Jon and Kate: Why We Can't Stop Looking

Big mistake.

That was my gut reaction six weeks ago when I heard that my Us Weekly powers-that-be had decided to put Jon and Kate Gosselin -- stars of the TLC reality show Jon & Kate Plus 8 -- on the cover. Seems Jon had recently enjoyed a rollicking late night out with a pretty female who was not his wife. We had reported it out for weeks, and it was time to break it.

Insert eye roll here. Though I'm a senior writer at the magazine, that show was blissfully off my radar. Who cares about an unscripted program featuring an ordinary looking Pennyslvania-bred family with a bunch of kids? Unless the Real Housewives of New York were the ones planning play dates and Simon Cowell was critiquing them, I wasn't interested. TLC? Please. I wouldn't turn it on in a cheap hotel even if the only other channel available were the Golf Channel. And I was certain that our savvy young readers would feel the same way. Ok, maybe a few of my mom friends in the Midwest would devour the story, but that's it. Should have gone with the scary-skinny Lindsay Lohan cover. Definitely.

Yet that issue not only pushed a million copies on the newsstand, it sparked a pop culture frenzy. Each day, Jon and Kate turn up as late-night punchlines and news headlines. The May 25 premiere pulled in nearly 10 million viewers. Those are Sopranos-in-its-heyday numbers; in other words, far more wide-reaching than the playground crowd. Meanwhile, Us Weekly has featured Jon and Kate's evolving problems on its cover for the past five consecutive weeks. The last drama to warrant such coverage: Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston's split in January 2005.

Just to be clear: Jon Gosselin is not gorgeous and dashing movie god and Kate Gosselin did not star on an iconic sitcom. A split isn't even on the table (yet). Yet they're our most popular celebrities -- and their saga seems to have legs of steel.

How did this phenomenon come to be? Yes, there is impeccable timing involved. The story has flourished during a time when Angelina is not pregnant, Britney is not crazy and Jessica Simpson is not wearing high-wasted mom jeans. Had Us Weekly unearthed this scandal even three months ago -- when Octomom and Rihanna dominated the news -- this might have been a footnote.

But probably not. For the Jon and Kate story has an appeal that's unlike any other in the celebrity lexicon. Until now, our big stars primarily existed in a world where blemishes get airbrushed and scandals get glossed over via sterile publicist statements. (Heck, even Tweets are just 140-characters long). Take Pitt and Jolie. As much as we love them, we don't really know them. Thanks to their orchestrated images, they come across as this madly-in-love couple who seem to have no problems traveling the world while raising six children. Surely Pitt has stresses, but there were no traces of it during a recent taped and breezy interview with Ann Curry on a yacht at the Cannes Film Festival. He wore an ascot, for pete's sake! It's a unattainable standard.

For two years, the Gosselins' as-seen-on-TV life seemed equally manufactured. As my mom friends love to point out, Kate juggled eight kids and made it look effortless. Sure, she often berated Jon on camera -- but their fights were usually petty and manageable. And those kids! Adorable, happy and adored. As a result, there was a bland let's-hug-it-out sitcom feel to each episode.

No more. It took an infidelity scandal, but the Gosselins are now finally and mercifully real. With no facade, Jon and Kate can come clean about the emotional toll of eight kids, diverging lifestyles and a broken union. Never was that feeling more apparent than during that season premiere when the estranged couple sat awkwardly on a cramped love seat and somberly admitted that the future of their relationship is unknown. Even by reality TV standards, it was pure uncensored access. And utterly compelling.

Of course, some cynics may argue that their marriage meltdown is an example of schadenfreude at its best (worst?). After all, everybody likes to crane their necks at the proverbial car wreck -- and Jon and Kate's crash is particularly explosive. (Knee-deep in trouble, a freshly tanned Kate chose to go on a book tour and praise her maternal decisions while a miserable-looking Jon stayed home with the kids). Indeed, for longtime viewers, perhaps there is something exhilarating about seeing Kate get her karmic comeuppance. And for those captivated by the Suri Cruises and Kingston Rossdales of the world, there's a vested interest in hoping that the kids -- who never be asked to thrust into the limelight -- emerge unscathed.

All of these storylines will undoubtedly unfold over the next (gulp) 39 episodes and countless more cover stories. All the while, Jon and Kate will remain more relatable and fascinating than any Hollywood start making $10 million a movie and spending every night on a red carpet. It's messy, screwed up and the stakes are tragically high. I'll be watching, and chances are good that I won't be rolling my eyes.

Comments

[Tugar]

I watch when I hear they have some "BREAKING NEWS." But even news of that is getting a little boring now !

AND JUST WHO DO THESE PEOPLE THINK THEIR KIDDING ?

They: (The Gosselins) "will do anything for their kids!" They're doing it for their own pockets and they know it!

If they give up, or lose this TV show, they will find themselves trying to hold on to their new "HOLLYWOOD LIFESTYLES," meaning: They will both have to actually go out and GET JOBS, and HOLD ON FOR DEAR LIFE, to keep what they now have, ie., the new home, paid vacations, etc.

They're "doing it for their kids"... THIS HAS TO BE THE BIGGEST PIECE OF BLARNEY I'VE HEARD THIS YEAR !

[queotic]

Please edit your typos:

"Jon Gosselin is not gorgeous and dashing movie god"
Jon Gosselin is not /a/ gorgeous...

"It's a unattainable standard."
It's /an/ unattainable standard.

[Malkin71]

I can only speak for myself...I have never watched their show and never will.

The only thing I find interesting about this story is the whining by Kate about how fame has affected her life.

Hello? Has fame affected her life any differently than it affects most celebrities? No.

The time to think of these things is BEFORE you sign a contract to be on a TV show.

You don't get to enjoy the upside, the $1.1 million estate fame bought you, and then whine about the downside.

Sorry.

[FilmCriticOne]

What do you wanna bet Jon was left to his "own devices" -- sex wise -- if you get my drift. That can create massive tension in a relationship..

Like Kurt Vonnegut Jr said -- all of man's communication to women can be boiled down to this, "Please don't make me go home and do it to myself tonight."

If you don't understand that about men, then you don't understand men. You can pretend otherwise all you want, but this is a huge issue in any marriage, and their marriage is no exception.

Good luck to Jon.

[KatyJn]

You say you have "...savvy young readers..." Really??

[Pippilotta]

I do know Jon and Kate; I still have no idea who Spencer and is it Heidi is.!

[LHibbard]

Tune in to "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here" tonight on NBC. Though they quit last night, they may be back tonight.

[PopeRatzo]

I am so proud of myself for not knowing who "Jon & Kate" are.

I just asked my wife and 18 year old daughter and neither of them know who "Jon & Kate" are.

I am so proud of my wife and daughter.

Huffington Post? Not so much.

[zippy the cow]

I don't believe for a second that events which gather this sort of attention in the mass media are unscripted.

[MJ Stark]

I read this because all the other headlines in my email Huffington update were so depressing I thought this might be amusing. It wasn't, but the comments are.
30 years ago the joke was, oh, television? I only watch PBS. Seems things haven't changed much. I still don't have a television, so I can't even say that. People watch shows like this (yes,I watched it when I was house sitting...hey, it was television - vapid mind distraction - isn't that its job?) because their own lives have holes that need filling. That's being human.
If you don't read, or have a good hobby, it's easy to watch television, thinking this stuff is an important part of your life. When I housesit for friends, I watch it and am addicted in a second. Between CNN: love/hate compared to getting my news online, but the presenters are interesting, to the food channel: love/hate because I can't buy all the things I'd love to cook, to the travel channel: love/hate because those yutes get to go to such cool places...though I've traveled I want their jobs, damn it! After I'm home again, filled up to the gorging point on television, it's a relief to be without it again. The electronic world accepts television like the ancient world accepted..­.uh...brea­thing? Guess what? You CAN turn it off or just throw it out and have a very fine time without it. Try it for a we...four days. Dare you!

[lowflyin lolana]

Wow, everyone here's so superior. "I" don't pay attention to stuff like this!

I've never seen this show, but what's interesting about it is how, now that things are really unscripted, people are going nuts over it. It's a genuine human drama in a world of carefully-crafted images of people, approved by corporate powers-that-be.

Maybe people are starved for something real. Something that tells them they're not the only ones who fight to keep the masks in place and sometimes lose the battle.

Maybe the fact that so many people are interested in this, in this day and age, with these other problems we face......actually means something, and has something to tell us about the world we live in.

Then again.....

[nchapmansf]

I am happy and proud to state that I do not have any idea who Jon and Kate are. I realized that when I first started seeing their names in the news and, unbelievably, I'm still seeing their names in the news. I'm beginning to understand that they are a TV family -- is that really true? People, good grief, work with us here, on the real concerns of our neighborhoods, our states, our country, our world, our planet. Good grief.

[Cicely Tutson]

Meanwhile, Us Weekly has featured Jon and Kate's evolving problems on its cover for the past five consecutive weeks


Which is why I am two seconds away from cancelling my subscription. These are the most boring people on the planet.

[JLane]

When I first noticed these people popping up everywhere, I had no idea who they were. Now that I have found out, I still don't know. I find it easy to stop looking. Finally, and, mercifully real? What did anyone think they were in the first place? Another created "perfect" couple raising too many children in these critical times? What an awakening to find that they have the same flaws as so many others in this l'il world. Have mercy. Create something.­..........­..........­........

[JHCT]

You've really demonstrated just how shallow you are.
You're a "senior writer." So what? You work for a gossip rag.
You think that your readers are "young" and "savvy." Really? I think that "clueless" and "self-absorbed" would better describe both you and your readers. You live in a "Sex and the City" fantasy where "Real Housewives" is considered good television and Simon Cowell is considered witty.
You turn your nose up at TLC and say that you "wouldn't turn it on in a cheap hotel even if the only other channel available were the Golf Channel." Wow. Clever.
I must be a rube in comparison. I actually watch television that doesn't cater to crass materialism ("Real Housewives," anyone?) or insult humor. I find shows like "Little People, Big World" and "Table For 12" to be wholesome and entertaining. I don't care what celebrities do, eat, say, or whom they date. I couldn't care less what drama Lindsay Lohan has created for herself, or if Nicole Ritchie's bowel movements are off-schedule.
J&K+8 USED to be a quality show -- until it became about money and fame instead of how a family functions. I haven't watched for a long time, and I'm secretly happy that J&K have gotten this thrown in their faces (they really did ask for it). But somewhere down the road it became a spectacle of child-exploitation, and those kids are headed for a world of hurt and psychological trauma.

[classicalgregg]

This type of programming is for people who have mind numbing dull lives. Watching this to make you feel better about your own life is not improving it. Make sandwiches for the needy. Read to a blind child. Do something to help people instead of watching human train wrecks just for fun.