The Unreality of Reality TV

Until recently, I thought the show "Jon and Kate Plus Eight" was a popular Saturday morning cartoon. Guess not. More of a caricature of modern life.

From reading the cover of People and short blurbs in the Tribune and Sun-Times, my take-away is that the show is about two morons who produced eight offspring and basically now act hatefully toward each other while they daily force their children to put up with pandemonium and chaos for (as various reports have it) 50 to 75 thousand dollars per episode.

Let's see a show of hands...how many of you think this show is really for real? I sure don't. Then again, I never believed a single moment of Survivor or Amazing Race or Fear Factor or even Maury or Jerry. And we all know about the WWF (wink wink).

No, Kate and Jon aren't professional actors, nor are their kids. But don't think for a moment they don't have professional producers, wise in the ways of television and ratings, egging them on and demanding the performances that will win big advertiser dollars. What better to end one season and start another than a huge cheating scandal blown up by the tabloids? Why not sow conflict and hatred to make the big bucks?

Come on, folks. This is domestic life's version of pro-wrestling. These people are being paid to explode their family and destroy their kids' futures just as the guests on Jerry and Maury are paid to showcase their depravity and ignorance.

And you're buying every minute of it, aren't you?

Frankly, I don't care what happens to Jon and Kate. But somebody should get a childrens' advocate into that house/studio and remove those kids before they are scarred for life by two parents who have been seduced by the network's flim-flammers and blinded by the bright lights of unreality.