Thursday, May 28, 2009

My Two Cents on Jon and Kate

The first few episodes of Jon and Kate that I watched, I didn't like them.  I didn't like the idea of kids being put in the spotlight.  The show stressed me out just watching it.  But the show (with it's many episodes in just a couple short years) started to grow on me.  Maybe because I could relate as a mom and teacher that taking care of kids is tough and it was nice to see people being "real."  I liked seeing the spectrum of emotions.

But after a couple months of watching every episode that aired (new and rerun) I began to wonder what the kids will think of this years from now.  Will they look back and feel ashamed when they see their parent's putting them in time out when they are 3 years old?  And have you ever noticed that portray some as "good" kids and others as "problem" kids.  Will these kids look back and count how many good things and bad things their parents said about them on a TV show before they even could talk?  I just worry about the time one of them makes a poor choice and that is exploited.  Odds are with eight kids there will be something in the teenage years that one of them may do wrong.  

And somehow these normal parents were able to go places and do things many of us put on hold after we have kids.  They would like us to think they have no help, but we all know that isn't true.  Why not show us the help and actual work -- maybe that's not good TV.  And sadly that is what it all comes down to.  What good TV?  I can guarantee you if a camera followed me around all day it would be pretty boring.  Yep, here I am doing dishes and making lunch again. Now we're painting purple pictures.  Oh, look I'm reading stories for 20 minutes before nap.  And speaking of that, you really never see much of that on this show.  The family just "being" together.  I've worked with kids in many capacities and even in the largest groups there are those "bonding" moments.  Time that is focused on talking, reading, singing, sharing, or creating together.  

My two cents:  Reality TV is not real, no matter what you watch.  It is scripted.  It is planned.  It is edited.  It is produced.  It is marketed.  

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