Tuesday, June 23, 2009

When does reality stop being real?

So anyone who knows me knows that I enjoy reality TV. I like American Idol, Bachelor(ette), The Biggest Loser, etc. However, this Jon and Kate thing has me pretty upset. Also most people know that I work in a field with children. My degrees are in Social Work and so I was taught all about children's development. What upsets me about this show is how the children are being raised. I have heard the argument about how they are doing the show in order to have money for their children. Well, guess what, the majority of America (and the world for that matter) have to do something called getting a job and earning for their family. I continue to get upset at Kate's comments about doing what she needs to in order to provide for her family. What is she providing besides money though? I can tell you that money is not the most important thing in raising a family. Those kids need love, consistency, structure and I have a hard time believing those things are being provided like they should.

I'm not going to get into who's to blame and who started what. I will say that I stopped watching Jon and Kate quite a while ago due to not being able to handle how Kate spoke to Jon. I felt she was extremely disrespectful and treated him as a child. At that point, I stopped.

So when is enough enough? When does reality no longer become real and people need to realize that people's lives being ruined is not "entertainment"? I guess I am not sure what the answer is either, but I do know that those children are going to have a challenging life due to being thrust in the spotlight and now having to deal with this very public divorce. I applaud celebrities who are conscious about making sure their children are in the spotlight as little as possible.

So my hope for Jon, Kate, and their eight children is that they realize what reality is without millions of people watching.

1 comment:

Heather said...

I found that episode really sad. I think it's something that happens to a lot of couples where they just start on a bad road and never get off of it.

I too hope they can realize what's the most important, but I think they love the fame the show has brought.