Duggars by the Dozen - General Discussion Part 15

[Kate11]

I looked into the Forsyths when they were first discussed here. There are only two kids: Austin and Meagan, who is a year or two older. Parents Terry and Roxanne run the family camp most of the married Duggars went to a couple of months ago. The Forsyths were a host family on S01E08 of The World's Strictest Parents on CMT a few years ago. I don't have cable anymore, but wikipedia says reruns are still aired on MTV.

Oh gosh, I used to watch World's Strictest Parents all the time. I remember the episode the Forsyths were in. There was another episode with a fundie family, but I cannot remember which episode it was. I remember watching it back before I knew anything about religious fundamentalists. The only reason I remember this particular family is because the dad was explaining the definition of the word "helpmeet" and I remember thinking, "that bible verse was taken way out of context!" I'm going to keep looking to see if I can find that episode!

 

[JillyO]

Oh gosh, I used to watch World's Strictest Parents all the time. I remember the episode the Forsyths were in. There was another episode with a fundie family, but I cannot remember which episode it was. I remember watching it back before I knew anything about religious fundamentalists. The only reason I remember this particular family is because the dad was explaining the definition of the word "helpmeet" and I remember thinking, "that bible verse was taken way out of context!" I'm going to keep looking to see if I can find that episode!

 

Oh wow. Please do share if you can find it online. I would love/hate to watch that!

[Fundie Bunny]

Oh gosh, I used to watch World's Strictest Parents all the time. I remember the episode the Forsyths were in. There was another episode with a fundie family, but I cannot remember which episode it was. I remember watching it back before I knew anything about religious fundamentalists. The only reason I remember this particular family is because the dad was explaining the definition of the word "helpmeet" and I remember thinking, "that bible verse was taken way out of context!" I'm going to keep looking to see if I can find that episode!

 

Season 1 episode 8. Thanks wikipedia! 

[livinginthelight]

Just watched the videos that Jessa posted from their Christmas concert. The kids are pretty talented and the little ones are certainly very cute. But am I the only one wondering why the little ones are standing on.... blankets... while they're performing?

 

I think the kids are standing on cardboard squares. It does look odd, doesn't it? My guess is, it's to remind each of them to stand in their respective spots so they don't drift. Kind of like kids in preschool being given carpet squares to sit on.

[MakeItSo]

I think the kids are standing on cardboard squares. It does look odd, doesn't it? My guess is, it's to remind each of them to stand in their respective spots so they don't drift. Kind of like kids in preschool being given carpet squares to sit on.

that was my first thought, too. You'd think that they'd have some fabric left with a cute print on it...with that many homeschooled kids and girls (sewing is a girl's job) you'd think they'd have some scraps somewhere. 

[HereticHick]

I think the kids are standing on cardboard squares. It does look odd, doesn't it? My guess is, it's to remind each of them to stand in their respective spots so they don't drift. Kind of like kids in preschool being given carpet squares to sit on.

Why not do a much less obtrusive stage marking (is it called a spike?) on the floor with tape to show the kids where to stand? If they are too fidgety to stay on a X mark, there could be a taped box to stand in.  It would look much better. This just feels like, yet again, the Duggars do something half-assed at the last minute.

[Imrlgoddess]

They were elegant AND majestic

**cue ZZ Top...........

[JMO]

Just watched the videos that Jessa posted from their Christmas concert. The kids are pretty talented and the little ones are certainly very cute. But am I the only one wondering why the little ones are standing on.... blankets... while they're performing?

because they have all been blanket trained. They did this at Jill's wedding as well to get the girls to sit in a row on the stage. 

[Charliemae]

Oh wow. Please do share if you can find it online. I would love/hate to watch that!

http://www.cmt.com/videos/misc/398879/worlds-strictest-parents-108-the-forsyth-family-1.jhtml

[Screamapillar]

Just watched the videos that Jessa posted from their Christmas concert. The kids are pretty talented and the little ones are certainly very cute. But am I the only one wondering why the little ones are standing on.... blankets... while they're performing?

Joy and Jeremiah did a piano duet of Sleigh Ride, a song that never even mentions religion! Next thing you know, they'll be performing that evil rock music! 

[Bad Wolf]

It didn't look like Jenny was actually playing. Her bow just went back and forth, not in time with the other two. Couldn't see if her fingers were actually moving. It was too blurry.

Jackson's pants were really tight. Can boys defraud?

[IreneIssh]

 

http://www.cmt.com/videos/misc/398879/worlds-strictest-parents-108-the-forsyth-family-1.jhtml

Thank you so much! I was looking for this and don't know how I missed it on the freaking CMT site! I'm watching it now, and although I had seen a couple episodes of the BBC version, I have to say I'm kind of horrified by this entire concept now that I'm really thinking about it.

You're having trouble with your teenager, so you put them on TV to be humiliated? And forcing them into a fundamentalist family? That's particularly awful. Especially for the girl on the show.  I'm sure the whole thing is not quite as extreme as it looks--it's a reality show and I'm sure a lot of the activities and chores are for the cameras, but still it feels really wrong to me. Take your kid to counseling, not on a reality show. (But, I guess you can't get paid for that ) 

And because of the excessively lax laws around children on Reality TV, these kids probably weren't properly compensated for something that could get them teased in school and will be available on the internet for years. It reminds me of something I read on Gosselins Without Pity a while back about how one of the Gosselin twins, Maddy, was getting made fun of at school for her behavior on the show and that she has had to deal with being called a huge brat by viewers and people on the internet. When you put her name into YouTube, last I checked, there's even compilations of her "brattiest moments"

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I really really hope that the Gosselin kids, the Duggar kids and the kids from Honey Boo Boo, get together and sue the pants off TLC in ten or fifteen years. There needs to be some laws around this stuff. Reality TV shows are just perfect for parents with narcissism to get easy money, and it's something we have seen over and over and over again. It would be so nice to see TLC & Discovery to get what's coming to them 

[Valerie3kids]

Thank you so much! I was looking for this and don't know how I missed it on the freaking CMT site! I'm watching it now, and although I had seen a couple episodes of the BBC version, I have to say I'm kind of horrified by this entire concept now that I'm really thinking about it.

You're having trouble with your teenager, so you put them on TV to be humiliated? And forcing them into a fundamentalist family? That's particularly awful. Especially for the girl on the show.  I'm sure the whole thing is not quite as extreme as it looks--it's a reality show and I'm sure a lot of the activities and chores are for the cameras, but still it feels really wrong to me. Take your kid to counseling, not on a reality show. (But, I guess you can't get paid for that ) 

And because of the excessively lax laws around children on Reality TV, these kids probably weren't properly compensated for something that could get them teased in school and will be available on the internet for years. It reminds me of something I read on Gosselins Without Pity a while back about how one of the Gosselin twins, Maddy, was getting made fun of at school for her behavior on the show and that she has had to deal with being called a huge brat by viewers and people on the internet. When you put her name into YouTube, last I checked, there's even compilations of her "brattiest moments"

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I really really hope that the Gosselin kids, the Duggar kids and the kids from Honey Boo Boo, get together and sue the pants off TLC in ten or fifteen years. There needs to be some laws around this stuff. Reality TV shows are just perfect for parents with narcissism to get easy money, and it's something we have seen over and over and over again. It would be so nice to see TLC & Discovery to get what's coming to them 

I have heard all the Gosselin children have had trouble in school. The twins get humiliated quite a bit about their behavior on the show and the way their mother talks about them. When the littles went to kindergarten, two were asked to leave the private school the first year for fighting and bullying. It is not the littles fault as they did not have a very good example in either parent. Their mother constantly badgering them about how tired she was and how over worked while she had several full time helpers that were not shown on the show. The parents were at each other constantly and her husband could not do anything correct in her perfect world.  I believe their was also a fairly serious discussion as to how the Gosselin parents were handling the TLC funds and if the children were going see any of the money. She is a hateful woman. I can not imagine talking about my children the way she does on camera.

But, they had that lovely vow renewal (dress by Kleinfelds also) in Hawaii and promised their children they would never ever break up and would always love each other. Wow, what a nice way to really screw with your kids minds.

[MakeItSo]

Wow, 3 mins into the introduction with this Forsythe family and they all use the same cookie cutter expressions as the Duggars....servant's heart, etc. Not sure why that still surprises me...

[Kate11]

I thought there was another family, but the Forsyth family was the one I was thinking of. I'm watching it now! I cannot imagine going from one extreme to another like that. Talk about a culture shock!

[accountingstar]

Joy and Jeremiah did a piano duet of Sleigh Ride, a song that never even mentions religion! Next thing you know, they'll be performing that evil rock music! 

[Seren Ann]

because they have all been blanket trained. They did this at Jill's wedding as well to get the girls to sit in a row on the stage. 

When I started playing the violin (that was 17 years ago, wow) I think I remember having a piece of cardboard with the outline of my feet drawn on it to help me keep my feet in the right position... I also remember having to place my left hand on my right shoulder when playing my first pieces (with open strings of course), just like these girls are doing. It seems they're pretty common tricks to help young kids focus and learn to position their bodies properly. Much easier to learn good habits from the start, than to have to fix crappy positions years down the line when they have become really ingrained and you're trying to concentrate on difficult pieces.

And I think Jenny had an accompanying part, slower and easier, which is why she wasn't bowing at the same time as the other girls. Just my interpretation.

[HarleyQuinn]

I swear the Duggars have made me hate violins. 

[19 cats and counting]

Who is that little girl standing between Mack and Josie?

[Playagirl]

I know the j-kids aren't allowed to watch TV but in case exceptions are ever made, I wonder if they've ever seen How The Grinch Stole Christmas (the original cartoon from the sixties, not the movie with Jim Carrey). The moral is quite good, and the ending, when 'the true meaning of Christmas came through' to the evil grinch's heart is sort of a fundie dream come true.  But then the Who's chanting might be seen as speaking in tongues or something like devil worship. Just a random thought I had when seeing the annual announcement for The Grinch on TV this morning.

[Bad Wolf]

Love the grinch cartoon.

[Playagirl]

Love the grinch cartoon.

Probably my favourite Christmas special which I've watched almost every year since I was a little kid (and I'm 50 now). I've never seen the Jim Carrey version because nothing can beat the original and it would just piss me off to see an inferior one.

[EmCatlyn]

Quote

According  to Radar Online

Jill and Jessa Duggar's spinoff, Counting On, will premiere on TLC December 14, only a few months after their brother Josh's sex scandal was exposed. Now, Mama June Shannon is lashing out at TLC for firing her family so quickly but keeping the Duggars on the air.

http://radaronline.com/photos/duggars-sex-scandal-mama-june-shannon-slams-crazy-tlc-firing-her-josh-sisters-tv/photo/1232872/

I must say, I don't blame Mama June for being annoyed, though I never liked the woman.

[enine]

Is it just me or are the Duggar kids really bad at making music? I mean.. I have the feeling the only one who's doing a good job is Jer, and to some extend, Joy. But when Jason, James and Justin played that song it was just terrible.

I don't get why they aren't learning one instrument properly, before they start with a new one...

[19 cats and counting]

On 12/5/2015, 10:16:39, HarleyQuinn said:

I swear the Duggars have made me hate violins. 

If you read the WTF fundie families tumblr, there's a tag called 'violins of doom' which describes them (the J kids skills) perfectly.