When I think about a TV family, the current televised programs Jon and Kate Plus Eight, Keeping Up with the Kardashians and 18 Kids and Counting would be the first I would blurt out. I also think of the Henne family who have been a tabloid favorite lately. My friend who works for E! Online reminded me of the balloon boy freakazoid. All these families continue to make headlines and keep the spotlight focused on their somewhat bizarre daily activities. What posses these families to continually bring the public into their homes? Why do they sacrifice a "normal" childhood for their children in exchange for temporary fame and tabloid headlines? I don't get it. Maybe it's an addiction. Childhood actor Paul Petersen who played Jeff Stone on The Donna Reed Show said "Fame is a dangerous drug and should be kept out of the reach of children." He should have included adults as well. Nice pic, Jon! Be sure you get a copy for the family album.
I had a friend once oddly interested in what had happened to former childhood actors. He told me about a specific tv show he watched all the time about it. I don't really remember a lot of specific stories but he had a lot of them and I recall most hadn't gone well. It would really be interesting to look at some of that again and see what those kids traded their average lives for.
ReplyDeleteI think anything (fame definitely) could be a drug if someone lets it serve that way. I find that to be a dangerous topic, but my point is anything is bad in excess.
I definitely agree that fame is a dangerous drug... and there is evidence of this in that child actors, pushed by parents into tabloids and TV, often crave that same attention later in life. However, I believe that the same attention they strive for later can be extremely damaging at a young age. For example, I recall reading a post on a forum used to debate the decisions of Jon and Kate (Jon and Kate Plus Eight). It described the ten year old girls as "the ugly twins." Do they not think about how that would affect a young girl? Not to mention the constant media coverage of their parents divorce and affairs. That must be extremely damaging to a child.
ReplyDeleteI recently had a conversation with my 10 year old daughter regarding the program "Jon and Kate Plus Eight." I asked her why she thought Jon and Kate would consent to doing the program. She replied with three words "publicity, greed and selfish." She didn't elaborate on the words but I thought it interesting that a 10 year old would associate these words so quickly with the parents on this program. It's exactly what I would list as motivators from a parent who would consent to having their children filmed for TV. Then I asked her how she thought the kids would feel when they are old enough to understand their involvement in this reality program. She replied "embarrassed". Then she offered up the example of an episode centered around the twin's birthday. Maddie, one of the twin's, came home from school, walks through the kitchen kicking balloons and making a disgruntled noise expressing anger. My daughter suggested that years down the road Maddie would view this and reply "I was such a drama queen."
ReplyDeleteTo Julia: You bring up an interesting point about tabloids' willingness to directly insult people in print that they never have to see in person. Maybe some of the writers just don't care about other people, but I know that I would feel pretty about saying some of the things I've said aobut various famous people if they were standing right in front of me. It's interesting how the various media we can use to communicate can create a barrier that allows us to be insulting and mean.
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