Jon and Kate Plus 8: Is Family Reality TV Too Much to Bear
Posted: Friday, May 22, 2009
by Teresa Ortiz
Freelance writer/Speaker
It's all over the media – the rumors, the truth, and everything in between.
Obviously, we should not believe everything we read and hear, but the admission by both Jon and Kate confirm their relationship is currently anything but blissful.
Reality T.V. is more popular than ever. What happened to sit-coms? Why is our nation obsessed with the lives of other people? Perhaps it's because we can avoid our own issues and nit-pick the lives of others. Whatever the reason, I believe they are here to stay – no matter the cost.
I won't pretend to understand the pressures and expense of raising 8 children, I won't judge them for joining this parade of reality T.V., I am sure it pays the bills and they may have felt this was a good thing to do at the time. Nevertheless, I can't imagine the bigger pressures added by having a crew of producers and a camera following their every move.
As Jon said recently, "I can't be Jon; I have to be Jon and Kate plus 8". This in itself speaks volumes. When on the Rachel Ray show, Kate said, "Our focus has always been the children, and it will continue..." These two statements together spell trouble for any marriage.
It may be that this show provides for their family, but if there was another way, I pray they would seek it out. If they want to save their marriage, they need to get the world out of their lives and need to focus on each other.
We have seen many families destroyed because of these reality shows: The Hogan's, and the Simpson's (Nick and Jessica), to name a few.
There has been a lot of trash talk about Jon and Kate, I don't want to add my cheap talk to it, my only desire is that this family would not be another statistic.
I worry about the multitude of families that are opening their homes for all the world to see – the divorce rate is high enough without feeding the cause.
Whatever happened to the traditional means of supporting a family? I stopped watching family reality T.V. when Linda Hogan talked about all the pressures of having cameras following her family around for 12 hours a day.
Maybe it's just too much to bear.
Maybe if Jon and Kate plus 8 added one more Son to the equation, bliss would be restored.
(C) Teresa Ortiz
Obviously, we should not believe everything we read and hear, but the admission by both Jon and Kate confirm their relationship is currently anything but blissful.
I won't pretend to understand the pressures and expense of raising 8 children, I won't judge them for joining this parade of reality T.V., I am sure it pays the bills and they may have felt this was a good thing to do at the time. Nevertheless, I can't imagine the bigger pressures added by having a crew of producers and a camera following their every move.
As Jon said recently, "I can't be Jon; I have to be Jon and Kate plus 8". This in itself speaks volumes. When on the Rachel Ray show, Kate said, "Our focus has always been the children, and it will continue..." These two statements together spell trouble for any marriage.
It may be that this show provides for their family, but if there was another way, I pray they would seek it out. If they want to save their marriage, they need to get the world out of their lives and need to focus on each other.
We have seen many families destroyed because of these reality shows: The Hogan's, and the Simpson's (Nick and Jessica), to name a few.
There has been a lot of trash talk about Jon and Kate, I don't want to add my cheap talk to it, my only desire is that this family would not be another statistic.
I worry about the multitude of families that are opening their homes for all the world to see – the divorce rate is high enough without feeding the cause.
Whatever happened to the traditional means of supporting a family? I stopped watching family reality T.V. when Linda Hogan talked about all the pressures of having cameras following her family around for 12 hours a day.
Maybe it's just too much to bear.
Maybe if Jon and Kate plus 8 added one more Son to the equation, bliss would be restored.
(C) Teresa Ortiz
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)I hear ya and I agree totally. I've never really been into reality TV. I have enough reality in my life, thank you very much. I watch TV for education and entertainment(escapism). I often wonder if the people that star in these reality TV shows know what they're getting themselves into. I also wonder how much 'reality' is really in the shows and how much is staged for television.Hi David. Thank you for your input. I often wonder how much of it is actually reality.Blessings!
Great article. Well done.I hate reality TV. I always say life can be depressing enough without watching other people getting depressed on TV.Thank you Connor, I hear you loud and clear!
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