This Week In Normality — Train Wrecks!

This week’s theme was inspired by a…let’s say sad…state of affairs.  No doubt you are all familiar with the TLC show Jon and Kate Plus 8.  In recent months the visibility of the show has increased exponentially, as stories of infidelity are fodder for the media.  It occurred to me not too long ago, however, just what a depressing story the whole thing makes.

My wife and I actually watched the original special (Surviving Sextuplets and Twins) that Jon and Kate (and their kids) were on and have watched the show since somewhere near the end of season one.  So, for us, it was pretty disheartening to see how everything has turned out for the Gosselin family in recent months.  I imagine that the decision to do the show, originally, was a financial one.  Raising eight very young kids on one income seems…what’s more difficult than impossible?.  So I’m sure that Jon and Kate saw the show as a way of providing, not only for their kid’s present, but also for their futures.

Fame and money, as they have a tendency to do, no doubt changed both Jon and Kate.  I’m not going to assign blame or call out either of them for percieved character flaws.  I only know them insofar as the camera portrayed them and that has to be a false portrayal.

But the situation is extremely depressing because of the children.  Not only are the kid’s parents now headed for divorce, but their seperation has been heavily documented by the media.  Even if the kids had wanted to ignore certain facts about their parents’ behavior, they will no doubt have it shoved in their faces for decades to come.

And the children (particularly the sextuplets) are the ones that we (the viewing audience) might actually know well.  Having been so young when the show started they had not yet developed the awesome adult ability to “pretend to be somone you’re not.”

So that’s depressing.

But what I want to focus on here is the absolute train wreck that has become the parents.

Look, when someone embarks on a career in film acting or music, that person makes an understood contract with the public that, given ridiculous amounts of money and fame, that person inevitably gives up a large amount of privacy.  Like it or not (I’m not defending or condoning) that’s the way celebrity works.  And, more or less, actors and rock stars know this and accept it.

Back to my point about why Jon and Kate first did the show, though, I doubt either of them thought it would make them tabloid cover stars.  Remember, too, that for the first two years the show was shown on something called Discovery Health.  Not exactly E.

Sure, some people go on “reality” shows to try and parlay that into some sort of career…even when these people have no appreciable talent for anything other than being a douche.  Maybe I’m gullible, but I never got that type of feeling from Jon and Kate during those first two seasons.

Yes, it was certainly possible that they were headed for a divorce even before the inception of the show.  Eight kids before the age of 30 could do that to the best of couples.  Hell, I only have two kids and I’m stressed to my eyeballs every day.  But eight…fuck!  Still, I wonder if they had the opportunity, would they both choose to do the show again?

So this week is all about the (figurative) train wreck.

Stoker recounts just how far George Lucas has fallen.

Jezmon presents for us a decidedly enjoyable train wreck from the world of comics (with overtures of an incestuous relationship).

A guest contributor asks us all to consider the deeper meaning of Newsies.