Posted on 11/17/2008 12:17:58 PM PST by buccaneer81
‘Jon & Kate’ are doing their children no favors By Mark A. Perigard
TLC’s favorite fertile couple renews their vows tonight.
But this wedding may have some viewers raising objections.
As the episode opens, the Gosselin clan - parents Jon and Kate, twins Mady and Cara and the 4-year-old sextuplets - are vacationing in Maui.
The parents hammer out a renewal ceremony. The girls go for pedicures. Jon meets with relatives he hasn’t seen in several years.
Even by “Jon & Kate” standards, it makes for a slim show.
Why do the couple feel the urgent need to renew their vows after only nine years of marriage? Kate tells the camera that she wants her kids to know that while not all moms and dads stay together, she and Jon are forever.
As the ceremony later demonstrates, not even the oldest girls understand the ceremony’s significance, and the youngest surely will forget it.
This cynic is forced to conclude the “wedding event” is a way to capitalize on a free vacation in Maui.
“Jon & Kate” has become increasingly about the freebies the Pennsylvania family can gather. The visits to increasingly far-flung destinations are nothing more than travel infomercials, with the kids as adorable props. Jon’s morning on a golf course here is a chore to the eyes, but he dutifully plugs the management in his armchair confessional.
If we’re rewarding people on the basis of fertility, shouldn’t the prizes go to the least blessed?
Yes, it’s kind of horrible the way Kate talks to Jon as if he’s one of the 4-year-olds.
As he samples wedding cakes tonight, Kate tells the wedding planner, “I’ll try what he decides. And then I’ll argue, if he decides wrong.”
But as my favorite relationship coach - that would be Judge Judy - would say, he picked her. Save your concern for the children.
Mady, for example, almost has a meltdown when her mother expects her to be her maid of honor. Is she just another reality show witch? No, she’s just an 8-year-old, having a perfectly normal moment for a child - that is being broadcast to millions of homes.
The younger kids have been trailed by cameras for almost their entire lives. What does that do to a child’s perception of the world and his or her importance in it?
The kids might not mind the cameras following them now, but they’ll probably feel differently in about 10 years when their high school classmates can download footage of their potty training to their iPods.
Imagine having all your worst moments from childhood available to anyone who wanted to see them for the rest of your life.
That’s what the Gosselin children face.
Maybe it’s time for Jon and Kate to drive the cameras out of the home for some quality family time.
You think it’s unfair and judgmental to believe that a person should not be slapping their spouse?
Really?
Where did I ever write that?
Ya think? Ain't it awful? I enjoy the show. I like that there was a point made early on, and remade occasionally, that aborting some of the sextuplets was out of the question. And such abortions are SOP for multiples, even natural multiples.
The fact is, couples like these need a lot of resources. Making a story of their lives provides for them. She's a little batty. A lot of moms are with lots of small kids around. He's one of the sanest dads I've ever seen.
The writer of this piece can't escape his/her "ick" factor that so many people have with families of lots of kids, like Sarah Palin's. I got sick of the contemptuous smirks of those thinking and even saying "breeder."
If it's just a pat, why does the person referenced in post 59 mention it makes an audible sound? I pat my kids on the cheek all the time, and I doubt somebody could hear it if they were sitting next to me.
And expecting spouses to be respectful to each other is "touchy feely?" That's funny, I thought that sort of thing was old-fashioned. As in, that's how my parents and grandparents did it.
God also gave us adoption.
You didn’t, but the posts that are the most critical of them have to do with Kate being a shrew and most of them mention the slapping. And then you described it as a pat in a later post.
I don’t know why the person posted that. I have watched the show consistently. They banter back and forth. That doesn’t mean they don’t respect one another.
There are plenty of tender and loving moments between them, but the show does concentrate on the whirlwind of having so many small children. In each show there is a segment filmed with them on a couch discussing the scenes that were in the show. Some of it is just fun and what I would call dry, sarcastic humor. It is obvious that Jon loves her and vice versa. I think everyone is being hypercritical. They are putting it all out there honestly and not pretending to be anything they are not.
You’re correct, some people are classifying it as a slap.
I would not, I would call it a playful pat. That is my observation, others are entitled to theirs.
Kate can get irritable, but who doesn’t? I am not saying she is perfect or even close, but shrew—no way.
Try to see a show for yourself and decide.
I’m not looking for more TV to watch, and I think my posts 18 and 24 make it clear where I stand on their family dynamic and cahracter. I’d also note these two things:
1. I’m not usually judgmental about family arrangements, so the fact that I would criticize these people at all should tell you something.
2. A few years back I read about an coach in Florida (don’t recall if it was the coach of the Heat or the Magic) who was raising 18 adopted kids.
I have no idea what is going on.
IMHO, women have a great deal of power to build up their man, or to tear him down. Too many use this influence to control and manipulate, instead of blessing and respecting.
Sad....
I think Kate's been trying hard to relax and go easy on Jon. BTW, did you see the renewal of vows tonight? I thought it was nice...
No, I haven’t seen it yet. I am on the West Coast, but plan to tune in later.
I think she promises to do better in her vows. Maybe she is getting some feedback, but I have always liked her. I guess I must see some of myself in her. I have a sharp edge, too. Though I try hard to soften it I am not always sucessful.
She does...Have you noticed how subdued she's been?
The kids were so cute, and the resort looked spectacular. I wouldn't mind going there!
That resort is spectacular, but really too much in some ways. I have been there, not to stay, but to walk around and I know someone who used to work there.
If you ever go to Maui, try a more mellow place unless you get an offer like the Gosselins. The kids are cute. I love the boys.
I will pay attention to her attitude more closely now. I never thought she was that bad, but I always admired Jon for his even temperament. They seemed to complement each other well.
Wow. I can’t believe how gullible some people are. Did it not strike you as odd that the only people in Jon & Kate’s family who were at their “wedding” were people that hadn’t seen them in like 20 years and that they obviously weren’t close to and barely knew? Jon & Kate not only get everything for free, but they are now millionaires, and I’m sure the show and airlines easily would have given their immediate family a free trip and in the highly unlikely event that they wouldn’t, Jon & Kate easily could have paid for it themselves. The fact that they didn’t should confirm to everyone that there is something seriously wrong here. What couple that has 8 small children has no support from their family? Ever notice that the few family members they did have that actually helped have now mysteriously disappeared off the show? NOT a coincidence. These people have managed to alienate and destroy their own family relationships by prioritizing fame and greed, and their children are suffering for it being denied the company of their family. The psychological well-being of these children is being auctioned off to the highest bidder, and it’s clearly already showing (in Maddy at least, in a BIG way) that these kids are going to need therapy ASAP (like, right now, Maddy). These people get paid a rediculous amount of money for their children, the least they can do is get Maddy a therapist immediately. This child has more than an attitude problem, it’s a serious indication of mal-adjustment and a glimpse at what’s to come. Also, they need to stop acting poor so they can keep getting freebies. Nobody’s buying it. When your family eats completely organic, your grocery bill is multiplied by four (on top of what it already is), not to mention they have maid service and a personal organic chef when the cameras aren’t rolling. PLEASE. The hypocrisy is astounding. I beg you. Jon, Kate, prioritize your kids. You’ve done enough filming, you’ve earned enough money, kick the cameras out of your homes and lives and start acting like a real family.
Wow! Great find!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og2hu1erMfc&feature=related
Here is the actual clip that this author is writing about.
Now I’m all about mens’ rights and I hate ALL forms of spousal abuse.
But this is not what this clip shows. It shows a loving couple playing. It shows affection.
If I had a nickle for every playful swat my husband and I shared, I’d probably have that PT Cruiser I’ve been lusting over. ;-)
(I'm one of the people who thinks Kate comes off as a shrew, but I'm sure my husband and I have given a bad impression a time or two ourselves.)
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