Who Cares About Jon and Kate? Apparently, We Do
There are more people who know what’s going on in the lives of Jon and Kate than what’s going on in Iran.
Is that a sad commentary on our population or an indictment of the media? While some may claim that the media is obsessed with Jon and Kate’s sordid story, along with the personal lives of countless celebrities, I’d have to say the blame lies with the people who watch and read the tabloid news rather than the people who bring us the news.
There’s a revolution going on right now and it is not being televised. Not unless you count ten minute segments on your nightly news, right after the twenty minute piece on Jon and Kate. Maybe on your cable news network, which gives it a clip show treatment, right before Nancy Grace chomps up two hours of air time with a sensationalistic story that’s two years old.
Does the media decide what to feed us or do we tell it what we want to be fed? The ratings for shows like The Bachelor or American Idol tell us all we need to know: the public gets what the public wants, and the majority of the public wants to tune in to TMZ dishing dirt about Perez Hilton’s fight instead of a news segment about an uprising in another country.
I’ve always wondered whether “real” news on the front page of newspapers every day, would get readers and sell. I’m talking about news that would show what our legislative “leaders” did the previous day……..what they approved for their fleecing of the taxpayers, what they increased for the govt ‘ees, and then what the total taxes are to keep a govt ‘ee working for 20 years but getting lifetime health&pension bfts. I think taxpayers from the private sector would be appalled. It might sell. It might do the job that a “watchdog” media is supposed to do………
Then there are the issues the legislators are going to fleece us further……..carbon taxes, cap & trade, prevent drilling……… a real print media would describe the debates, both sides, and then there’d be a better public understanding of how the legislators are acting so irresponsibly. An informed electorate is vital to the selecting of responsible legislators. Right now we’re not getting much of either, and it’s hurting us dearly.
Who are Jon and Kate?
This is the reason Obama was elected. He’s “cool” and photographs well. It had nothing to do with the econonmy or foreign policy. How many times have I seen him referred to as our “movie star” president? Makes me sad, sick and very afraid.
I catch Jon & Kate plus 8 every once in a while because I think the kids are adoreable. The marriage was doomed from the beginning, the wife is bossy and the husband is a wimp. I also watch HGTV on a regular basis. If I watched the news or became totally preoccupied with the goings on of our government I’d be put in a looney bin because I’d try to climb through my TV and smack some of them around!
TO: Michele Catalan
RE: Heh
Because the media is worshiping our illegitimate, illegal-alien, Muslim president as if he were the Anti-Christ from the Left Behind series? And anything that might draw attention to his malfeasance would be detrimental to their access to him?
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[The Truth will out.....]
P.S. Is there a prize for answering the question correctly?
What annoys me about the coverage the most is the number of people who claim that they never had a chance for a normal family, what with the constant cameras around them. Excuse me, but the Roloffs also have cameras around them, and they’re the most normal, down-to-Earth people you’ll ever see.
I, myself, am guilty of coming home after a grueling work day and not even wanting to think about important world events. The difference is, however, that I don’t make ignorance a lifestyle.
I vaguely knew John & Kate from their reality show, but I never watched it; she got on my nerves by being too domineering to John. Therefore, I was shocked to see Kate on tabloid rags in the book store, grocery store, & drug store a few months back. My reaction to the affair & divorce? I don’t care one way or another. However, I am a little surprised to see John & Kate treated as celebrities just because of their show. I know it is a highly rated program given TLC airs “Jon & Kate Plus 8″ in marathons when they have nothing else to show. But otherwise, it’s none of my business to know about John & Kate. I just can’t stand celebrities for the most part…
I have scolded my wife for watching the show especially now.
But that being said, i am not going to criticize the parents too much for having the show. after all, paying for 8 children is not cheap and i wonder how they would make ends meet without it. its one thing if kate had had children the normal way, one or two at a time. then the older kids could help mom and dad take care of the younger kids. but for it to happen like that? impossible.
But still now it is just sick and purient. and sheesh, getting on her case for spanking a child? give me a break. no, no, we all need to look away.
There’s a great book by Jake Halpern on this fascination with all things celebrity called “Fame Junkies” (Amazon link: http://tinyurl.com/mjq6bz ) In it the author comments that many high school students would rather be a famous person’s *personal assistant* than a successful businessman. How depressing!
I wish I could live in Chuck Pelto’s fantasy world for like 5 minutes. I bet it’s like the best acid trip ever.
Mindlessness has its place. The human brain does need to escape from constant stress and veg out, then the brain can be refreshed to be able to absorb the important goings on in the world and *do something* about them. Of course, we do have a culture that does nothing “but” veg out, hence they elected a *do nothing*.
As for Jon and Kate, I’ve watched parts of it a few times while the TV was on and I was doing other things. It is a very sad situlation, Kate has increasingly become a control freak who is thinking more of herself and less of her children, and Jon has succumbed to the typical expectations of men in this society – to be submissive. Children grow up and move away and the relationship that’s meant to last is husband and wife.
(I find it ironic that feminists protest women being treated by their husbands the way Kate treats her husband, but they have no problem – and even encourage – women to treat their husbands this way. Another reason to hate Sarah Palin.)
My grandparents had the same type of relationship – much as I loved my grandfather, I respected him less because even I knew he needed to “be a man” and stand up for his “right to be respected” to his disrespectful wife.
The one’s who pay the most are the children.
ked5- How does Sarah Palin treat her husband? And where is the proof of this treatment?
It used to be fun to watch, but now it’s troubling. The kids are being exploited, they seem to be acting out a bit. The whole thing seems really wrong. It should be illegal. Jon needs a career. Is that guy trained to do anything? I’m sure that contributed significantly to the break up. He was just home with a bunch of babies and a harpy woman all day. How could that possibly work out? It’s sad though. In the beginning they seemed like such a nice family, but now they’re gross and really materialistic. I remember the Dion triplets from Canada, they were taken from their parents and put on exhibition by their doctor for their whole childhood. I think they even went on tour. All the kids became extremely f’d up. I think that is happening now with the Gosselins. I’m not going to watch them anymore.
I admit I watched the show. The children were adorable and I liked watching Kate lose it on a daily basis. Anyone who watched it knew their marriage was sinking. But, who can resist watching a train wreck? Feel sorry for the kids.
Do I get any points for only knowing who Jon and Kate are because standing in the check-out line at the store is required if one doesn’t want to get tackled by security on the way out?
ked5 – what the f*** does this have to do with Sarah Palin? It’s a bizarro argument you have.
Jon and Kate Who?
Can you please define “we”?
I’ve never watched the program and never would.
I do not care about Jon and Kate in terms of curiosity. What a bunch of voyeurs you must all be. (And by “you”, I mean whoever you are referring to as “we”)
Who are they? I never knew this couple or a show about them existed.
I don’t watch reality t.v. It’s not my form of escape. Instead, I watch sports (hockey, baseball, football). Better drama. More character, plus you see some amazing things. It does not focus on the dirt in people’s lives or engage in cheap levity at others’ expense.
I get my news mainly on the web, with some from Jim Lehrer, Lou Dobbs, and FOX News, with the rest from blogs like this one. But one can only take so much of reality and these days it is damn depressing, hence my escape into sports.
Most men I know are not at all interested in the reality t.v. and tabloid press and t.v. So, the audience for this crap has to be mainly female. Sad, actually.
Overall, it is true and alarming reflection of the state of our education system in this country. People who are better educated have higher standards for entertainment and escape. Plus, they will be interested in the affairs of their country and world events. And even more importantly, they will know how to balance the two of those: the responsibility to be informed and the need for good escape.
12. 1MPTomb:
ked5- How does Sarah Palin treat her husband? And where is the proof of this treatment?
~~~
If you’ve ever actually listened to her, she treats him with respect as her life partner.
13. Julia NYC:
It used to be fun to watch, but now it’s troubling. The kids are being exploited, they seem to be acting out a bit. The whole thing seems really wrong. Jon needs a career. Is that guy trained to do anything?
~~~~~
I believe he’s a computer geek, and quit his job to stay home so kate could traipse all over on “speaking engagements”.
16. Little Banana:
ked5 – what the f*** does this have to do with Sarah Palin? It’s a bizarro argument you have.
~~~~
Watch your language child. It’s a tangent, but the feminists out there strongly encourage women to treat men in an atrocious manner. One more reason for them to hate Sarah was she *doesn’t*.
Kate treats her husband like a child. Just like the ultra-feminists encourage.
i’ve enjoyed the rollofs in “little people, big world” they seem grounded as a family and socially, and they have lives not centered around the cameras, but around family, church, (though they keep their religious beliefs private the kids attend a “faith” high school.) and we see matt out and working both on the farm and in the business world. i watched a few, very few, episodes of “jon & kate” and went on to better things.
Are they on TV because they’re famous or famous because they’re on TV?
Jon and Kate are splitting up, ’bout time, I mean *cough*, how sad. I would say that it would appear that people actually care. When it’s plastered on every station and morning news show it would give the appearance that caring is involved. Reality shows are anything but, I was hoping that their splitting would end the show and I wouldn’t have to hear anything about them anymore, there’s still hope. Unfortunately, eight wonderful children will have to grow up in a world, watched by the world and being known for having two morons for parents. All these reality shows, these are the people we pick to see each week? These people? Really? If you want to see the real world and lives of those that live in it, here’s a hint, get out of your house, basement, etc. and live your life. Odds are it’s just as if not more interesting than these oxygen thiefs.
When I first saw that show probably a year or two ago while channel surfing, I immediately noticed:
1) Kate is a tyrannical psycho to her husband,
2) Kate placates her kids too much rather than disciplining them and keeping them all pitching in.
3) Jon is obviously depressed and emotionally burned out. His face says “Boy, did I make a mistake getting married to her.”
This is what happens when a man is denied his position as leader of the family. Of course he cheated on her. He was never loved, so he wanders.
Let this be a lesson. Train wrecks can be learning experiences. My marriage was.
Ked5 is way out of line on Sarah Palin.
Sarah lets Todd be a man. There is no way I could have snowmachined or worked on the north slope with my ex-wife. It was assumed if I was not in the house being browbeat by her, I was up to no good. SOP.
Sarah and Todd are happily married BECAUSE Sarah is not a tyrannical over the line freak like Kate.
International news just doesn’t register at all in this country, especially elections which as we now know can be pretty big course corrections. I watch Fareed Zakaria on CNN who is *always* wrong, just as all liberals are wrong on foreign policy (supported Hitler, Stalin, Sadanistas, Palestinians, Chavez, etc) but at least I get the info. I wish Fox had a good international news show – John Bolton is pretty good.
As for TV – in my opinion the Cable/Internet explosion has the potential to make any American either a lot smarter, or a lot dumber, depending upon the choices you make. You can spend all day watching shows about history, science, culture, politics, business, engineering, nature, etc, or you can watch poorly written sitcoms and ditzy entertainment news. Now I watch plenty of junk TV too, and I’ll admit it unlike those snobs who say “I only watch PBS”. But at least a few hours in front of the TV every week I’m actually learning something. Internet is the same of course, you can read SSRN articles or Perez Hilton, your choice.
I have tuned in to the Jon & Kate show before – it was a fun show for those of us with one or two kids running around who have no idea how anyone would handle eight. This season it’s basically the Osbournes and incredibly depressing.
Just another meaningless, idiotic “reality” show that is about as real as a soap opera. And it appears that their marriage was about as real as the show. I remain totally convinced that all of the so-called reality shows are anything but. The question I keep asking myself is, “Would the people on these programs act the same way if they didn’t have cameras and microphones shoved in their faces 24/7?” The answer I come away with is “No, they would not.”
27. Sapwolf:
“Ked5 is way out of line on Sarah Palin.”
Huh? Ked5 was making the same exact points you are! I think you need to re-read Ked5′s post because it was saying that’s why the left HATE Sarah because she ISN’T a constant NAG to her husband. lol
America does not have a single “news” program or station that is worthy of being called “news.” Propaganda….yes. News…..no!
It’s a dark day for America when national and world events are fed to us by biased programming that not only puts their spin on the event but tells us how we are supposed to feel about it!
I have stopped turning on the TV for news, preferring instead to seek out creditable sources online. It’s refreshing to read the facts and to reach my own conclusions. I hope that more and more Americans dump the irresponsible programming on TV and turn to outside sources.
Blessedly, I did not know who Jon & Kate were until the past few days when it was absolutely impossible to avoid coming across them. Even on Pajamas, for pete’s sake, usually my refuge from media inanity.
Do people really watch this tripe? Even on CNN, certainly not known as a bastion of learned critical thinkers, a poll earlier this week or late last week revealed reality television as the one trend we would like to see go away.
Who are Jon and Kate? I couldn’t give a rip. Next subject, please.