Jon and Kate Exploit 8

I know I shouldn’t get on a soapbox about a show I don’t even watch, but lately all I hear and see is Jon and Kate this, Jon and Kate that, Jon and Kate file for divorce, blah blah blah. And no, I don’t take the time to read the articles because I don’t watch Jon and Kate and I could care less what they do or don’t do.

I do feel sorry for their kids, and I’m sure I’m not alone. This is not a cliché but a reality. I wasn’t a child of divorce but I’m not blind or ignorant to the issues friends of mine dealt with when their parents split up. Having said that, I’m also a firm believer that kids are resilient and can bounce back from a divorce, though it would be naïve to think it doesn’t have a lasting effect on them in some way.

I have to wonder if these kids have a double whammy against them. They’ve been on a television series first of all. That alone is kind of cringe worthy. Can any fans out there tell me what the point of this show is? The Duggars have their Christian, frugal living thing going on, which I can respect. What’s Jon and Kate’s deal? From advertisements, I get the idea that one or the other of them were just trying to cash in on their brood. So now, after all that, the parents are getting a divorce which has become media fodder in itself. Even if they’re trying to keep their kids out of it, they’ve already invited the camera vampires into their house…I don’t think there’s any going back.

I don’t feel sorry for those two at all. But I hope the kids don’t experience any emotional side effects from this whole thing, at least not any that are going to seriously damage them later in life.

NOTE: Okay, so it was explained to me that the kids are a set of twins and set of sextuplets and the show started out as a documentary. So that’s something, anyway. Still feel sorry for the kids, but it seems as if fans of the show were rooting for the couple to work it out. I still kind of get the exploitation vibe from the whole thing, but I can admit my wrongs as long as I can voice my opinion.