality" is in fact "real"? Isn't it just fiction made to "look" real?
I'm so sick and tired of hearing about Jon and Kate Gosselin and their life. Who ARE these people? Why does anyone care? I have never watched their program, however, I feel quite familiar with them as everywhere I turn in a store there are their faces and their life, plastered and splattered for all to see. Have they heard of privacy? Have they any sense of teaching values to their children? They have eight of them for goodness sake. Eight little people who need to know how to get on in their own lives. Is exploiting them on television and magazine covers in their best interest? I can't answer any of these questions. I'm not a qualified professional.
It seems to me that the focus for this couple has become money and fame, however they can find it. And they found it through a network that has no problem in making money from using them to their own advantage. The Learning Channel. What "learning" do they profess to share? These aren't the lessons I want anyone I love to learn.
Do I care about Jon and Kate Gosselin and what they do with their marriage or their personal lives? Not in the least. I do care about those eight children.
I don't know who watches a program like this nor do I know what they derive from doing so...or what they hope to gain. It seems voyeuristic, like watching a tragedy unfold and being unable to move because it is mesmerizing. It's rubber necking. Move on people, move on.
If the parents don't have the good sense to end this now that the "fun" has worn off and the focus has shifted, then I can only hope the network has the sense to put the children first and move on to some other programming. Maybe if people stopped watching the message would be hammered home.
*edited at 11:09 a.m. -- just read that TLC is putting this "program" on hiatus. Perhaps the pressure from the outside world has given them a conscience. Amen.
*photo "buterfly kisses" originally uploaded to flickr by jeri leandera February 6, 2007
13 comments:
I SO Agree With You!!!
I'm with you - books, naps, conversation and creativity!
Jon and Kate will go away soon enough and their childrens' lives will never be the same. I pray they haven't gotten lost along the way.
You said it well. I worry about the children. In their little lives they know, no different than a camera in their view, what happens to them when the cameras are gone. This whole story breaks my heart. It is like the old saying too much of something good can be not so good. BTW I love the photo!! Enjoy your day!! xoox
This, and other reality shows are like traffic accidents - you don't want to look, but there's a ghoulish part of you that can't help it. The trick is to keeping changing the channel. I, too, don't watch much tv let alone reality tv. I guess they were in it for the money because it was a heck of a lot easier than working double shifts to feed eight mouths and buy sixteen shoes on a regular basis and save for eight college educations. This will fade, something else will take it's place (unfortunately). You gotta feel for those kids, though. Any way you slice it they get the short end of the stick.
I don't watch reality tv either. What a waste! I wonder what Jon & Kate will do when the limelight isn't shining on them anymore? Do you think their marriage and family life were worth the 15 minutes of fame? Sad. Poor little kids.
I'm not sure if you remember the Loud family from the original "reality" show--from PBS, I'm sad to say, in the late 60's/early 70's. Many years later, one of the sons said, "Television ate my family."
I couldn't agree with your post more. It saddens me beyond all hope at times-wondering who we are. The high ratings, incredible sales, and insatiable attention wouldn't happen without us, after all. Because if we don't watch, they don't continue. It is on us. I often think about the complaints about the invasion of privacy of celebrities: If we didn't buy the magazines based soley on those photos, the paparazzi would disappear. It's on us.
I try to avoid all of these shows/exploitations, but it's impossible--even waiting in an airport, for example, the TV is blaring blaring blaring. I make myself not click on their stories-but even I find it hard. The voyeur runs deep.
I do fear for the children. Not just those of the reality show, but the millions being raised on these shows, thinking they are "normal." Maybe Father Knows Best wasn't normal either, but it sure gave me hope, as a small child, for a better world.
Thanks for this post.
Well, I don't know the show you are referring to, but I guess "reality" tv is much the same everywhere. I don't have a television set, so I don't watch. But I wonder at what I see other people watching and alway ask myself, what exactly has them in front of the tv! What do they find so fascinating? I have no idea! The world has become a very strange place.
I agree with you.
I enjoy "people" watching in real life, much more interesting and especially fun if my mum is with me to share.
As for people making hard cash out of their children...I have no respect for them at all.
I don't know that couple or show, but agree about reality-tv. Horrifyingly stupid.
But your words about the kids got me thinking. What about blogs? I sometimes wonder if I am crossing a line when I'm putting my chidren on my blog. Just thinking.
I am behind you 110% ...
we have watched jon and kate plus 8 for the past 2 years and grew to love the family...
we even know the kids by name...
we felt like they lived next door....
but no longer...and it's all very sad...our hearts break for the children....
Well I agree totally with you! I do not like reality tv. I know for a fact it is not real. The producers tell them what to say and do. But we all know this anyway. Are people's lives so boring or empty that they get so addicted to these shows. I know I should not judge but come on people get a life.I'm sorry this post has hit a nerve.
I'm glad I've met someone who feels the same. Most of my friends love reality TV. And I just do not get it.
I admit to being one of "those" who watched the show, more out of a lack of anything better to watch, I loved the babies and their antics and how the older girls coped.
But you could see the raw side to the way she treated her hubby and he was so passive you began to watch to see how and what kind of abuse she's be heaping on him.
It's sad and unfortunately twp parents are so bloody selfish, the kids will be the victims
Alli xx
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