Counting On (everyone being civil in...) - part 2

[Maggie Mae]

21 hours ago, anotherone said:

I actually sometimes like that 600 lb show.  I like when they have a happy ending and they are so pleased with their changes.  I know it's an absolute feel-good kind of show (the TLC version, which means it also has the freak show aspect), and I am well aware that TLC markets exactly those kinds of shows.  That and hoarders are the same thing.  I guess they look at the Duggars and think the same thing, freak show with a feel-good aspect, if only the molestation didn't get in the way.

That show. I don't know how Dr Now manages to keep such a calm demeanor. There are so few happy endings on My 600 lb life too. It's depressing and sometimes makes me really angry. 

 

8 minutes ago, FundieFarmer said:

Totally agree. If what I suggested is the case, then bad casting idea on the side of the writers. If yours, then eesh on Jessa. Either way, sounds like a flop for the show. Glad I saved my eyeballs the watch

If someone put a camera in the room with me and my best friend, we'd probably sound like this terrible scene from this terrible movie. 

 

[ClaraOswin]

I think Jessa seems awkward interacting with everyone. Even her husband.

[actuallyjessica]

Thoughts on latest episode:

Ben is a dipshit who seems very inconvenienced by his own child.

Why was there so little footage of the Central America trip when that's where Jill is and Jill's name is in the title of the show?

Anna has gotten really skinny, and seemed like she was scrambling for excuses as to why she wasn't going to El Salvador. Just say it Anna - you didn't go because your husband was in Jesus jail and you need not dare broaden your horizons by travelling overseas without him.

They're really trying to make Jana the new Jessa. As in, how Jessa was before she was Jessa Seewald.

It pains me to watch Jinger speak, because she looks like she is being pinched with every word she speaks. Grit those teeth harder, Jing!

I like Joy. I hope she paves her own path.

Oh and would somebody please buy Jill and Jessa some new bras that hoist their boobs up to where they should be - not dangling around their knees. Jeez. And to think they're only 1 kid in! Imagine once they've fed 8 kids!

[ClaraOswin]

@actuallyjessica You should head over to this thread for the show - 

 

[NeverAFundie]

22 hours ago, anotherone said:

I actually sometimes like that 600 lb show.  I like when they have a happy ending and they are so pleased with their changes.  I know it's an absolute feel-good kind of show (the TLC version, which means it also has the freak show aspect), and I am well aware that TLC markets exactly those kinds of shows.  That and hoarders are the same thing.  I guess they look at the Duggars and think the same thing, freak show with a feel-good aspect, if only the molestation didn't get in the way.

I am a pretty avid watcher of My 600 LB Life, too.  I watch it, though, because I feel like it gives me special insight to what my own mother went through.  She died 4 years ago at age 63 of a MRSA infection, complicated by countless obesity-related illnesses.  She was 5' 4", and at the time of her death weighed about 500 pounds.  It's a sad, double-edged sword when a reality show can give someone like me some peace and perspective about something a loved one faced, but is admittedly also a source of voyeurism for people who I'm sure make fun of people on those shows.

[LawsonBatesEgo]

8 hours ago, actuallyjessica said:

 

Thoughts on latest episode:

Ben is a dipshit who seems very inconvenienced by his own child.

 

I thought I was the only one who thought this! 

He doesn't seem like a husband who just had a much wanted baby.

He seems like a 20 year old college guy who accidentally knocked up his "hot girlfriend" and she kept the baby even though he secretly hoped she wouldn't. It was a little exciting for a while because of the novelty and the attention and social media likes he got for having a squishy newborn, but now that has worn off and he's stuck dealing with a baby day in and day out and his "hot girlfriend" is always dealing with the baby and talks to him about teething and burping and baby poop rather than the big football game and all the fun stuff they used to do together before she got pregnant. 

 

[ClaraOswin]

I didn't really think Ben was all that different than we've seen him before. He just doesn't seem like he's any fun. He's so.....blah. And he has always seemed to lack energy or something to me. Maybe it's the allergy meds he is likely taking.

[nastyhobbitses]

32 minutes ago, ClaraOswin said:

I didn't really think Ben was all that different than we've seen him before. He just doesn't seem like he's any fun. He's so.....blah. And he has always seemed to lack energy or something to me. Maybe it's the allergy meds he is likely taking.

Well, there was that AMA on Reddit (which was kind of dubious, but could have been true) where the person said that Ben basically had no personality and only chased after Jessa because she was hot and famous. He just seems very empty to me. Like an alien who's trying to imitate how an average 20-year-old from Arkansas behaves, but can't quite mask that there's nothing underneath the facade.

[Kittikatz]

On 24/03/2016 at 6:56 PM, FundieFarmer said:

Looks like we can add breastfeeding to the list, along with peanut butter and vaccinations. Let's move on from this. Plenty of children have survived and thrived from both options, which are employed for a myriad of individual and highly personal reasons, so let's save the aggression and in-fighting for the mommy forums. the shaming and superiority shown in mommy wars are just about more than I can take. Life is all about balancing risk, and each person's personal risks and risk tolerance are going to be somewhat different.

Yes, please. The mommy wars deserve a special hell board somewhere far away from FJ. I vote we stick to snarking on stupid stuff fundies do and/or believe with occasional diversions into areas that have an off chance of being fun or enjoyably informative.

[LawsonBatesEgo]

2 hours ago, nastyhobbitses said:

Well, there was that AMA on Reddit (which was kind of dubious, but could have been true) where the person said that Ben basically had no personality and only chased after Jessa because she was hot and famous. He just seems very empty to me. Like an alien who's trying to imitate how an average 20-year-old from Arkansas behaves, but can't quite mask that there's nothing underneath the facade.

His only personality trait seems to be 'smug sanctimonious twat'. 

[nst]

6 hours ago, ClaraOswin said:

I didn't really think Ben was all that different than we've seen him before. He just doesn't seem like he's any fun. He's so.....blah. And he has always seemed to lack energy or something to me. Maybe it's the allergy meds he is likely taking.

I think it's evident more than before - before he tried to appear funny. Now he seems just over it - and the funny thing is - this is what he apparently wanted.

In fact both Derick and Ben now seem over it- maybe they (the husbands) didn't want the new show - and perhaps just the girls did 

 

 

[LawsonBatesEgo]

16 minutes ago, nst said:

I think it's evident more than before - before he tried to appear funny. Now he seems just over it - and the funny thing is - this is what he apparently wanted.

In fact both Derick and Ben now seem over it- maybe they (the husbands) didn't want the new show - and perhaps just the girls did 

 

 

Or perhaps the true reality of what they signed up for is hitting them and it's not as peachy as they thought it would be......doesn't help that the honeymoon phase (ie: we can finally have sex!) is well and truly over. 

[DuggarWatch]

57 minutes ago, nst said:

I think it's evident more than before - before he tried to appear funny. Now he seems just over it - and the funny thing is - this is what he apparently wanted.

In fact both Derick and Ben now seem over it- maybe they (the husbands) didn't want the new show - and perhaps just the girls did 

These marriages would never have happened if it were not for the show 19 Kids and Counting.

These guys married "the show", not the women.  Who in their right mind would marry someone they never had a private conversation with?  Seriously, who does that? 

Now that they are married, both are realizing they are stuck in marriages with people they don't really like to be with – at least that is my take on their situations.  Derick is reacting by letting his appearance go to hell (because he really doesn't care anymore) and Ben is trying to be famous in his own right and is hopelessly failing as a writer/preacher/YouTube talk-show-host-interviewer/rapper/ anything but Jessa's toy boy.  Ben knows he is dependent upon Jessa for income and is asleep-at-the-switch on camera as a deliberate insult to his baby-making wife.

[nst]

9 minutes ago, DuggarWatch said:

These marriages would never have happened if it were not for the show 19 Kids and Counting.

These guys married "the show", not the women.  Who in their right mind would marry someone they never had a private conversation with?  Seriously, who does that? 

Now that they are married, both are realizing they are stuck in marriages with people they don't really like to be with – at least that is my take on their situations.  Derick is reacting by letting his appearance go to hell (because he really doesn't care anymore) and Ben is trying to be famous in his own right and is hopelessly failing as a writer/preacher/YouTube talk-show-host-interviewer/rapper/ anything but Jessa's toy boy.  Ben knows he is dependent upon Jessa for income and is asleep-at-the-switch on camera as a deliberate insult to his baby-making wife.

These marriages only happened imo because they wanted something to spice up the show.

Dentist appointments and JB discussing snow snowstorms wasn't cutting it anymore

 

[Becket70]

The marriages, like everything else Duggar, are storylines. 

 

[LawsonBatesEgo]

1 hour ago, DuggarWatch said:

These marriages would never have happened if it were not for the show 19 Kids and Counting.

These guys married "the show", not the women.  Who in their right mind would marry someone they never had a private conversation with?  Seriously, who does that? 

Now that they are married, both are realizing they are stuck in marriages with people they don't really like to be with – at least that is my take on their situations.  Derick is reacting by letting his appearance go to hell (because he really doesn't care anymore) and Ben is trying to be famous in his own right and is hopelessly failing as a writer/preacher/YouTube talk-show-host-interviewer/rapper/ anything but Jessa's toy boy.  Ben knows he is dependent upon Jessa for income and is asleep-at-the-switch on camera as a deliberate insult to his baby-making wife.

I get the impression that Derick genuinely liked Jill herself and not just the show, but the problem is that he never got to truly get to know her until after they were married....in in their case, also pregnant. How can you truly evaluate whether you will be happy living in a marriage with someone when you can't even have a private conversation with them or go on a date with them without having their 12 year old sibling tag along. It also means that you don't really get to see someone's flaws or the things that could be dealbreakers. 

In the real world, there are plenty of times a guy will have a genuine interest in a girl because she seems cool/fun/smart/whatever, so he asks her out and they date and have actual conversations with each other and he realises she is not really 'right' for him or vice versa or both feel that way. But Derick and Jill never really got that chance (and neither did Bin and Jessa, but I think the difference was that Bin DID just want the show and the "hot girlfriend") and perhaps, now they are both suffering because of it and are trapped in a relationship that in normal cirumstances may not have ever gotten to the point where they are married with child in a culture where divorce is a no-go. 

[doubleT]

22 hours ago, Dandruff said:

I'd say that Sierra must be close with some Duggar(s) or she wouldn't repeatedly be on the show (and I wish she wasn't).  I suspect that Sierra and Jessa are just playing good buddies because they have babies though.  Their personalities don't seem compatible to me, at all.

 

When Sierra first made an appearance on the show, she was said to be a close friend of Anna's.  They had babies close together.  I'm sure over the last coupe of years with Sierra helping with the weddings, baby showers and gender revels, all the girls have come to know her.   Jessa probably talked to her a lot while pregnant because Sierra was pregnant (again) too. 

 

18 hours ago, actuallyjessica said:

 

<snip>

Why was there so little footage of the Central America trip when that's where Jill is and Jill's name is in the title of the show?

<snip>

I asked this question the other day and then the answer came to me after watching this episode and listening to Jana try to talk in her talking heads.   Its because Jill and Jessa are the only "adults" other than exiled Josh.  So in Boob's mind, they are the only ones that can be titled to carry the show. 

I also wondered why Jill was not more apart of the show, especially when her family was there visiting for two weeks.  That whole episode could have been focused on them, instead there was nothing.  Very strange. 

I don't understand why they haven't addressed Derick's jaw surgery.  

I also think both Derick and Ben are regretting jumping into marriage and babies and this family.  Derick came across to me as a pretty independent guy before Jill.  Now she won't leave his side. 

Ben is just lost.  

 

[NeverAFundie]

I don't (yet) get the vibe from Derick that he is having regrets (totally getting it from Bin, though).  I think there is something else going on with Derick, though.  Derick is tall and thin, but prior to this trip to "Central America," he didn't look unhealthy to me.  I have been married twice--both times to very tall, thin men.  As infuriating as it can be to those of us who are perpetually chubby (*cough* me *cough*), these men just had the metabolism of jackrabbits on crack, and were naturally very thin.  I remember first seeing Derick on the show and thinking that even though he was painfully thin, he looked relatively healthy.

Now, however, I think he looks very unwell.  I would not be surprised if he contracted some particularly unpleasant intestinal bug.  Perhaps that's why we didn't see much of them in the most recent episode when the who fam damily was down there visiting, but that's idle speculation on my part.  I just get the feeling that he was physically ill during these shows that were filmed in November/December/January.

[anotherone]

21 hours ago, NeverAFundie said:

I am a pretty avid watcher of My 600 LB Life, too.  I watch it, though, because I feel like it gives me special insight to what my own mother went through.  She died 4 years ago at age 63 of a MRSA infection, complicated by countless obesity-related illnesses.  She was 5' 4", and at the time of her death weighed about 500 pounds.  It's a sad, double-edged sword when a reality show can give someone like me some peace and perspective about something a loved one faced, but is admittedly also a source of voyeurism for people who I'm sure make fun of people on those shows.

I don't think people make fun of those on the 600lb life show.  It seems that for that show at least, TLC manages to make the viewer feel sympathy for the characters, with their back stories and focusing on how hard they are trying.  It's really hard to do anything but root for them to be successful.  There may be some voyeurism, but I don't think people are making fun of them.  Plus that doctor is always encouraging and patient, but he is also honest with them.  

I learn something from that show too for the opposite reason, since I don't know anyone at all in that boat.  When you see how much these people have to overcome just to get around their own house,  I think it helps people understand the struggle of others.  If TLC wants to stay in that reality type of show, the 600lb life is one of the better ones.

[Maggie Mae]

27 minutes ago, anotherone said:

I don't think people make fun of those on the 600lb life show.  It seems that for that show at least, TLC manages to make the viewer feel sympathy for the characters, with their back stories and focusing on how hard they are trying.  It's really hard to do anything but root for them to be successful.  There may be some voyeurism, but I don't think people are making fun of them.  Plus that doctor is always encouraging and patient, but he is also honest with them.  

People do make fun of them. Actually, I find that often, the people are completely unsympathetic and terrible, regardless of weight. And some of them are clearly not trying at all and congratulating themselves for losing weight and then weighing in higher. I have a love-hate relationship with that show.  

I wish I had the patience of Dr Now. That man is a saint to put up with people lying to him constantly, and ignoring his medical advice. 

 

27 minutes ago, anotherone said:

I learn something from that show too for the opposite reason, since I don't know anyone at all in that boat.  When you see how much these people have to overcome just to get around their own house,  I think it helps people understand the struggle of others.  If TLC wants to stay in that reality type of show, the 600lb life is one of the better ones.

I actually think the show could do a better job of showing some of the obstacles that they have to deal with, TBH. Every show seems to have a formula. Fat person is like "everything hurts and I can't do x,y, z. I need surgery." Dr Now is like "the surgery is not a magic pill. you have to learn to eat better." Person tell us what they eat. It's a lot. Person promises to eat fewer calories. Person is filmed eating junk food. Person is filmed eating more and more junk food. Going through drive throughs. The enabler (there is almost always an enabler) talks to the camera about eating better. They don't. Person goes back to Dr Now to weight in. Then person has either gained weight and is checked into a hospital. Or person is scheduled for surgery. Then we see the surgery (which I wish they would show more of), and the post opt. Often we then see person vomiting when they eat too much. Then they check in months later. Sometimes it's reasonably successful and the person is optimistic. Often it's not and the person is completely delusional. Pretty sure the highest rated episodes are the ones with the absolutely terrible people, like Penny, 

[anotherone]

18 minutes ago, Maggie Mae said:

 

I actually think the show could do a better job of showing some of the obstacles that they have to deal with, TBH. Every show seems to have a formula.

Well I guess I meant for a TLC reality show, it's one of the better ones.  Did you ever see this other extreme weight loss show, I think it's 2 hrs long, TLC or E!, where this personal trainer chooses someone for that episode and there is an audience involved that gives a standing ovation at the end.  That one seems to have a lot more sensationalism and never really shows the "bad" parts of the weight loss journey. Like with the Duggars, you never see the bad parts of a family that size, it was all cupcakes and rainbows until the scandal, then still is afterwards.  I guess I give TLC credit for trying to show the negative sides of the weightloss, and  I suppose there is a formula, but maybe the peoples' journeys are surprisingly similar? I don't really know.

[Grimalkin]

On March 24, 2016 at 3:00 PM, actuallyjessica said:

 

Thoughts on latest episode:

Ben is a dipshit who seems very inconvenienced by his own child.

Why was there so little footage of the Central America trip when that's where Jill is and Jill's name is in the title of the show?

Anna has gotten really skinny, and seemed like she was scrambling for excuses as to why she wasn't going to El Salvador. Just say it Anna - you didn't go because your husband was in Jesus jail and you need not dare broaden your horizons by travelling overseas without him.

They're really trying to make Jana the new Jessa. As in, how Jessa was before she was Jessa Seewald.

It pains me to watch Jinger speak, because she looks like she is being pinched with every word she speaks. Grit those teeth harder, Jing!

I like Joy. I hope she paves her own path.

Oh and would somebody please buy Jill and Jessa some new bras that hoist their boobs up to where they should be - not dangling around their knees. Jeez. And to think they're only 1 kid in! Imagine once they've fed 8 kids!

       I agree with most except I can understand Anna not wanting to go to El Salvador. Traveling to places like that are not always fun with so many littles. Plus she just may not be mentally up to it with so much going on, and it is her in laws after all.

      * we went to Cuernavaca Mexico when my younger kids were still stroller aged. The sidewalks were impossible to navigate with a stroller. The local women wore thier babies. It was an interesting trip and I enjoyed it but it was not relaxing. There are so many things to worry about in regards to water and food. Kids get tired......I won't criticize her for not wanting to go without Josh.

[Queen Of Hearts]

26 minutes ago, anotherone said:

Well I guess I meant for a TLC reality show, it's one of the better ones.  

What makes it one of the better ones, in my opinion, is it doesn't involve innocent children. The adults know what they are in for - they make their own choice to be exploited by TLC.

[Maggie Mae]

37 minutes ago, Queen Of Hearts said:

What makes it one of the better ones, in my opinion, is it doesn't involve innocent children. The adults know what they are in for - they make their own choice to be exploited by TLC.

Many of the people featured have children who appear. 

[anotherone]

1 hour ago, Queen Of Hearts said:

What makes it one of the better ones, in my opinion, is it doesn't involve innocent children. The adults know what they are in for - they make their own choice to be exploited by TLC.

Yes, good point.  I guess I see kids on the show but the kids are never the main characters.