Kate yells at Jon. Kate yells at her children. Jon cheats on Kate with a school teacher. Kate cheats on Jon with her bodyguard. Kate wears a bikini to the beach. Kate had a tummy tuck.
These are a small snippet of the headlines from the world of Jon and Kate Gosselin (of TLC's Jon and Kate Plus Eight) over the last couple weeks. I do not watch their show and absolutely LOATHE gossip magazine babble so I have kept mum on this subject/topic (despite several requests for me to chime in on the matter) so as not to add to this already out of control circus. Then I saw these headlines today and couldn't keep silent any more:
"First Look: Kate Caught Spanking Kids" (popeater.com)
"EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS: Caught Hitting Her Daughter" (InTouch Weekly)
Not only are these headlines absurd (one being an absolute distortion of the truth and slanderous), but some paparazzi photographer actually had the nerve to snap pictures of the incident AND PUBLISH THEM! The subtitle to the incident (this caption actually accompanies the pictures on the popeater.com website): "Kate Lays the Smack Down". ARE YOU SERIOUS??
Granted, Jon and Kate semi-agreed to a public life by airing their lives before the world on national television in exchange for money, but at what point does such "coverage" (sorry, tabloid babble is not coverage - it's spreading trash) become inhumane? At what point do people who follow their lives (Jon and Kate) religiously actually become bottom-feeders and lifeless sycophants that feed their own joy on the life (and misery) of others? At what point does someone stop the madness and say "I think what is good and decent is beyond gone in this situation and we've actually contributed to the degradation of our society by continuing to follow it with such intensity." How in the world did it ever become OK to capture a parent disciplining their child on camera and publish those pictures (with captions that detail the apparent horror and helplessness of the other children watching) for the world to see?
Are Jon and Kate perfect? No. Their marriage is not going through anything different that many marriages in America have not gone through (to include the affairs, should those accusations be true). Yes, Jon and Kate bought this life to an extent, but the endless scrutiny, pictures, video (non-TLC video) and "coverage" is not right. Few, if any, American families would ever dare to live out their private moments (such as spanking or disciplining their kids) with a national audience; yet, many Americans will continue to buy in to this debauchery until they are a part of the reason Jon's and Kate's marriage fractures beyond repair. When that happens, its on to another celebrity or couple.
What have we become as a nation? As humans?
PARENTS: Celebrity life and idols is a DANGEROUS world. Our kids often grow up thinking that in order to be someone they need to be one of the glamorized stars in movies, TV or music. As parents, we often times feed that worldview by talking about it, watching it and buying in to it ourselves. We tell our kids with our words that idol worship is bad, but they watch how we live and see lives devoted to movies, music, gossip and entertainment. They hear us talk about how wonderful so-and-so actor/actress is and all about who they are and what they do. They see us read those magazines. Are you, as a parent, part of this very fractured system and culture? If so, maybe it's time to do some serious evaluating and removing of idols in our own lives.
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Image borrowed from TV Week Online.
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5 comments:
Jon and Kate plus go away. Honestly, who cares about Jon and Kate plus 8? Congratulations to them for having 8 kids. They knew what would happen when they got into the "public scene." It's their own fault. They knew that their private lives would no longer be private. They can get over it and so can the rest of the world. It's rediculous. I don't care about Jon and Kate. There are plenty of other people in the world with 8+ kids. But, that's the entertainment structure of this great society- always needing to entertain no matter the destruction to peoples' lives it costs. Oh well. People who enter the entertainment business know what they're getting into. If they don't, then they are completely oblivious to their surroundings and need to wake up.
Apparently a lot of people "care" because if they didn't no one would be talking about them. That's the point I'm making. Because we are so consumed by idolizing a celeb-driven culture, paparazzi make a living, tabloids make millions/billions, and our kids grow up analyzing their worth and relevance in light of their favorite celebrities.
And I agree with you... in today's world there should be no surprise to people who enter the entertainment world - it is the world of entertainment. Like it or leave it, you enter the entertainment industry and you subject yourself, your kids and your friends to that unfortunate world.
thanks for the comment!
It's great to know that people enjoy watching a marriage and family fall apart on Jon and Kate +8 when they can just look at their own and see their own family falling apart. Oh wait. That's right. People don't take the time to see what's happening in their own families because they are either consumed with watching other families fall apart for entertainment or use the excuse that there is nothing wrong with their own family, because what's on t.v. is nothing like what's going on in "real life." Either way, people are oblivious, probably by choice, and can't determine reality from rehearsed, set up, made up stuff on t.v. It's quite sad... You're right. People put too much emphasis on Hollywood and what's on t.v. It's there for our entertainment, but we must realize that what we see on t.v is not reality. For reality, all we have to do is look around us. For fantasy, "idealness," etc., all we have to do is watch t.v. I wonder what our lives would be like without t.v... *gasp* You mean we would actually spend time with our families and pay attention to kids, teens, and our lives? Shocking.
I feel so sad for this family, sure they decided to put their lives out there for everyone to see, but it's not right to focus on their marriage falling apart. They are under a lot more stress than we can even imagine, running a family of 10, working, and on top of their daily lives dealing with all the publicity (good and bad). You can only be under such pressure for so long until something/someone cracks. And, apperently, this is their breaking point. We need to be in prayer for this family! Whether the alligations are true or not about the affairs is not something to looks at. Their 8 kids are seeing and hearing things about their parents that no child should go through. They are a family and I believe they need to stay that way, if anything for the kids.
When will we learn that the worldview of the "world" is that drama and debauchery is in and good morales and values that we learn from God's word are too boring and out. If it were a show that promoted the "Godly" way, rating would suffer. This culture always looks for new forms of drama and debauchery. Once it tires of the thing that is in now, it finds something else to talk about.
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