Reality television hit a pathetic new low last week, with the apparent dissolution of the marriage of Jon and Kate Gosselin.
I didn't watch the show Jon & Kate Plus Eight before the announcement, so they're not going to miss me as a viewer when the show returns in August. I only know what's going on because their split-up has been reported ad nauseam on major national news programs, with all sorts of painful clips from the show and pointless interviews with the kind of commentators who like to remark inanely on celebrities' intensely personal family tragedies.
I've heard enough.
First of all, if it's real news in America every time a marriage hits a rough patch, we ought to confine it to one cable channel, the "He Said/She Said Network." There's more than enough material worldwide to feature a fresh imploding marriage every week. And then you'd have your inevitable retrospectives on celebrity couples like Charles and Diana, Liz and Dick, Donald and Ivana, and Brad and Jennifer. Why, voyeuristic folks who like to feed off of family trauma could get their fill, 24/7.
Not me. I can't even bear the thought of watching this public disemboweling of the Gosselin family in 10-second clips on the news over the course of the next few months.
You might say that the Gosselins brought this sort of attention on themselves when they signed up to be on a show that moved cameras and recording equipment up close into their faces and daily lives. To a certain extent, this is true. But now there are real victims and potential spiritual casualties to consider - eight, to be exact.
The Gosselin children may be used to cameras, having been raised with them. But at this juncture, even a brief hiatus from filming is not long enough. When the cameras start rolling again, they will inevitably capture the Gosselin children's pain. And I believe it's almost certain that they will eventually look back and feel exploited, watching their most wrenching and honest revelations on display to vast audiences of strangers.
Obviously, it's an awesome responsibility to try to raise eight children in this economy, and the TLC program undoubtedly makes their financial futures more secure. But there must be some other way to achieve this measure of security without compromising the sacred trust you enter into when you decide to bring eight lives into this world. I'm referring to the unspoken, heartfelt pledge parents make every day to do right by their children.
