Monday, June 29, 2009

Boycott Jon & Kate plus Eight

Boycott Jon and Kate plus eight… Why is everyone asking about their divorce? Gossip is never virtuous; the intimate details of the Gosselin marriage are for them alone. What has happen to this family is a tragedy, and like all tragedies it should be treated with respect for the dignity of those hurt namely the children. My husband compared “Jon and Kate plus Eight” to the “Truman Show” a 1998 film in which Jim Carrey lives his entire life on television. In this film Truman (Jim Carrey) lives a fake reality every moment is filmed for the enjoyment of his audience and without his expressed consent. The children in the Gosselin family have been treated in the same way. The show began as an interesting look at the way a large family functions. How they manage the care of so many children, then like many other reality shows, things started to go south. The children began to be slowly exploited for the audience. Where was this going to end viewers wondered? At college and how many intimate details would be revealed at the expense of these poor children. 10.6 million viewers watched the episode of Jon and Kate plus Eight episode where Jon and Kate announced their divorce. This made J&K8 the most watched program for women 18-40; breaking all the shows past viewer records. US Weekly called the Gosselin divorce “Gold for TLC.” People have become so interested in this family now that it is experiencing problems, and ignore the fact that this is not a daytime soap where everyone goes home happy. These people live this day-in and day out; there is no happily ever after for these children. The more popularity that the show receives from the slander that is propagated true and untrue about their parents; the worse this situation becomes for the children. Christians must use their conscience when watching television and remember calumny is a sin. As people of God we are called to protect the innocent and safeguard ourselves from sin. Unhealthy interest in the divorce and personal sins of others can only lead one into sin. Scriptures reveal to us that the life of Christ as a child was hidden, and the lives of all children should be guarded as well. We as the Christian audience need to turn off J&K8; help the ratings go down so that these children can regain their dignity since their parents are too concerned about money and fame to do it themselves.

3 comments:

  1. How exactly would they support all these children without the payoff from this show? I think a lot of this show's audience was religious and now that the parents are getting a divorce, the viewers do not know what to think. I just wonder if all of those people calling for a boycott were complaining about the exploitation of these children while Jon and Kate were in a state of marital bliss.

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  2. I came from a family of seven children and my father worked to support us... like hundreds of other families with lots of kids. The audience might be religious, but they need to let go. The program "Kids by the Dozen" is nice alternative because it does one special about a large family.(The Duggers are not how 99.9% of large families live.)I hold that the viewers of J&K8 put the parents on a pedistool and held them in esteem thinking them above the worldly designs of fame; while this might have been true in the earlier years, money is a driving factor now. Caring for a large family is easier and less expensive than the average person realizes coming from a home of 1.5 children. Watching the Duggers, Table for 12, etc. is wrong as well. These people believe that they are rasing the bar for media. They all start that way, but time will tell if they can stand the test of fame and money. Very few families in the hollywood crowd last.

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  3. I've watched "Jon & Kate" for a long time as their children are the same age as my grandchildren. Since we don't live close to them, I felt like I was watching my own grandkids in some small way when I saw the kids on tv. I do feel the children were being ruined by being in the public eye so much. I feel for the children's fate now, being in such a public divorce case. Divorce is tough enough on children, let alone being on public tv for all to see. I enjoy the Duggars Family, tv show, but fear that they too, will fall prey to the 'tv blitz' & end up changing in some way. The loving lives they live is totally foreign to many of the viewers & I think that the public is just 'watching and waiting' for one of them to fail in their Christian way of living. I pray that they remain true to theirselves & hopefully, they will get off of tv, for their own good!!!!!

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