As a kid, I loved movies about big families. Think Cheaper by the Dozen and Yours Mine and Ours. The day I discovered the Duggar family was a great one - but back then they only had fifteen of the nineteen kids they now have. It blew my mind that someone could have that many kids or that a kid could have that many siblings. Then along came the Gosselin family of Jon and Kate + 8. I loved their show and could watch the same episodes over and over again (and I still do - thanks Amazon ;). The day Jon and Kate announced they were divorcing was tragic for me. The day they announced that Kate would have a solo show was awesome, though I am pretty sure those days are over.
As far as my love for the Duggars, that sort of fell out shortly after their youngest, number nineteen was born. There wasn't really any definitive reason as to why, I just sort of stopped watching. Now, we all sort of know what happened there.
But before the Duggars went down, along came a new family - The Willis family.
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The Willis family is a family of 14, originally from Chicago but residing in Tennessee. They gained fame for their family band, managed by their mom while dad took on the role of sound guy and artistic director. The band mainly consisted of the seven oldest Willis kids. The family had some odd parallels with the Duggars, such as the children being home schooled and all of their names starting with "J". Other than that, they struck me as much more "normal" - they seemed to wear whatever they wanted, they danced, they were involved in sports and they were content with twelve kids due to medical issues following the births of the last two children. I loved them - they were funny, smart, and their songs are incredible. I used to say how normal they were and how they wouldn't be involved in some scandal.
Then they went and made a liar out of me.
I was highly disappointed and saddened when I found out that Jessica, the oldest Willis kid, had left the band, seemingly to pursue other dreams in her life. No true announcement was made as to her whereabouts and goings-on were. Then, after their dad/husband was arrested, the family pulled their website and all social media. Some sources say they left their Facebook page up, but it has since been taken down as well.
This most recent scandal begs the question: should we still be putting families on TV for our entertainment? These stories aren't the only tales of reality TV families gone awry - think the Roloff family of Little People, Big World and the family from Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. While I love watching them, I wonder if any other families will agree to be on these types of shows anymore. Sure, the TV exposure probably had nothing to do with the Duggar or Willis family scandals, but wouldn't it be hard enough for these families to cope* with these situations without the public eye on them, without thousands of viewers disappointed?
Maybe its time we stop putting families under a microscope. While I love these shows just as much - if not more than - the next person, I think its time we end them, and save these already tumultuous situations from getting worse.
*This is aside from the rumors surrounding the Duggar family's reaction to Josh's scandal. Some believe that the family excused Josh's behavior.
