I want the Duggars to stay on TV, and here's why.....

[Brightonbelle]

I usually lurk here so you won't know me but this has been stewing in my mind for a while.

 

I want the Duggars to stay on TV, because what would happen if they were to drop out of the public eye really, really worries me. Think about it - the show stops, the family become more heavily involved in church because a) they need the help, and they have more time on their hands, and they realise that their children have become far too worldly for the fundie circles. I can imagine a future of much reprogramming for the older children/adults, and lots of Pearl-esque correction for the howlers/little girls.

 

There's a certain amount of protection that comes with being in the public eye and while it would suck for those who dislike it, there's only so much discipline that can happen when the world is watching you.

 

On top of that internet forums such as this one have created a place for people to speculate on things like sexuality of certain J's. This might have never occured to the the Boob and Jchelle, but I'll bet they're thinking about it now.

 

Of course I could be wrong, but this really bothers me.

[browngrl]

On the other hand...once the cameras are no longer on them perhaps one or more of the J's will have the courage to leave.

[Kitten]

I'm in agreement with browngrl - the older kids are now at an age where they can say "Enough" and get out, and they can then help/serve as a safe outlet for the younger ones. Yeah, they'll have to forego any share of the loot JB has stashed, but that's a choice they'll have to make. Many folks have given up financial security for personal freedom and happiness - they wouldn't be the first.

I think any attempt Michelle and JB might make to implement the more stringent "training" of the past will be unsuccessful - it's truly a case of "How do you keep them down on the farm, after they've seen Paree" now. The kids have witnessed numerous people who are kind, happy, content folks who DON'T dress modestly (Dolly Parton), DON'T adhere to the SAHM/SAHD mentality (heck, even Ann Curry on the Today Show is an example of a -gasp!- working woman) and other Gothard legalistic nonsense, and heck, aren't even Christians (didn't/won't watch any of the "world trip," but assume they are meeting Jews in Israel).

I think the SOONER they are off TV, the better, as it will make it EASIER for the kids to step away from ATI. Right now, all the world is watching, and there is IMMENSE pressure for them to toe the party line no matter what.

[bananacat]

I agree that being on tv has made life better for those kids. However, the tv show has probably led to more kids being born into that situation because they're inspired by the lying Duggars, so overall I think it's a net negative.

[Visionoyahweh]

The longer the show runs, the more likely the inevitable crackup will be on camera. If anything happens to Michelle or #20 we'll see some serious shit go down on air.

[Trynn]

I see where you are coming from, and I believe you have a good point. However, I disagree: I don't think it's that healthy for most children to be on tv all the time. Yes it's brought good things to their lives, but at the same time, they don't seem to have much privacy, and that sort of thing can be really detrimental.

[SamuraiKatz]

I would love to watch a show featuring the Duggars if:

Boob wakes up and realizes that the Gothard crap is really CRAP. And the family learns to live a more mainstream life. A series about this family's reintegration would be fascinating to watch.

-The cameras could follow-Josh floundering in his used car lot and maybe get divorced from Anna. How would Josh handle child support and every other weekend visitation? What kind of career would Anna find?

- The next group of kids (Jana/JD through Jinger) experiencing life as the young people they are..brushing up on their education skills and preparing to go to real college or trade school.

- The group of high school boys plus Joyanna being placement tested and allowed to go to high school and join sports teams. Joyanna gets a new best friend with green hair and a nose ring. The straight boys all get defrauding girl friends..the possibly gay kid gets a defrauding gay love interest.

- The howler monkeys are evaluated for ADD and learning disabilities then appropriately placed in school and allowed to have FRIENDS and discover doing normal kidstuff to discharge their boundless energies

-- And the little girls Johanna, Jennifer, Jordyn get to go to Kindergarten through 12th grade and become the most "normal" of the Duggar kids...

-Josie gets all of therapies she needs.

-And finally little J 20 gets to be the final Duggar...raised totally free of the rotten rotten garbage that is Gothardism.

And Boob and Mullet start a foundation for other xati-ers after finding their own way out.

Sean/Joshie/Boob are you reading?...the possibilities are endless!

edited for clarification and to add additional thoughts

[Buzzard]

I will watch an episode of unscreened outtakes. You know, the ones that show the real duggars - like how we all know boob grabbed the fleeing child during the "big announcement" and literally twisted his arm until he came back and played nice.

ETA: Lets be real, they went to still shots not because he left, but because there was likely some harsh words and crying involved.

[annalena]

I'm torn. I want them to stay on because they can do even more crap to the kids when they're off camera, but then i want them off because it might be easier to leave for the J'slaves.

I will watch:

-outtakes

-someone leaving and trying to live on their own

-the big escape from ati (yeah, right)

-someone starting to work a real job

-a special "duggar girls in the real world" where jessa meets a tall, dark and handsome guy at a club and all of the older girls dance the night away and then go swimming in normal bathing suits

- dammit, i'd be happy with any courtship or wedding

[Brightonbelle]

I see all your points, and I think the reality is that parading your family on TV, and especially allowing the younger ones to grow up on screen is never good.

I think what I mean is that now they've been on TV, the children may be safer staying that way.

As long as the show keeps going, the parents can never be too physical on screen, there are crew members around who may tone down their behaviour (and may even provide a link to the outside....?)

The fact they've been in the public eye has led to boards like this one, where people openly speculate about possible courtships, which Duggars ping their gaydar/look depressed/don't toe the party line etc. If Boob and Jchelle read here they may read opinions of their children that had never occurred to them. I imagine the possibility of one their children being gay has never occurred to them (why would it - God forbid!), but now they may be concerned about it. Certain J'children may now be subject to closer scrutiny and discipline than they would have otherwise been as a result. Similarly if they are the ratings whores that we take them for, they may even marry off a daughter just to keep the show going.

And what happens if the J'slaves escape - I want them to, don't get me wrong, but then Ma and Pa are left right where they started 10 years ago - with a bunch of little kids and no one to help. What happens to the little ones then? What a horrible position for the older girls to be in.

It's a double edged sword for sure.

And what I would give to see behind the scenes........!!

[annalena]

Maybe someone can apply for an ATI internernship in the Duggar house.

[IReallyAmHopewell]

Cameras stop, but they don't. They'll have several, maybe even MANY years of paid appearances, interviews, etc. They have made, and likely wisely invested (one of the guest families dad is an extremely successful financial planner) tons of money. Yes, to save money, I expect a few of the older ones will be married off with one of the oldest girls staying home to help with the little ones.

I have never suspected overt physical child abuse from the Duggars. (I am 50-- a spanking is not "abuse" --a BEATING yes!). Emotional and spiritual abuse--yes, very, very likely and just as damaging. And I do think the crew leaving and everyone having to stay home a lot more will open that up to potentially abusive levels.

I do not expect any tell-alls from the kids. I'm sure Money is tied to that.

[Guest Anonymous]

I think that all sorts of children are in danger in ATI families across the country. It seems ludicrous to want a show about a particular family to be continued for the sake of protecting them, especially since the show supports them and provides a mouthpiece for them to spout their crazy beliefs. If television is to be used to protect people, then bring on some good investigative journalism and let's expose these people for what they really are.

[Brightonbelle]

anniec you have a very good point, and I admit my view is short-sighted and a bit idealistic.

In an ideal world I would like to see a tell all Duggar documentary that exposes Boob for the idiot he is, and ends with the camera crew hightailing it out of there with all the children in tow (except Smuggar, naturally). :D

On a side note, can anyone recommend any good resources to explain a bit more about fundie-ism generally? I'm UK based and a (very) lapsed catholic/athiest and this is all new to me!

[Mythicwings]

I'm torn. I want them to stay on because they can do even more crap to the kids when they're off camera, but then i want them off because it might be easier to leave for the J'slaves.

Me too - since being a reality tv show is their reality, they can never go back to being anonymous. So the sow stopping wouldn't protect them from it, it already has been. And the little ones probably aren't going to grow up with it - it will probably end before they are old enough to be affected by it directly.

I do think being in the public eye has toned down the parents' behavior to some degree, at least when the crew is there. They can't use the more blatant Gothard discipline methods in front of the crew because even if they think it is right and non-abusive, JB is very aware of the larger limelight.....

Which is also why I am concerned about when the show stops. JB is incredibly egotistical and apparently thinks that he has the most awesome man parts in the universe. My god, the way he would thrust his pelvis forward in Scotland when informing people that he had produced all those children really showed that he's gotten a big head over this. Or a big something. So my concern about when the show stops is that the children and Michelle will be the only ones left to show adoration about his uber-amazingness, and being authoritarian, he may get more abusive than just Gothard-instructed discipline, because that kind of adoration doesn't come from your family. But of course that is speculation. I hope hope hope they'll be ok.

The good thing about the show stopping one day is that whoever wants to leave may feel freer to leave. It's hard being in the spotlight and having other people adore your parents and think they are God's gift to humanity and parentlng and godly-living, when you know what it is actually like - that public adoration makes you think that you have nowhere to go, because if you leave, other people will turn you in or forcibly take you back, even if you are an adult. That may sound crazy, but that is the reality of the mind of children who have parents publicly adored and seen as God's channels. When the show ends, a few of the kids may feel like the immediate public attention is off and they could possibly slip away. But as long as they have a perception that the wider world validates their parents, seeing them as God's authoritative instruments, they will feel there is no safe place to go.

[Mythicwings]

On a side note, can anyone recommend any good resources to explain a bit more about fundie-ism generally? I'm UK based and a (very) lapsed catholic/athiest and this is all new to me!

Look in the topic here that is a list of resources. Also, "Stuff Fundies Like" at .stufffundieslike.com/ gives a kind of funny take on it, and there is a forum too - it is really a place for people who grew up that way, so you'd get a more "inside" look, from people who have left and laugh at it in order to heal.

[Brightonbelle]

Brightonbelle wrote:

On a side note, can anyone recommend any good resources to explain a bit more about fundie-ism generally? I'm UK based and a (very) lapsed catholic/athiest and this is all new to me!

Look in the topic here that is a list of resources. Also, "Stuff Fundies Like" at .stufffundieslike.com/ gives a kind of funny take on it, and there is a forum too - it is really a place for people who grew up that way, so you'd get a more "inside" look, from people who have left and laugh at it in order to heal.

Thanks for that, I'll have a look.

[Guest Anonymous]

In an ideal world I would like to see a tell all Duggar documentary that exposes Boob for the idiot he is, and ends with the camera crew hightailing it out of there with all the children in tow (except Smuggar, naturally). :D

On a side note, can anyone recommend any good resources to explain a bit more about fundie-ism generally? I'm UK based and a (very) lapsed catholic/athiest and this is all new to me!

Another UK fundie watcher. :P

We should set Louis Theroux on the Duggars; that would be fun.

[annalena]

Another UK fundie watcher. :P

We should set Louis Theroux on the Duggars; that would be fun.

oh hell yeah!!!

he can go with that girl, what's her name, dawn porter.

i suggest that as a starter the duggars have to watch that one documentation "dawn porter explores free love" or whatever it was called

.

only everyone up from jd though

[thoughtful]

I see where you are coming from, and I believe you have a good point. However, I disagree: I don't think it's that healthy for most children to be on tv all the time. Yes it's brought good things to their lives, but at the same time, they don't seem to have much privacy, and that sort of thing can be really detrimental.

This thread is making me see how sad it is that we are discussing the relative merits of being in that household without TLC, and living much of your life on TV.

Talk about trying to find the lesser of two evils.

If the show continues, I'd love to see the veil pulled back, so the world sees more of the crazy. I would love to see it expose the disgusting truth about ATI, etc.

[Kitty]

Given that Michelle actually said the word "ATI" a while back, I'm thinking TLC is starting to pull the curtain back a bit. Alternatively, she and JimBoob are convinced that they're roping in viewers, and are secure enough now to mention ATI and put all the Gothard/Pearl bullshit on their family's blog.

On the other hand, the kids are feeling secure enough that they can 'slip' and not be detected on Boob/J'uterus/TLC's radar. I'm positive that if there's a J21, or J22, we'll see some blanket training going on, or some 'training up.' Maybe we'll get to follow Joy's adventures at Gothard Gitmo. Or, get to see Jill try to deliver her own baby, if she's ever permitted to reproduce. Or, we'll see JD take his towing business elsewhere, move to the other town, and tell JB to piss up a rope.