myerstownherald.com

By ASHLEY DOS SANTOS
The Gosselins are reality television’s latest victims in a long string of Hollywood-induced broken homes.
In April 2007, a slew of TLC executives invited us into the home of “Jon & Kate Plus 8″ with the promise of a modern day Brady Bunch trying to make their hectic lives work in a stressed but fun environment.
Now, two years later, America is chronicling the demise of this larger-than-most family unit.
And we have to ask, did the producers see this coming?
Well of course they did.
Hollywood studios know the statistics just as well as any family or marriage counselor.
Studies have shown that the decline in intimacy within a marriage is one of the leading causes of divorce next to cheating and addiction. Now add media intrusion, twins and sextuplets into the mix.
Jon and Kate not only have cameras invading their private lives every day, but they have eight children in constant need at all times. And for TV producers, the potential collapse of this family structure meant a high probability of record-breaking ratings.
And what do you know?
This season’s “Jon & Kate” premiere attracted nearly 10 million viewers, more than double the audience that tuned in for the show’s Season 4 finale in March.
Estimates also show that the premiere was Jon & Kate’s most-watched episode.
Jon and Kate aren’t the first fallen family in the history of reality TV and they most certainly won’t be the last.
From Newlywed’s Nick and Jessica to the Hogans to the “Girls Next Door,” “reality” couples are no strangers to turmoil.
And it is America’s seemingly relentless addiction to train wrecks that keeps studios on the lookout for more tragedies-in-the-making. These shows signal to viewers that it is now socially acceptable to give into the human tendency to gossip and to want insight into other people’s lives.
Even better, the TLCs and Bravos and VH1s of the world will provide you with a camera-ready view to do so.
Reality TV exploits the institution of marriage and family. Through selective editing and contrived situations, viewers are taught that vows and values should be minimized for the sake of sex and scandal. Jon and Kate started off wholesome but eventually fell prey to the Hollywood machine that dictates no marriage or family under strain will be able to withstand the added pressures of constant media scrutiny.
And with skyrocketing ratings, we as viewers are signaling to the studios that they should continue doing what they do best and find us more families to judge ‘til they drop.
—
Ashley Dos Santos serves as a senior account executive at Crosby~Volmer International Communications in Washington D.C. She received her bachelor of arts degree in women & gender studies and romance languages from Dartmouth College.