I watch this show out of perverse fascination. Actually, the only feeling that I can identify when I'm watching is the queasy sorrow I also get when I watch Intervention.
The stars of the show, the Duggars, live in what can only be described as a compound and survive in a largely self-sufficient environment(a large garden, giant wood burning stove, and home made soap are prominently featured in the latest episode). And after 20 years of marriage, parents Michelle and Jim Bob (yes, I really did just type Jim Bob), have given birth to 17 children. And there's one on the way. Understand the name?! Isn't it all just a craaaaaaaazy freakshow?!
TLC, the network that airs the show, glosses over most of the weirdness and instead chooses to focus on subdued interviews with Mama and the kiddos. Is it subdued that I'm looking for, or medicated. I'm not suggesting that the family is actually being drugged with Quaalude (their diction is far to accurate for that, sillies), but there is a sort of glossy-eyed adherence to the script, if you will, that makes me uncomfortable. When asked why all of the girls in the family have the same hairstyle, one of the teenagers (I cannot tell them apart and to complicate matters even more, they all have names beginning in "J") replies that her father likes long hair. Her father dictates how the girl coming into womanhood looks best and coincidentally it looks a hell of a lot like his wife twenty years ago before she pushed 17 kids out of her haha. If nothing else, it's creepily masochistic.
And let's get back to the 17 kids. I'm all for individual choice in families. Big, small, no kids at all, as long as love is present that's all I require. But 17?! That's not only grandiose but irresponsible. In 2007 there were approximately half a million children in the United States alone in foster care. And that's not even counting the millions of children starving or living in terrible conditions in other countries. If you have the means and the love to share, why not stop at 10 kids and save another seven.
That's where the kicker comes in. The Duggars have so many children because they belong to a creepy cult-like extremist religion that dictates that they ought to. And I will not apologize for that statement. Some things are subjective but decisions resulting in potential child neglect(they parent according to "the buddy system") and dangerous effects on womens' health are non-negotiable.
Michelle refers to herself as a "quiverfull". It's a term that evangelical Christians use to refers to women who use ABSOLUTELY NO form of birth control. I'm not trying to be gross here people but even crazy Catholics pull out. That would have to have cut it down a couple kids. Oh, and the name is derived from this bible verse:
Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD:
and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man;
so are children of the youth.
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them:
they shall not be ashamed,
but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.
So, that's cool. The dude probably ought to be happy so keep your legs open and hope you don't die after all of those medically dangerous pregnancies over and over.
It's not very often that television makes me viscerally angry but congratulations Duggars, you've done it. Again and again and again.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
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1 comment:
I lol'd in real life about Catholics pulling out. You should have a public access show.
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