Several months ago I had a vaguely weird dream which woke me up. When I woke up my first thought (though I did not remember the dream very clearly) was "Kate Gosselin has sold her soul to the devil". I said this aloud while lying there in bed. Kirk looked at me very strangely.
I explained to him that from a psychological stand-point, I really felt there were bad things in store for the children and for the Gosselins.
Let me clarify for those of you who somehow missed the phenomenon of Jon & Kate plus 8. The show chronicles the lives of parents of multiples - one set of twins and one set of sextuplets. I never really watched the show much. At first Kirk watched it once in a while. I think he found it soothing to watch someone dealing with the chaos of multiples - it made our life seem calm and sedate by contrast. Eventually I caught a few episodes here and there (it's on TLC almost all day sometimes). My daughter thought it was fun to watch. My best friend Shannon somehow developed a crush on Jon (not exactly sure what that's all about!). So I became gradually aware of the show. But usually I found Kate slightly annoying. She harps on Jon too much and she's too controlling with the kids. Control-freakishness is difficult for me to watch, it makes my skin crawl a little - so usually, I could never watch a whole episode.
But the kids are cute and how can you not wish this seemingly somewhat normal if noisy household the best? How can you not admire them for giving it a valiant go? So, if not a total fan of Kate, I still felt that I could understand the appeal of the show and certainly, I could understand the appeal of the cute factor of the children. Plus if you're a mom struggling with potty training one kid, I would imagine watching an episode of Kate trying to train 6 of them at the same time would be hugely reassuring.
But then...gradually, things about the show started to bug me.
Why are they ALWAYS going on vacation? When did Jon quit working and what does he do exactly? Why are Kate's parents completely out of the picture? Why does Kate have friends and people who seem to help with the kids and then suddenly, it seems they are written out of the show? What happened to that pretty Aunt Jody who used to be around and suddenly isn't? Why is Kate being psychotic about insisting that they ALL go to the furniture store to pick out furniture with the kids in tow? I only had two toddlers at once and even I know that's a terrible idea. Who is paying for all this product placement? Wow! They are getting a lot of free crap. Kate's fronting like she's worried about money, worried about how much she is spending on the bunk beds but she's making like $75,000 per episode! Come on! Suddenly they are moving into a giant compound like mansion on a bajillion acres and I'm suppose to still feel sorry for the struggle of a mom with multiples with a husband with a low paying tech job? The whole premise of the whole show is blown by the success of the show. Man these kids are whiny, whiny, whiny. Kate is getting shrill and awful. Kate is getting very tan. Kate is getting thinner. Jon now has hair plugs. Kate's clothing is getting expensive. and handbags. When they filmed a renewal of wedding vows ceremony in Hawaii last year I thought it seemed like the most joyless exercise in futility I've ever seen. That's when I knew it was effectively over for Jon & Kate.
You can't allow your personal life to become your job and not have it affect your personal life. Especially for the kids.
Remember back when the Dionne Quintuplets were born and the Canadian government practically set them up as a roadside attraction and then later we all thought that was horrible? The girls did not turn out well. What's different about this?
And consider:
Kate and Jon had only been married a little over a year when she decided to try fertility drugs to get pregnant with the twins. Then not long after that they tried it again when they got the sextuplets. Who does that? Who jumps right into fertility drugs so early? I think it's weirdly suspect. We've all thought octo-mom has lost her mind but is Kate really that different? And where do you suppose octo-mom got the idea in the first place?
Now it's all gone to hell in a handbasket. Kate and Jon are on the cover of most of the tabloids this month. A new season of Jon and Kate is starting next week. Divorce is in the air. Mark my words, this is going to get uglier and uglier.
And for the record, any of you out there thinking of starring in your own reality television show, consider these marriages and families from recent years:
Yep, all divorced now and/or kids seriously jacked up.
If Jon and Kate put their kids on a regular tv program and lived in California, child labor laws would prevent them from being on camera the amount of time they are on camera while being filmed at their home in Pennsylvania. Kate says they are trapped now - that in order to make a living they have to continue because this is their source of income.
Mark my words there is more trouble ahead for these kids. Kate will not stop though. I guarantee you it's going to become the Kate plus 8 minus 1 show. It will be all about how Kate copes with the divorce and being a single parent. The kids will be the fodder of the tabloids for years and years to come. As teens things will get really ugly. Look what often happens to child stars - how is this any different? It's actually far worse, because rather than playing a 'character' the character is themselves. A recipe for disaster.
2 comments:
YES! I was right behind you in suspicions, anyway! I cringed every time she barked at her husband like a child, needlessly, shamelessly. I noticed how their body-language for the interview was embarrassingly contrary to each other; it was like they couldn't let their shoulders touch and they were both pulling away from each other.
Worst of all and most telling was how she interrupted him and never let him finish a sentence, or contradicted him non-stop. Her little habit of slapping him in the face was not coy or playful, it was offensive and humiliating.
And that shopping trip for beds was outrageous...I wondered what her real purpose was in making it an arduous community affair and being so darn indecisive about selecting furniture.I thought their "old" house was amazing.
The one twin Maddy I think, is satan-spawn. Her big-girl tantrums are disgusting and indulged to the point of ritualized psychosis.
Me thinks the apple doth not fall far from the tree.
I never watch it...in fact I can't now...turned the cable off. But I do remember catching about 5 minutes of it and thinking the family was headed for cliff at a very high speed. Too much stress for even the most well-adjusted family and Kate did not strike me as very well adjusted. It's a sad state of affairs, thats for sure.
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