In fact, if you visited my ancient MySpace page, that very person, may actually still be under “My Heros”. (I can neither confirm, nor deny. Until I am done writing, then I can go check…) Anywho, if that person is no longer listed there, I can rest assure you, that there was once a day when their name did indeed grace the presence of my MySpace page, under the heading, “My Heros”.(I checked, it's not there anymore...lol)
Just take my word for it.
“Who is this hero of yours?” You ask? Well my friends, I will no longer leave you sitting on the edge of your seat, nor will I have you rushing off to ancient MySpace land to see for yourself. I will tell you, my friends, that this hero of mine was not the same person then, that they are now. Oh no, no, no, not the same person at all.
That person, is none other than Kate Gosselin herself.
Mother to a set of twins, and a set of sextuplets. Eight, beautiful 1/4 Viatnamese children. Cara, Madi, Collin, Aiden, Joel, Leah, Hannah, and Alexis. I still remember their names, with no need to google. I loved the Gosselins. “Jon and Kate Plus Eight”. What a darling show that was!
“6 Haileys! I can’t even imagine!” I would tell myself.
“They are SO well behaved, I just don’t know how she does it.” I would say.
“A family of 8 and yet they still make it on a computer analysts salary!”, “They’re so real and down to earth!”, “Look at that, they still go to church every Sunday!”
I could go on, and on, but we all know how it ends. For you it may have ended when they started gracing the pages of tabloids. For me? Well for me it was the fateful day that a friend introduced me to a website. A website that few have heard of, but you may have. A website by the name of “Gosselins Without Pity”. How could anyone find ANYthing bad to say about this family?! I asked. But it didn’t take me long to see.
Now don’t get me wrong. I didn’t agree with EVERYthing that was said on the website. Some of it was just opinion, and we all know how opinions are. But some of it was fact. Cold, hard, fact. In black and white. And that is what got me.
“What do you mean they don’t pay for clothes/shoes/toiletries/toys?!” I couldn’t understand it! “You mean, they get all of this for FREE?! They don’t have to budget, and move numbers?! They don’t live like everyone else?!” I couldn’t wrap my head around it. I thought they were smart, I thought they were savvy! I knew fans of the show would mail gifts. But all of the “sponsors” donating unlimited clothing, shoes, and toys just so the children would be seen wearing that brand or playing with that toy on TV, I had no idea. I mean, yea, I know, everyone does it, I’m not stupid. But don’t act like it’s SO hard to put clothes on your childrens back when they’re wearing free clothes.
That was the beginning.
Then I found out about Kate’s demands, not just since the TV show, but since the sextuplets birth. She wouldn’t accept donations of mismatched items. If someone was donating cribs, it MUST be SIX MATCHING cribs. Have you ever heard the saying, “Never look a gift horse in the mouth.”? What about, “Beggars, can’t be choosers.”? Well, apparently the Gosselins hadn’t. I was appalled. I was angry, and ashamed. And to be honest, I was a little sad. Sad to be losing one of my heros. But it didn’t just stop there. There were other stories. Stories that faced things so blatant, and in my face, yet for some reason I had never noticed them until they were pointed out to me.
Then there were changes that you COULD see. Kate no longer looked like a real mom. Robe wearing, hair tousled, no make-up wearing REAL mom. She started looking like someone who walked off the cover of a magazine. Maybe because she actually started BEING on the cover of magazines.
Then the marriage started to dissolve.
Of course it did! Their lives were no longer centered around their family. It wasn’t about making it as a family, it was about the show. Publicity, money, free stuff…it consumed them.
Now don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with having money. Personal chefs, nannies, maids, have at it! But all that did was take away my interest in the show, and make me lose a hero.
Kate was my hero because SHE DID IT ALL. (Or at least I thought she did.) She was a supermom. She showed the world she could raise 8 kids without the chef, and nanny, and maid. That is what drew me to the show. Seeing this incredible family, live through the same issues as the rest of us. Living the same trials and tribulations as everyone else. Seeing how THEY do it with such a large family gave me hope that I could do it with my small one.
That is why I loved them, and watched the show.
But clearly that is nowhere NEAR what the show is now. And the second it made its shift I lost my hero.
THIS, this was my hero! Not this....
3 comments:
sad sad sad
I was never a dedicated watcher of Jon & Kate but I did like it, and for the very reasons you express here. I can't wait to check out that site you posted because I love a good train wreck. I think it's good that they divorced, it was only going to get more petty don't you think? Not that their separation wasn't petty. When they first split, but before they announced it, those episodes were sad. The ones where Kate just looked lost. Now she'll do anything for a buck. Sad.
I've lost heroes before. It's always hard to find out the "real person" behind the mask they project. I don't know that Kate was ever real, to be honest. I do feel for the children, though, it's not fair to them to be pulled into all their parents' drama.
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