FamTeam Update

[MatthewDuggar]

Thanks for the heads up.  I guess I glossed over the "audio" assignments and giftings in Rick's boring entries.

The Cathy character seems almost angelic.  I wonder if he marries her in the end or if it's a sad ending...

[Suz8710]

On January 11, 2016 at 4:24 PM, MatthewDuggar said:

The Ardnt's don't "purpose" - wrong fundie version.  They actually sound and speak like normal Americans aside from the strange accent/speech variance.

Thanks for the clarification! I've just started watching some of their YouTube 'episodes' and I definitely notice some rather different accents/speech pattern. Very normal in what they say, at least. I have seen many outdoorsy pics from some of the boys' outings, and there's such contrast between what they do/experience out on the road and what we know of their home life. Fascinating, really.

[JenniferJuniper]

13 hours ago, MatthewDuggar said:

Thanks for the heads up.  I guess I glossed over the "audio" assignments and giftings in Rick's boring entries.

The Cathy character seems almost angelic.  I wonder if he marries her in the end or if it's a sad ending...

My guess is they marry and live happily ever after, serving the Lord as one. 

This way Wizzie and the manboys get a vicarious marriage and birth via Vine Valley, their endless labor - and I do mean labor - of love.

Problem is, Daddy is 60 soon and and dementia or death is likely to take him before its finished.  To whom does the Vine Valley mantle pass?  And will that manboy stay true to Rick's vision?  Will he take his siblings to upstate NY year after year to re-film the footage shot the previous year?  Will there be any strife or dissension in the ranks?  And what about the penguins?

 

[MatthewDuggar]

And the Vine Valley post production continues in full force.  I don't think Rick can set his mind to anything else.  A few recent excerpts:

Our Vine Valley post-production department continues to quietly blossom.  Nearly every member of the family is involved in some manner!

 

We are still planning to film in upstate New York next month!

 

Luke continues to help me find “lost” or missing Vine Valley footage.   He knows how to find misplaced video files!  Today he managed to locate footage that had been shot on July 31 (of last year) at the stone church ruins.  The clips that he found are essential to a scene that we are trying to complete!

 

I am impressed by the way in which the guys and Mary-Elizabeth have been developing our little “Hollywood of the Midwest”!  Paul and some of his brothers held an audio effects meeting on the lower level this evening, and seem to be breaking new ground.  Such gatherings have the atmosphere of an informally-run classroom, or (to use another analogy) an inventor’s laboratory.

[anjulibai]

So bizarre. 

[Guest]

They must have a ridiculous amount of footage by now, no wonder some of it got lost.  How could they keep it all straight?  I wonder how much money they've spent on this "masterpiece."

[SolomonFundy]

The "lost" footage sounds like a story. I'd like to think that the ForeverBoys occasionally delete or hide some files just to mess with Rick, or maybe to encourage him to give it up.

But I doubt it, since Rick would just round everyone up, grab Cathy's special Do Goodery Basket, and re-shoot the scene(s).

[JillyO]

On 12.1.2016 at 3:58 PM, Pastors Daughter said:

Rick has talked about the sound effects "department" at least weekly now for a while. Paul heads up the audio, but he has a number of boys who work with him on collecting needed sound effects and editing them.

 (From Dec 18 Dad's Diary):  "Paul has been faithfully leading our blossoming Vine Valley post-production  department.  He continues to specialize in the area of audio effects, as does Luke.  James is trying to clear his schedule so that he will be able to join them, as he has always appreciated — and understood — the mysteries of sound. The Vine Valley movie will require many sound effects (a bat striking a ball, a person falling into the snow), and the audio team will be on a mission to find them — or create them from scratch!"

They will never finish. They will continue working on this thing until they (as it has been necessary in the past over and over) need to redo whole portions because it is too obvious the parts are not continuous. A hobby or project for a person or family is a fun, bonding, and wonderful thing if everyone truly enjoys it, but . . . move on people. This isn't ever really going to happen. I especially want them to put it aside since it seems to have been a roadblock and EXCUSE to moving on in life in general for the manboys.

 

*gasps* How will they ever recreate the sound of a bat striking a ball from scratch?!

[Dandruff]

These folks seem like an ongoing, fluffy family sitcom.  Let's have a late night meeting to discuss concerns!  Let's make a movie!  We need sound effects!  We're getting ducks!  Keep watching, more adventures to come!

And we keep watching.

[Sweet Fellowship]

Oh, to be a fly on the wall in the house of the Arndts. I'm very curious how the heck they're keeping all those adult kids at home.

[salex]

If they are struggling to find sound effects, then I am going to deduct IQ points from them as a family.  I buy and use royalty free photos all the time for my marketing/business/etc.  Royaltry free sound effects are also readily available. --I have bought music to use in various marketing videos, and a quick google of sound effects brings up dozens of pages. 

Makework, thy name is Ardnt.  

IF they had done as they discussed, ie, made this film into a series, the age changes would not have been a big deal.  I wonder if this is like some attempts at novel writing... they have a beginning, but either no middle or no end, so they keep reshooting the beginning

 

[HereticHick]

1 hour ago, Sweet Fellowship said:

Oh, to be a fly on the wall in the house of the Arndts. I'm very curious how the heck they're keeping all those adult kids at home.

By promising them they can leave as soon as the film is finished?

[Perhaps each night, Papa Arndt pulls a Penelope, and unravels some the film work done that day]

[nausicaa]

What exactly does Rick plan on doing with this film once it is complete? (If that cold day in hell ever comes.) Sell it to a studio? Release it on their website for a download fee? Try and tour churches with it as part of some ministry?

I understand plenty of people take up hobbies like novel writing, painting, or singing just for the pure fun of it. But a film is a large and collaborative (and expensive) project. What is the point of all of these people putting this much time into something?

[Elegant Mess]

51 minutes ago, nausicaa25 said:

I understand plenty of people take up hobbies like novel writing, painting, or singing just for the pure fun of it. But a film is a large and collaborative (and expensive) project. What is the point of all of these people putting this much time into something?

Kind of reminds me of Lyndon LaRouche's "hobby" of running for President, which constantly keeps the followers "busy".

[socalrules]

Vine Valley sounds like the type of thing you suggest as a summer project for the kids while they are off school. At the end of the summer you watch it with a projector on a sheet in the backyard at night. Then you go to school Monday morning and never think about it again. 

[MatthewDuggar]

I would assume that Rick plans to at least run his Vine Valley on local access stations like he did with the FamTeam program.  If he has any other "grand" plans, he hasn't mentioned them, I don't think.   

It's like this film project  is some sort of "calling" from God, like Noah with the Ark.  It's way beyond a hobby.  I often wonder how close it actually it to being finished.  I mean they are planning on shooting again in NY? 

[SolomonFundy]

47 minutes ago, socalrules said:

Vine Valley sounds like the type of thing you suggest as a summer project for the kids while they are off school. At the end of the summer you watch it with a projector on a sheet in the backyard at night. Then you go to school Monday morning and never think about it again. 

My great-grandpa had 14 kids, 9 of which were sons. When they were out of school in the Summers, he'd occupy their extra time by having them move stacks of firewood, boulders, and scrap metal from one location to the next, then back again. When they got home exhausted from moving a pile of rocks from one place to the next, he'd have them do their regular chores, then tell them that he wanted the stuff moved back the following day. Think Sisyphus times 9, except with overalls and North Carolina backwoods accents.

Vine Valley is starting to bring the relentless waste of all of this to mind. Especially with some of Rick's comments about how the whole family is involved. More and more, I'm seeing it as more than just a vanity project, and instead, a last-ditch effort at controlling his adult children. Or at the very least, guilting and/or shaming them into helping him finish this "one last thing". After years of working on it passively, whenever they had time, they are now all suddenly committed to finishing it. 

Except, it will probably never be finished. Late at night, Rick tiptoes past the clothesline of Cathy's white shorts, creeps by the Penguin trophy room, and quietly moves down to the stairs to the basement. There, he frantically tries to delete files and sabotage finished footage to buy just one more day of family togetherness.

[gustava]

15 minutes ago, SolomonFundy said:

More and more, I'm seeing it as more than just a vanity project, and instead, a last-ditch effort at controlling his adult children. Or at the very least, guilting and/or shaming them into helping him finish this "one last thing".

Interesting point.  Never thought of this, but it makes sense, even if he's doing so subliminally.

[JenniferJuniper]

49 minutes ago, MatthewDuggar said:

It's like this film project  is some sort of "calling" from God, like Noah with the Ark.  It's way beyond a hobby.  I often wonder how close it actually it to being finished.  I mean they are planning on shooting again in NY? 

They are indeed planning another trip to NY next month.  Rick is just waiting for God to get back with him with the official okay.

[PraiseDog]

On 1/10/2016 at 2:26 PM, Suz8710 said:

Sadly (?) I find their strangeness appealing. If I were a single fundie lady, I'd be purposing to meet one of them. Preferably Paul. Or the one in yellow. A few of the others would do as well...

Don't judge me! 

Count me in, too - and, am I alone in hearing nothing strange about their accents? To me, they sound similar to "Minnesota Nice" mixed with some of the Amish from northern Michigan.
Does anyone know the parents' background?  Did they grow up fundie, or did they go fundie when they married?  Could it be possible that they are former Amish?
Granted, I've only watched a few of their videos (Caleb's braces, ping-pong competitions, a few of Dad droning which I ffed through) but the kids and kidults seem fun-loving, able to take a joke, and allowed to have personalities, at least within their family circle.  In contrast with the Duggar kids' robotic programming and even more so, the Rodriguii kids'  control by robotic programming which is more an "MS-Dos Basic" version.    

[RosyDaisy]

This is one creepy ass family. I wonder what skeletons are hidden their closet?

[quiversR4hunting]

4 hours ago, PraiseDog said:

Count me in, too - and, am I alone in hearing nothing strange about their accents? To me, they sound similar to "Minnesota Nice" mixed with some of the Amish from northern Michigan.
Does anyone know the parents' background?  Did they grow up fundie, or did they go fundie when they married?  Could it be possible that they are former Amish?
Granted, I've only watched a few of their videos (Caleb's braces, ping-pong competitions, a few of Dad droning which I ffed through) but the kids and kidults seem fun-loving, able to take a joke, and allowed to have personalities, at least within their family circle.  In contrast with the Duggar kids' robotic programming and even more so, the Rodriguii kids'  control by robotic programming which is more an "MS-Dos Basic" version.    

Someone said they were (are?) Both Catholic. 

Maybe they both spoke German in the home growing up. That could get you an Amish accent.

Many "maybes" in my guesses!!

[nokidsmom]

On 1/15/2016 at 5:30 PM, SolomonFundy said:

Vine Valley is starting to bring the relentless waste of all of this to mind. Especially with some of Rick's comments about how the whole family is involved. More and more, I'm seeing it as more than just a vanity project, and instead, a last-ditch effort at controlling his adult children. Or at the very least, guilting and/or shaming them into helping him finish this "one last thing". After years of working on it passively, whenever they had time, they are now all suddenly committed to finishing it. 

 

On 1/15/2016 at 5:46 PM, gustava said:

Interesting point.  Never thought of this, but it makes sense, even if he's doing so subliminally.

It does make complete sense to me.  I had a similar sitch with my own parents, always coming up with "projects" that we had to do, and oddly enough, they employed this tactic far more often when we were adults than we were kids.   So I totally see Rick as using Vine Valley to keep his chidults "safe at home" and the family together.  The "finishing" however, will never happen though in spite of all the activity. 

If Rick is indeed using the filming as a control tactic, even sublminally, that indicates there's some unrest amongst the manboys and he's only bought time.  Eventually it's not going to work.  I rather pity Rick if a manboy wakes up and realizes what's really going on.   And if a manboy does leave, it's going to be a family crisis of epic proportions dwarfing the family mourning that Maxwells engaged in when Nathan left the home only to move down the street. 

 

[gustava]

15 minutes ago, nokidsmom said:

I rather pity Rick if a manboy wakes up and realizes what's really going on. 

I will have absolutely no sympathy what so ever.

[nokidsmom]

6 minutes ago, gustava said:

I will have absolutely no sympathy what so ever.

I know I shouldn't have any but thinking about Rick facing the wrath of a manboy realizing he threw away the best years of his life in servitude to parents who as leaders of their family cult who had no intention of letting him go, crippled his chances of having his own life and taking advantage of the fruits of his labors, it is rather terrifying.  Though it would be deserved.