Do you think the Duggars are familiar with any pop culture?

[Guest Anonymous]

I have always wondered if Jimbob or Michelle are familiar with current events, celebrities, etc. Like for instance, do they know who Michael Jackson is? Do they know he died? (sorry, I've been watching the trial all day) I wonder if they ever pick up a newspaper or glance at a tabloid while in line at the grocery store. Same goes for the Maxwell's. I'm a huge pop culture junkie and I wonder if they even are aware of all the things going on around them.

[doggie]

doubtful they don't act like it. they did not even know who dolly parton was when they went to dollywood.

[Guest Anonymous]

I thought Jimbob and Michelle weren't always fundie. Wasn't Michelle a cheerleader? Surely when she was a teenager she heard of SOME famous people! Hard to believe they didn't know who freakin' Dolly Parton was.

[Lillybee]

I hope that when Jinger and whoever she has to take with her running errands, cranks up the car radio to some country rock and hears a bit of news but I have a feeling that Boob has somehow managed to disable the car radios.

[marmalade]

I think Boob and Mullet definitely knew who Dolly was; no one in the South could have avoided her at the height of her fame in the early/mid-80's at the peak of her career (when they were in high school). I just think Gothard makes them put pop culture away and only use references to their childhood that teach the kids about their "baggage" or whatnot. I think it also makes the kids feel less deprived and more likely to stay in the cult if cultural references from any era are edited out.

I'm sure they knew who Michael Jackson was, but I doubt Boob would have liked him. I bet Michelle did some dancin' to his early solo stuff when she was a younger teenager.

[Guest Anonymous]

Just the thought of Michelle getting her groove on to Michael Jackson cracks me up! :lol:

[Jessica]

The Maxwells rely on overhearing other peoples' conversations while waiting in line to checkout at the grocery store to get their world news.

[marmalade]

I'm sure Boob and Mullet get their political briefings from World Nut Daily and Free Republic, not to mention FoTH and CPAC (don't forget, those nutcases gave them a "first annual reality show stars of the year" award in 2010. Didn't see this award given out this year (who else is there? The Catholic, but reliably Republican voting Real Housewives of Joisey?).

Mullet, as a cheerleader in those days, would have listened to a lot of pop and probably country music to choreograph routines (if she was on the dance squad). If not, she learned routines to all the band tunes and flashed her panties to a lot of men doing her high kicks.

[muffynbear]

I def. think that Boob and Mullet knew who Dolly was and possibly listened to her music before turning fundy. I also think they know about pop. culture from their era i.e. 60s/70s/80s but probably not so much now. I'm pretty sure they know about Elvis Presley and celebrities like him (The Beatles/Marilyn Monroe/Michael Jackson) and probably listened to oldies music... but now? Probably not. Doesn't Michelle know the song "It's My Party" ? I thought I heard Michelle reference that song once.

[crazyforkate]

They probably not only know of them, but spend a lot of time praying for their sins.

[Lillian]

I think JB and Michelle are aware of pop culture from their youth, but the producers make it seem like they are completely oblivious.

[lilwriter85]

I think that the Duggars are aware of pop culture to small extent. Boob, Michelle and the kids are probably aware of some movie stars, certain current events and certain musical acts. If anyone were to show Duggar kids pictures of current TV stars or musicians that popular with teens and adults, the kids probably wouldn't be able to name half of the people they are shown.

[darkplumaged]

I think that the Duggars are aware of pop culture to small extent. Boob, Michelle and the kids are probably aware of some movie stars, certain current events and certain musical acts. If anyone were to show Duggar kids pictures of current TV stars or musicians that popular with teens and adults, the kids probably wouldn't be able to name half of the people they are shown.

Yeah, this is what I think. The kids go to Wal-Mart, I assume, so they've probably seen Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga CDs, as well as magazine covers with various celebrities du jour. I doubt any Duggar knows much more than the most famous names.

[koolmom]

You know, when you think about it, just consider how many times in an average day one can be exposed to music, etc. by just walking around, esp. when shopping, via PA systems in stores, or even doctor's offices, etc. What about when they go to restaurants, and not esp. ones they've cleared with TLC for a shooting, but when they go on their own (I'm sure they must from time to time)? Do you think they have the managers unplug the juke box or their piped-in sound system before they go in? They can't be that smart...BTW, does Aldi's have piped-in store music? Or walking into a Wal-Mart past the TV's and electronic sections, there's GOT to be TV's or stereos tuned into stuff they aren't allowed to watch? They can't just run over and turn off thirty or forty TV's or stereos all at once...

[FloraDoraDolly]

I think JB and Michelle are aware of pop culture from their youth, but the producers make it seem like they are completely oblivious.

Oh yes, I am sure that Jim Bob and Michelle know the pop culture from their youth. Since Jim Bob was a Christian school boy, he would have spent his teen years hearing about the evils of heavy metal music. Even if he wasn't allowed to listen to it, he would have known about it. Michelle was a public school kid; she would have been exposed to everything that was around at the time.

I expect the pop culture "drop off" occurred after Josh was born. Michelle had the miscarriage between Josh and the first set of twins which inspired her and Jim Bob to become more religious. Generally speaking, once people get married and have kids they just don't go to the movies as often or pay as much attention to the latest bands or keep up with what's on TV. They're too busy/tired.

As for the Duggar kids, it's hard to guess what they know and what they don't. Aside from Kirk Cameron, that is. I'm sure they've heard popular music over the PA system in stores and whatnot, but would they have heard the same song or the same artist enough times that they would be able to recogize any of it?

[Letgo]

I think the Duggars are probably far more aware of pop culture than they used to be before their show began. They must be light years ahead of the Maxwells in that respect.

[IReallyAmHopewell]

I think TODAY they are probably well aware, but when the oldest kids were little and until the show they probably knew who many were who'd been around, but didn't keep up with current music etc.They've never said they ignore newspapers or radio news so they probably kept up a little. But a lot of people tune out pop culture as while noise and do their own thing. I'd fail any quiz you want to give me on current tv or rock music. Ask me about rap and I'd do fine--my kid is a fanatic! I think now that they've traveled so much the kids are more aware and that's partly way many families in their "league" view them as way too worldly.

[lilwriter85]

You know, when you think about it, just consider how many times in an average day one can be exposed to music, etc. by just walking around, esp. when shopping, via PA systems in stores, or even doctor's offices, etc. What about when they go to restaurants, and not esp. ones they've cleared with TLC for a shooting, but when they go on their own (I'm sure they must from time to time)? Do you think they have the managers unplug the juke box or their piped-in sound system before they go in? They can't be that smart...BTW, does Aldi's have piped-in store music? Or walking into a Wal-Mart past the TV's and electronic sections, there's GOT to be TV's or stereos tuned into stuff they aren't allowed to watch? They can't just run over and turn off thirty or forty TV's or stereos all at once...

I think the Duggars might teach the kids not to pay attention to the music they hear in public. When I worked in restaurants there were several times that people asked us to turn down the sound sytem radio because they felt it was too loud. We were never asked to turn our system off completely. I don't know if the Duggars would ask for juke boxes or sound systems to be turned off. I kind of don't think they would. Some chain restaurants like Applebees sometimes have music contracts with Sonic Tap or XM Sirius radio systems which tend to only pop friendly stuff for chain restaurants and some songs they are play are edited down.

As for Wal-Mart, I do wonder if the J'Slaves and their buddies are allowed to walk around the store on their own. If they walked around without Mullet they could see tons of defrauding things in several aisles. The magazine sections tend to contain the magazine covers that are defrauding. At Wal-Mart near the checkout lanes, the magazines that are shown are usually People, Time, US, Newsweek and sometimes tabloids, Cosmo and other similar magazines. Go to the magazine section and you will see Men's Health, Women's Health and several other magazines that sometimes show women in bikins and shirtless men. The Wal-Mart's here in New Mexico are sort of set up t to be family friendly all the time. I have known a few people who have worked at Wal-Mart's here. My friend worked at one store back in 2003 and 2004. He worked mostly in the electronics department. He said when he first started, the managers used to give them promo DVD's that had music videos on them to play on the TV's. But after several months of working there, my friend said the managers told them certain things were changing. They started promoting TV shows on DVD on the TV's and usually the stuff they were promoting was crime shows and sitcoms. Some of Wal-Mart's here don't even sell certain TV shows on DVD and they sell mostly Christian novels.

[lilwriter85]

Oh yes, I am sure that Jim Bob and Michelle know the pop culture from their youth. Since Jim Bob was a Christian school boy, he would have spent his teen years hearing about the evils of heavy metal music. Even if he wasn't allowed to listen to it, he would have known about it. Michelle was a public school kid; she would have been exposed to everything that was around at the time.

I expect the pop culture "drop off" occurred after Josh was born. Michelle had the miscarriage between Josh and the first set of twins which inspired her and Jim Bob to become more religious. Generally speaking, once people get married and have kids they just don't go to the movies as often or pay as much attention to the latest bands or keep up with what's on TV. They're too busy/tired.

As for the Duggar kids, it's hard to guess what they know and what they don't. Aside from Kirk Cameron, that is. I'm sure they've heard popular music over the PA system in stores and whatnot, but would they have heard the same song or the same artist enough times that they would be able to recogize any of it?

I think they might be able to recognize the same song or artist if they maybe kept the songs in their heads for awhile. It would depend on what is being over the systems at the public places they are at. Sometimes at the grocery store that I shop at there are times that 80's and 90's music is played over the system and other times when I go in it is current music.

Kirk Cameron is probably one of the few celeb types that the Duggar kids know about. Kirk is more D-List celeb these days. I wonder if Boob and Mullet watched Growing Pains in the 80's. I think Kirk Cameron is probably one of only handful of famous people to know who the Duggars are. I have noticed that some celebs are huge fans of reality TV. Kathy Griffin pretty much spends a lot of time talking about reality TV in her stand up shows and celebrities are always tweeting about Jersey Shore, Real Houswives shows etc. I think celebs could find the Duggars to be dull and annoying. Kristin Chenoweth is always tweeting about watching stuff on TLC but she never mentions the Duggars. She probably knows about them but doesn't like them because someone like her could easily figure out who the Duggars are connected. to. She would probably also see through the BS the Duggars say. Kristin probably grew up around fundie types.

[clarinetpower]

Kristin Chenoweth is a born again Christian who has no problem with gays. I'm sure she knows who they are but doesn't drink the Kool-Aid or eat the tator tots. I think she's awesomesauce.

[koolmom]

I've heard of Kristin Chenoweth, what is her talent, comedienne or actress?

[pomology]

I've heard of Kristin Chenoweth, what is her talent, comedienne or actress?

She an actress and a singer. And 100% awesome.

[marmalade]

I've heard of Kristin Chenoweth, what is her talent, comedienne or actress?

She's on Glee and until 5 minutes ago I didn't know about her faith, which she made a big part whatever it was she was shilling for herself on some daytime talkie.

[Kitten]

I think this is one situation where the Duggars actually "play" dumber than they are. :lol:

JB and Mich almost certainly know who Dolly Parton is. As someone else said, any time the kids go to the store, even in pairs, they are exposed to sights and sounds that would alert them to the fact that there is another world out there. Even if they actively avoid learning anything about that world, it's impossible to ignore it altogether.

I suspect the Duggars have chosen the blank stare and "I don't know anything about XYZ" as a dodge to avoid any uncomfortable questions at the next ATI get-together, or another visit to the reprogramming ranch Journey of the Heart.

[lilwriter85]

Kristin Chenoweth is a born again Christian who has no problem with gays. I'm sure she knows who they are but doesn't drink the Kool-Aid or eat the tator tots. I think she's awesomesauce.

Kristin definetely doesn't drink the Kool-Aid. Kristin grew up in a more of a mainstream Christian family. In her book she talks about fundies that her parents knew and she talks about going on The 700 Club which caused a controversy with her gay fans and some of her Christian fans. Kristin is reality TV show addict and she talks about her favorite shows and I have noticed she never talks about the Duggars. I bet she has watched the show once and figured the Duggars out. When it comes to reality show pop culture the Duggars are pretty much on the bottom of the totem pole of popularity.