Minus Jon and Kate Plus 8

I'm about to make a bold statement about Jon and Kate Plus 8. The TLC ratings coup that is the psuedo-documentary/reality show formerly known as America's sweetheart is a microcosmic representation of all that is good, bad, and anything in between about society today.

Viewers by the millions have tuned in for seasons to watch just how these parents (Jon, a software programmer, and Kate, a stay-at-home-mom) would tackle the challenges of multiple multiples. And while their circumstances pushed the boundaries of extenuating to its precipice, we loved them because we saw ourselves in them. Unabashedly Type-A, Kate handled the stresses of dealing with an octuplet of crying children with aplomb. But it was her faults---she snipped at Jon a litte too easily, carrying her sextuplets had left her stomach looking like a pile of pizza dough, her modest house was small and plain but full of love and determination---that made her fun to watch. Jon, balding, pudgy and often steamrolled by his dominant wife seemed truly dedicated to his family. The fact that the two of them were open about their faults and struggles made us, the American viewer, feel like we weren't so alone.

Although cynical critics began to cry wolf and point to these inadequacies as ineptitude leading to an inevitable familial demise, our Gosslins kept trucking. And as the scope of the seasons began to change (Disney sponsored vacations, plastic surgery and the construction of a giant new house were featured story-lines), we stuck with these people and their lives because we asked ourselves whether we too would take advantage of the freebies if we were offered. If our faith in the family ever wavered we could think back to the TLC special where we first met the couple, fresh-faced and almost frightened considering what the future held for them.

In the past few months that future has unfolded in a very public way. Rumors of infidelity, separate living quarters and even child abuse have graced the pages of nearly every tabloid glossy on the newsstands. Both parties have released statements and made appearances of television and the paparazzi is a staple outside of the Gosslin house as often as it is one of the Hiltons'. What used to be a reassuring mirror into our own faltered lives has become a living, breathing example of everything fake and manufactured in our world. Norman Rockwell just sold out to US Weekly and the rest of America is left feeling more than a little let down.

But it isn't too late. The illusion of apple pie and dinner ready by 5 every night was always just an illusion. What we loved about Jon and Kate wasn't the guise of perfection, it was the openness with which they embraced their faults. It was the quiet strength that they, as with so many other families across America, carried on in the face of situational hardship, marital strife and the constant squack-box talk of the death of American family values. It isn't too late to come home from the book tour. It isn't too late to quit the show. It isn't too late to sit down in the living room with a person you loved enough to commit your life to and start a family with and assess the blessings you have been given.

This week's episode of Jon and Kate Plus 8 is one-hour long and features a special announcement. Whether that means divorce or separation one can only postulate at this point. Whatever happens, perhaps what we can learn from this whole journey is not to look into the television for a reflection of family values but to be strong enough to look within ourselves.