While I was pregnant, I started watching J&K+8. I was sucked into the daily lives of these 10 people. I loved Cara, thought Mady was a drama queen (kinda like her mom), and the sextuplets were the cutest ever. It was amazing that they had no major health problems after being born so premature. They were indeed lucky. Some things nagged at me, though: why did we never see the grandparents, we rarely saw their friends, Kate was a pain in the butt, etc.
It has seemed like the family gets more and more free stuff all the time - clothes, trips, cosmetic surgery, etc. They seemingly have a new episode every week, so they also get even more money from TLC. With more filming, the kids are surrounded by a camera crew even more often. They moved into their huge new house, which was likely funded by TLC.
To me it seems like Jon and Kate are using their children to get the lives they've always wanted. If it wasn't for those kids, who would watch that show? Who would want to watch a woman scream and nag at her husband all day? It's the kids that are the lure, and people watch it for them. Those kids, who have lost much of their privacy for most of their lives, are funding the fancy house and other extras. But they don't get a say in whether they want the show to continue, and thus continue losing their privacy. Pennsylvania doesn't have stringent child labor laws, so the film crew is allowed to infringe on the kids; the law can't even protect them. Their parents are too enticed by the money to protect them. It's so sad to witness.
I can go on about how Kate seems to have been really sucked in by all the money and celebrity status. Yeah, it's true. She has definitely changed physically since she started the show; she must have a stylist and a PR staff now. She seems to be away from the kids a lot more.
What really teed me off is that she charges churches an appearance fee (usually several thousand dollars) + travel costs to come and give a talk to the congregration, and then she takes donations (or 'love offerings' as it's called) from the parishioners on top of all that. This is what I'd be thinking if I was a parishioner in one of the many churches she visits. Ummm, you have had a TV show for 3 years, you paid over a million dollars for your house, you have several book deals, you have received a free vehicle & free clothes & free trips for many years, you charged my church a fee to come talk for one hour, and on top of all that, you expect me to donate money to you personally in cash only so you don't have to pay taxes on it???? You canNOT be serious!
Stop the exploitation of these kids by their parents who are too blindsided by money and celebrity status to do what's best for them: end the show and go back to living life without cameras.
Off of soapbox.
6 comments:
:( But but but but....I liiiiiiiike Kate :( However...I dooooooooooo have to agree 110% with you on the church deal. That part does seem quite greedy. I am disappointed(in Kate) to say the least... :(
There is just something about her that even though she is a total *itch...I can't stop watching her whenever I pass by the show...
It does suck me in, but I have to resist and not give in.
I agree that Kate isn't perfect, but I also like that she doesn't act perfect for tv. I admit, I wouldn't probably donate to them (hey, we have our own children to raise and send to college), but I can't even imagine how much money it must cost them just to feed their family for a week. It amazes me how much it costs to feed mine and I am pretty good at being conservative when grocery shopping. Plus, as the kids get older, their rooms have become off-limits so they have a place they can go to "get away" from the camaras (and their siblings). Therefore, I think it isn't too bad.
I too started watching the show when I was pregnant. I thought "if they can do it with 6+2, I can do it with one itty bitty baby". It helped calm me. When I watch the show, I want to see how the kids are growing and how they are becoming their own selves, and I am sooooo sick of Kate and her attitude. She doesn't say please to Jon without it sounding like a demand, and he just rolls over and takes what she give him. I think she is teaching her children a horrible lesson on how a marriage should work.
Every once in a while I turn it on to see how it's going, but then within 10 minutes I change it because of her attitude. Who is worse...Kate for behaving that way, or Jon for letting her treat him like that?
Nicole, at first it was very appealing to which - particularly the episodes where she tries to stretch her money. But now they do NOT have financial problems, and she takes free things from every company who will give anything to her.
Kelly, I concur. That marriage doesn't seem to be based on mutual respect. And is it any wonder when the kids hit and scream when their mother does it???
LA, she definitely is a strong woman and knows what she wants. I'll give her that.
I totally agree that it is exploitation of the children. Of course, doing the show has afforded them so many things that they would not have otherwise, but at what cost? Plus, Kate seems to have become very snobby to me.
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