Is TLC Making Fun of the Duggar Family?
17 Kids and Counting
It was a sweet episode - full of a grinning Joshua and radiant Anna. They couldn't stop smiling and saying, "I love you" in that goofy newly-in-love voice. They never kissed, though, because they are saving that for their wedding day. Obviously that's pretty unheard of and most people probably think they are crazy. TLC interviewed many of the Duggar children and Jim Bob and Michelle to ask why they thought it was best to wait until marriage to have sex, and even to kiss. They all gave honest answers and they truly seemed to believe it's best to save those special moments for the right person.
To be honest, I love the idea of courtship - pursuing a relationship only with someone you think you might actually marry instead of dating around - and I believe that abstinence is best because your virginity is something you can never get back and you don't want to give it to just anyone. I think that waiting until your wedding to have your first kiss might be a little extreme, but to each his own, right?
The issue that I had with this episode was that it seemed like TLC (or whoever is in charge of creating the show) was making fun of them without actually saying anything. When they were interviewing the oldest daughter about whether she might wait until she was married to have her first kiss, she said that yes, she was also planning to wait. Then they put up a really goofy shining graphic over her face with "Hallelujah Chorus" type music playing in the background - possibly to show that no one will be touching her lips anytime soon?
Later, when the newly engaged Joshua and Anna were out to dinner with their chaperones, the cameramen made a point to film the other people in the restaurant who were staring at the Duggar children while they ate and prayed together. My thought was that people might have been staring at the cameras rather than the fact that they were praying because my family prays before we eat all the time and I've never felt as though people thought we were strange.
TLC also plays a lot of that music during the show that makes you think that whoever they are showing must be a few fries short of a Happy Meal when they show the family doing something that isn't "normal" - like Joshua hugging Anna after she said "Yes" instead of kissing her like most guys would.
I can't imagine my personal life being invaded by cameras the way that the Duggar family's is - although they agreed to it so they are likely inviting the insults they might be getting. I am sure they know that other people think they are strange and it seems as though they hope others will be touched by them rather than thinking they are touched. But I can't help but feel that TLC could just let people think they are strange without adding extra graphics or music that lets us know that even the people creating the show think they are crazy.
Published by Kathy Carr
I've been happily married for eight years. I'm the mother of a sweet boy and twin daughters. View profile
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18 Comments
Post a CommentI agree with Lynn! My husband and I have been married since we were 16 and 18, that's been 34 years. Plus we renewed our vows in 2000 for our 25th anniversary. Even after all these years, we are still being made fun of for still being so close by people who go from one relationship to another, some are family members. I know this is strange in this day and age to some people, but it's not unheard of. Leave the Duggars alone and let them live their lives as you like to live yours. We only have 3 daughters, We would have liked more but it wasn't to be. I come from a family of 5 and my husband 9. None of us are on assisstance or unemployed. So those of you who think like that, what are you living off of????
I dont ever see the Duggars holding or picking up their children or telling them that they love them. What does Michelle do while her children are doing the cooking, housework and tending to their jurisdictions. Jim Bob and Michelle always show love for each other but they never touch or lovingly touch or hold their children and they use an intercom to address them - it is so unpersonal
In this day and age with so many single parents, families deep in debt with all kinds of related problems, I don't know why we find we have to criticize a family that has made so many things work by sticking to their own personal values. They don't drink, smoke, take drugs, hit their children, have extra marital affairs, spend beyond their means or even swear and yet so many comments are so critical just because they have a large family. While I don't follow their belief system, I believe in what our constitution says about "the right to pursue happiness." This is a free country and this family is filled with love - and they aren't mooching off the system. I don't want someone else telling me how to pursue my dreams or my happiness. Critics should back off of this nice family lest they have someone tell THEM how to live their lives. If you don't like the show, don't watch it. Let's practice more tolerance for those that are different from ourselves. Prejudice takes many forms. Live and
I think the Duggers are just rabbits in another form. I'm sorry, but God has nothing to do with getting pregnant.
i don't have a problem with the duggers so much as i have a problem with the smarmy,holier than thou,condecending tone of voice the interviewer has when asking them stupid questions. he doesn't sound like he's more than 20 yrs. old but asks his questions like he's mister know-it-all.
If they want to wait till marriage before getting intimate, they have that right without being insulted. Waiting certainly doesn't bring with it the risk of an unplanned baby. Look at poor Bristol Palin and her boyfriend; still teens but will soon be tied down to a baby. Too much too soon, all because they didn't wait. No more partying, no more sleeping in; these teens will be getting up in the middle of the night to change diapers. Who needs that at such a young age?
I haven't watched this show, but it does sound as though the family is being "exploited" in a sense. Then again, it's true that they did this voluntarily, and are probably making a good profit from it. It comes with the territory.
You are absolutely insane to think of the Duggars as victims or as being exploited. I am sure they are making a ton of money from TLC. They also get a chance to proselytize to TLC viewers.
I totally agree with you. On one hand, they are sort of inviting it but on the other, they are simple, good people and they don't deserve any disrespect. People are so quick to judge when someone has beliefs that are foreign to them. But, as you know the Duggars are from Arkansas and this kind of thing isn't that strange here. There are many families like this one; they just don't all have this many children.
Very interesting! I just watched the show and while I feel the Duggars are pretty extreme in their beliefs, they are incredibly wholesome and well-intentioned, and it DID seem like TLC was taking advantage of them. I feel like TLC also plays up the Gosselins' faults on Jon and Kate Plus 8 - makes TLC look a bit skeevy to me.