Arndt Man Boys & Mary-Elizabeth living out their own unique stories

[Palimpsest]

1 hour ago, formergothardite said:

I think they are all just brainwashed or they all don't live the sheltered safe at home life that Daddy likes to present. I wouldn't be surprised if the reason they don't share a lot of family pictures/events anymore is because the "boys" are living more independent lives. 

I think this may well be true.  Admitting that they were more independent, or some had even moved out of the house, would not fit with Rick's brand.

The man-boy photographers are travelling a lot these days for the business.  I also don't think they would be nearly as successful as wedding photographers if they didn't have a lot of social skills.  

I'm beginning to think some of the Arndts might be good matches for the 7 farm girls after all.  The 7 sisters are spreading their wings too these days.

 

 

[Lurky]

@Palimpsest Oh, I wasn't AT ALL agreeing I think they're HIV+, I was just pointing out that it's possible to have been HIV+ for 30 years, and live a normal life, which to me makes it even more unlikely than it already was.

(ETA sorry I was unclear, I absolutely would never get involved in speculating about HIV status of people)

[Howl]

The reason is hiding in plain sight:

Safe at Home Ministries

FamTeam

 

[Palimpsest]

11 minutes ago, Lurky said:

@Palimpsest Oh, I wasn't AT ALL agreeing I think they're HIV+, I was just pointing out that it's possible to have been HIV+ for 30 years, and live a normal life, which to me makes it even more unlikely than it already was.

(ETA sorry I was unclear, I absolutely would never get involved in speculating about HIV status of people)

No worries.  You were fine and you are also quite right about HIV+ and survival rates.  I just felt the need to reign in the speculation a bit.  I can be a real pain like that.

Sometimes people remember things wrong and jokes, speculation, and thread drift discussions mysteriously morph into fact on FJ.  I hope the joke I made somewhere back at the beginning of this thread about the Arndt parents putting something in the water isn't going to be repeated as fact sometime  It was a joke, honest!

[bertnee]

They remind me of an M. Night Shyamalan movie. Someday we'll find out that all the adults actually have their own normal lives with their own places of residences and that Dad is just delusional and likes to present this strange reality online for some bizarre reason.

[Lurky]

@Palimpsest I very much appreciated the reminder - I was thread drifting, but definitely should have been a bit more careful because I completely agree (and have a 'hot button' re speculation on things like HIV, so sorry too if I'm seeming defensive, it's more OOOOPS!!  )

48 minutes ago, bertnee said:

They remind me of an M. Night Shyamalan movie. Someday we'll find out that all the adults actually have their own normal lives with their own places of residences and that Dad is just delusional and likes to present this strange reality online for some bizarre reason.

Laughing out loud at this, it would be awesome!  Definitely imagining the kids and their girlfriends/boyfriends/partners and kids all having a good laugh about how they humour their dad by seeming to go along with it all! 

[Carm_88]

54 minutes ago, bertnee said:

They remind me of an M. Night Shyamalan movie. Someday we'll find out that all the adults actually have their own normal lives with their own places of residences and that Dad is just delusional and likes to present this strange reality online for some bizarre reason.

I'm hoping that it's something like that. I hope that somewhere along the line they realized that they didn't have to stay at home and are out dating and doing absolutely normal things. They just indulge Rick's little Vine Valley fantasy but otherwise are completely normal human beings. 

*Possibly Delusional* 

[nokidsmom]

3 hours ago, JenniferJuniper said:

There must be some sort of spectrum, even if it's a narrow one.  Some - maybe the oldest ones - don't question anything. Best family in the world, Godliest lifestyle, they can be in the world but not of it.....but there have to be some who question and wonder a.  what the hell is really going on and b. when and how will they ever get out?   Brainwashing can't work equally on everyone and let's face it, all parents of large families lose their grip on middle or younger children. They lavish a lot on energy and attention on the older ones, but it's hard to maintain the same level of involvement with child number 12.

Beyond working in the real world - even 16 year old Peter is working weddings now -  they have many aunties and cousins who, from a review of their facebook pages at least, appear to be pretty normal people.  And they have skills!  On the surface, the manboys appear to be well-poised to move out and on if one or two of them decides to.  But with each year that passes you have to wonder what they are so afraid of.  It must be fear, terrible fear, that is overriding the normal sex drive in so many men.

Exactly, this can't be working on all of them to the same degree, given the number of kids in the family.    Plus, might the younger ones look at their older brothers, some of whom have expressed hopes for marriage and family, and wonder why they are still at home.  The oldest is now pushing 40.  Will this also be their fate too?  Have the older ones expressed any frustration or disappointment over how their lives are?  Of course, we can't know that at all because whatever may be really going on, Rick will not present anything other than his fantasy.    In some ways, I hope that maybe what is shown is indeed just a fantasy and not reality.  

Maybe the manboys are more independent than we are led to believe, but still there's the fact that all of them are still at home.  Still doing things that are associated with kids stuff.  There doesn't seem to be any recognition of what is age appropriate and what might be seen as cute when they were young comes across as squicky when they are adults.  Their parents, or namely their father, still likes to show to the world that the same things they did as kids, such as the birthday photo in the parents' bedroom, are still being done as adults.   He talks about them like they are kids.    This is not normal.  One would think that one of them would express some reservations at this point about this stuff.  Or maybe just get out of the home to take themselves out of the family weirdness.   Maybe they aren't ok with it but feel they have no choice.  Maybe they just humoring Dad.

Agree on the fear factor that may overriding the normal urges.   Another factor that I can think of is that the kids have been instilled with an extreme sense of obligation that favors putting their parents wants and needs ahead of their own hopes and goals.  The kids are now supporting the parents both financially and keeping the household running.   Rick and Cathy are two able bodied adults who seem healthy and in good shape for their age.  These are not elderly parents with health issues who would need support.   Their dad took an early retirement in favor of basically living in a fantasy world and pursuing some never ending film project.   There's a lot wrong with that picture, yet still what are the odds of all of them going along with this.    It's just so....strange.

ETA: I still suspect that the weirdness in this family may be contributing to the seemingly lack of girlfriends / spouses for these guys.   Because word gets around and based on comments posted to an online article for one of their Famteam events (can't remember where it was now)  some folks clearly thought they were a bit strange.

 

[IReallyAmHopewell]

I just did a tour of Priscilla/Davy, Maxhell and Arndts. I really don't get it with this family. I suppose they could just all be too lazy to leave. But I wonder, and I  may have said this before--sorry if I did, I wonder if they don't have their actual driver's licenses, birth certificates etc and don't have a bank account in only their own name. It does really make me wonder. I think the 7 sisters would overwhelm them with vitality by comparison!

[Carm_88]

I feel like the Arndts seriously turn people around in circles. Because on the surface, they seem relatively normal and then you dig. You find Rick's Diary and you realize that they have been the same for many, many years. And the longer that it goes on the more I worry. They seem like really nice guys, a bit sheltered but nice. Maybe they don't have their own bank account maybe there is a fair amount of guilt in keeping the money within the household so that Rick never runs out of Vine Valley money. There's something and it's not just because they love watching Rick shuffle through the snow every year. 

[nokidsmom]

13 minutes ago, Carm_88 said:

I feel like the Arndts seriously turn people around in circles. Because on the surface, they seem relatively normal and then you dig. You find Rick's Diary and you realize that they have been the same for many, many years. And the longer that it goes on the more I worry. They seem like really nice guys, a bit sheltered but nice. Maybe they don't have their own bank account maybe there is a fair amount of guilt in keeping the money within the household so that Rick never runs out of Vine Valley money. There's something and it's not just because they love watching Rick shuffle through the snow every year. 

The shame of it all is that the guys do seem to be nice, very decent, and hardworking.   If it weren't for the question of how deeply enmeshed they are with Mom and Dad, they could make very devoted husbands and fathers.    But as it is, assuming that what we are seeing is for real and not just Rick's fantasy as he wants to show it, any future wives and kids are going to be competing with Rick and Cathy for their husband's attention and resources.  In short, they might be too mindfucked to make their own spouse and kids a priority. 

 

[Snarfblatt]

I have to admit that I mostly follow them because I'm curious about what will happen with Mary Elizabeth. I mean she's the only girl so is she going to stay home like her brothers? Is she going to be the one that marries? How is she treated compared with her brothers?

[Suz8710]

Paul's facebook page has a post from 10/18 about the softball classic this year. Sounds like it was successful.  The St. Louis Blues' Blue Crew was there - lots of pretty ladies in short shorts.  He tagged several of them in the post. 

[Carm_88]

My lip just curled because it's the Blues but come on manboys, look at all the pretty girls!  

[MarblesMom]

14 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

Wait, so the theory is that the Arndt man-boys all have hemophilia and are unable to get married because they are also all HIV+?  

I'm sorry to be so rude but .

The discussion above about infection of people with hemophilia with HIV through contaminated blood supplies and long-term survival with HIV/Aids has a lot of merit, but I think this speculation needs to be reigned in.

Thank you, @Palimpsest.  I was just getting ready to respond when I read your post. Thanks for reeling it in.

I love me some Arndts and I am glad to see the thread is still going, kinda like the VV filming (snort).  

But, I think speculating on them being from another planet is a more authentic theory than everyone in their family has a disease.

 

[Carm_88]

14 hours ago, MarblesMom said:

Thank you, @Palimpsest.  I was just getting ready to respond when I read your post. Thanks for reeling it in.

I love me some Arndts and I am glad to see the thread is still going, kinda like the VV filming (snort).  

But, I think speculating on them being from another planet is a more authentic theory than everyone in their family has a disease.

 

VV will be filming until Rick dies and then it will be his legacy. 

[Black Aliss]

On 11/1/2016 at 6:03 PM, acheronbeach said:

This theory is completely groundless and pretty nuts, IMHO. 

I agree. It was intended to be satirical, but wasn't taken that way (good satire is hard! ) and then kind of deteriorated in an attempt to correct some misunderstandings HIV and clotting factor drugs, which led to additional misunderstandings of basic statistics, and the lifestyles of hemophiliacs, and, well, never mind. Sorry for the original comment.

[Carm_88]

25 minutes ago, Black Aliss said:

I agree. It was intended to be satirical, but wasn't taken that way (good satire is hard! ) and then kind of deteriorated in an attempt to correct some misunderstandings HIV and clotting factor drugs, which led to additional misunderstandings of basic statistics, and the lifestyles of hemophiliacs, and, well, never mind. Sorry for the original comment.

I feel as though your profile picture well sums up what happened in this thread.  

[Grimalkin]

On November 2, 2016 at 8:51 AM, bertnee said:

They remind me of an M. Night Shyamalan movie. Someday we'll find out that all the adults actually have their own normal lives with their own places of residences and that Dad is just delusional and likes to present this strange reality online for some bizarre reason.

   I think of an X-Files episode that I think best not to describe.

[ladyamylynn]

51 minutes ago, Grimalkin said:

   I think of an X-Files episode that I think best not to describe.

You think Ma Arndt sleeps under the bed? 

[Letgo]

On ‎8‎/‎21‎/‎2016 at 8:22 PM, MamaJunebug said:

On ‎11‎/‎2‎/‎2016 at 6:25 AM, Howl said:

The reason is hiding in plain sight:

Safe at Home Ministries

FamTeam

 

 

But still, HOW? I understand that this is how they have been conditioned, but all of them? Not one of those adult men has ever had enough desire to have his own life, family, home? None have ever wanted to attend a university? No one wants any privacy? They all like sharing a bedroom, a home, with so many others? One can still be close with family when living independently. I just can't understand how the Arndts did this with all 14 children.

[Black Aliss]

On 11/2/2016 at 6:23 AM, Lurky said:

@Palimpsest Oh, I wasn't AT ALL agreeing I think they're HIV+, I was just pointing out that it's possible to have been HIV+ for 30 years, and live a normal life, which to me makes it even more unlikely than it already was.

(ETA sorry I was unclear, I absolutely would never get involved in speculating about HIV status of people)

 

4 minutes ago, Letgo said:

One can still be close with family when living independently. I just can't understand how the Arndts did this with all 14 children.

This. My kids are super close but as adults have rarely lived in the same time zone, let alone the same town. They have similar interests but different careers, and they get together regularly, but I could never in a million years imagine them becoming so enmeshed with each other, let alone their parents.

[MarblesMom]

2 hours ago, Letgo said:

But still, HOW?

This, @Letgo, is one of the great mysteries of life.  Akin to how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop, the world may never know.

[Palimpsest]

16 hours ago, Grimalkin said:

I think of an X-Files episode that I think best not to describe.

 

15 hours ago, ladyamylynn said:

You think Ma Arndt sleeps under the bed? 

OMG.  That episode still creeps me out!

[Grimalkin]

15 hours ago, ladyamylynn said:

You think Ma Arndt sleeps under the bed? 

<img alt=":pb_lol:" data-emoticon="" src="http://www.freejinger.org/uploads/emoticons/pb_lol.gif" title=":pb_lol:" />

     Oh my what a good laugh! I guess not but a bunch of grown men living at home celebrating thier birthday in thier parents bedroom is pretty strange. 

       I am sure Mulder would too.