Posted on 05/26/2009 1:55:20 PM PDT by CMoran325
Well, I hope Joel McHale is happy.
Ok, so he's not the only one to blame, but is was the likes of McHale's portrayal on The Soup of Jon Gosselin as a hapless henpecked husband that must have drove the poor man to try and escape the world of a father-of-8-under-a-microscope.
Last night's premiere of the 5th season of Jon & Kate Plus 8 was bittersweet considering the recent developments. I believe Jon's side of the story, and I still understand that even the most innocent version of his galavanting is enough for Kate to feel very hurt and angry.
That's all you can really say. Exactly what drove Jon to such poor behavior, exactly what the couple's relationship is -- it's all pure speculation. Only the two of them truly know. What's up to us is to let these two figure it out -- especially for the sake of the children. But unfortunately, the media does not seem content to let them.
Gossip rags run covers like this, with sensational stories from folks who are paid big bucks for their indelicate info (I don't care if one of them is purportedly her brother -- what kind of brother would reveal such intimate details?):
And just look at the review of the show's premiere from the Washington Post. The producers of J&K did not send out a sneak peak, so the writer decided this was an appropriate time to launch a personal attack on the Gosselins, and a general attack on large families.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/24/AR2009052402680.html?sub=AR
The show is deemed "appalling." Kate is then unkindly described as
(Excerpt) Read more at lovehateoprah.com ...
Oh man marriage with that chick seems like a pain. No wonder he’s pulling a Berlusconni.
Gee, maybe he shouldn't have signed up to be on a reality show.
Only the two of them truly know. What’s up to us is to let these two figure it out — especially for the sake of the children. But unfortunately, the media does not seem content to let them.
So we pen a few more lines and post it on the web so the chat can go on and on.......
This family’s choice to exploit their kids and sacrifice real family life are very annoying.
Such is not Christian behavior.
Neither is invitro fertilization, in which some frozen embryos are discarded and in which children are mechanically manufactured as if they were a consumer product made to order.
It is nice that they didn’t also kill their implanted kids, but that seems a happy coincidence rather than a principled choice.
If the show is on my tv for more than a second as people flip channels I scream in pain.
Nothing ‘drives’ a man to affairs.
He either chooses to honor his vows or he does not.
*cough*RATINGS*cough*
After I slept on my thoughts about this public train wreck in progress, I spoke with my wife about it this morning. She’s a past president of a Mothers of Multiples chapter, multiples are a blessing, but there are always sad stories — a couple worse than J&K+8’s by a significant stretch.
It is a sad thing, for sure. I suspect that fame has overly insulated the couple from any real chance for help at this point. Overnight I remembered initial season, where they had some family — where did the family go? Where are the helping neighbors? They moved to new big, isolated house — they cut themselves off from family, friends and church. That was a mistake.
And why should we care!
You’re as cynical as me, LOL. That’s what I’ve wondered all along. After a few seasons, same old, same old...introduce some drama and I bet their ratings soar.
Yes, Kate has really been nasty towards Jon for some time now. I believe that Jon finally got tired of her running all over the country doing interviews & book stores and not paying any attention to him. I haven’t liked her attitude for some time now & will no longer watch the show.
For the record I have NO IDEA who these people are, what they do, if they do it well, or why the press has them in my face 24/7.
Woops - I rushed to judgment and would like to correct the record. I am happy to report that this couple did NOT use IVF:
“Kate used Clomid and Intrauterine Insemination (they inject semen into the uterus) with both pregnancies. When she went to get pregnant with the tups, her ovaries became overstimulated with the Clomid and she had 8 ripe follicles. The Dr refused to inseminate her and hospitalized her. Apparently the Drs orders didnt matter to Kate and she had sex with Jon anyway and she was diagnosed pregnant 5 weeks later.”
These people are the same as the “we both work for the childrens sake” crowd. Both parents work because they want a Mercedez, a bigger house, nice vacations. In the meantime, their kids are in pre-care even when they’re sick, all in the name of “living a better life”.
Jon and Kate made a conscieous decision to keep this show going. To sign new invasive contracts and to place the kids in a very unusual childhood upbringing. They’ll be followed around the rest of their lives and some will end up as most childhood stars do. Alcoholics, drug abusers etc. Sad.
Because these shows are going to be used by Libs as examples of why we need manditory limits on family size (in addition to the usual “save the earth, abort the humans” argument). It’s not that I care about the personal comings and goings, I don’t even watch the show, but I do care how it’s being used by the liberals.
“introduce some drama and I bet their ratings soar”.
...some occassional spankings would help. Perhaps they’ll have a “look at what the cat dragged in” episode with Jon stumbling in at 4am with lipstick on his collar etc. That would spice it up. After all, it’s for the children!
It has nothing to do with being Christians or refusal of selective reduction.
This couple gives Christianity a bad name. Kate refuses to let John be the head of the family. She now pridefully thinks the show is about her, not the family. It has degenerated into a weekly update on the latest way of exploiting the kids, and greedily seeing how much money and materialism Kate can collect. And Maddie is the most obnoxious kid on television. Kate must have missed that scripture about sparing the rod. If they dont get Maddie under control soon then in a few years they can have a special on her teenage years as she rebels her way through sex, drugs, rock & roll and alcoholism. She’s begging for discipline, in fact they all are, including Mom and Dad.
Death to so-called Reality Shows!
The downfall of American culture on display.
Almost seems like someone planned for this to happen.
showing them support on a web post is a lot different than excoriating them in the mainstream press
as a reply to you and all the other negative comments — so much for the plea for charitable thinking
the parents of these children did not set out to expose their children to this — if you watch the first specials which then turned into the first season, it was all very innocent
I doubt anyone would have passed up the opportunity for the financial security with such a large family to provide for — simply letting a camera crew follow you around for a couple days a week as you go about your daily lives at home, or make a visit to the dentist or a gymboree
there was no way they could have predicted the overwhelmingly positive response to their show which unfortunately has now sickeningly morphed into this fiasco — thanks to a dogged paparazzi and a liberal media who loves to bring families like this down
no, Jon, was not “driven” to questionable behavior (one should take him at his word that he has been faithful)— it was a poor choice of words, since of course he is responsible for his own actions — but challenging his manhood week in and week out must be very hard on the male psyche
as for the conception of the sextuplets — good for the doctor who was the level-minded party — you can’t blame Kate *and Jon* for wanting to just proceed when you consider the emotional and financial toll the procedures take on a couple — considering that a result of sextuplets — even with so many eggs — is so rare — and they knew they would accept any and all babies conceived...
“This couple gives Christianity a bad name”
so does being so judgmental
How do you know she isn’t letting him be the head of the family? Based on what is seen on tv? We have no idea, looking at such a small sample of their lives
The materialism was a bit disturbing, but they had to move to a new house bec people were camping out on their front lawn (not to mention they were bursting at the seams in that small house as the kids got older) — but again — if someone says — hey come to our dude ranch on us — all you have to do is let some cameras follow you...
And whereas the twins behavior seemed troubling, again ratings demand showing the most sensational scenes — TLC carries the most blame for exposing this family to such scorn — thankfully, in the first episode, it seems the twins are in a better frame of mind and are more sweet and helpful
let’s wish for the best and not immediately take to task people that when you think about it — YOU DON’T REALLY KNOW (yes, I don’t know them either — I’m choosing to look at them in a more charitable way — isn’t that WWJD?)
Well, that is very interesting but Jon and Kate didn't use invitro.
I see that you corrected yourself. Sorry, I jumped the gun.
I’ve always thought that people who would want tv cameras in their home must have some screws loose.
That this situation involves so many children who have no choice is even sadder.
We can't wish for the best. The best would be that the show is cancelled and the parents try to remake some semblance of normal happy family life for their children.
Looks to me like they aren't even going to TRY for the best. So, why should I be charitable?
“I doubt anyone would have passed up the opportunity for the financial security with such a large family to provide for”
Pass up the “opportunity” to expose my home - my marriage and children for everyone to see?
Ummm...hell yea - I would pass that up in a minute - and I do have a large family.
I suppose Mrs. Temple was totally "un-Christian" in "exploiting" her daughter Shirley in her long career as a child star. I wonder how it is that Shirley grew up to be a normal adult, being appointed by President Reagan to positions of responsibility and prestige (ambassadorships). Not to mention the joy Miss Temple brought to hundreds of millions of people over the years.....and it continues to this day.
I guess it's very evil for children to be in show biz or TV biz. And the parents of such children will definitely go to hell for "pimping" their unprotected and abused kids in the cesspool that is TV.
Leni
“...must have drove ..”
The author might have considered a grammar lesson or two before criticizing anyone.
And I even charitably corrected the is/it mistake in my quote.
I don’t recall anything about the Temple family putting their home - their marriage - their family time in front of cameras.
They are not acting like a Christian husband and wife. I’m ashamed that they call themselves Christian.
They should cut the show and work on their marriage.
They were on TV talking about their marriage. It is out in public, and they are setting themselves up for this type of banter.
It would be different if these were 2 private individuals, but they are not.
If they wanted their marrital problems to be private, then they should cancel the show and work on their marriage.
writing in an informal way and an obvious typing error— are you really going to be that nit-picky?
I realize that this forum can get contentious, but I strive for civility
this is not easy at times — and no one wants to be a doormat — but can we stick to the overall themes and have some real dialogue — not schoolyard bickering?
In my case, it’s not hate so much as I really don’t care.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see them rise above their problems, forgive each other, and move on to have a healthy, loving relationship? Isn’t this what we should want for them?
All marriages go through rough times, even Christian marriages.
I agree. At the end of last season, Jon was openly unhappy with the whole thing. They didn't go into a lot of detail, as far as I know, but living in the public eye was clearly wearing on him. They indicated that they might not come back for another season. Kate wanted to; Jon did not: it was left a bit up in the air.
Then the scandals hit, and all the dirty laundry came out. And they came back for another season.
Not wise.
It would be wonderful, and I hope they do that, but not on national TV.
All they have to say is that we are not doing the show anymore so that we can concentrate on our marriage and our family. Maybe, they could do 1 special a year to show what the kids are up to. That’s it. No limelight. Work out their personal problems behind closed doors.
The initial grammatical comment was because the post seemed to be a clip from the trashy mag. Sorry. If you think that’s contentious, you haven’t been around long.
I’ve never seen the show in question and don’t plan to, either. I had seen the mag at a supermarket checkout and had no clue who they were featuring, so when I saw this thread, wanted to find out who the celebs were.
This type of incendiary reality TV will further decay our already decaying culture. And it is the kids who do not benefit.
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