Jon, Kate, Eight, and Us

The commercial for the season premiere of Jon & Kate Plus 8 makes me really sad (disclosure: okay, I’ve shed a few tears over it), but even more so when it’s shown in conjunction with the past episode marathons that have been on recently.  It’s painful to watch the progression of Jon & Kate as people, as a couple, as parents, and as celebrities.  It’s particularly worrisome to me because the hubby and I have always considered ourselves to be a lot like Jon and Kate and now it feels like if they could fail and possibly divorce, so could we.

I know, they’re a television couple.  But they’re not fictional.  They had a real meeting, not unlike ours.  When asked when their relationship became serious, their answer is, “After the first day” which is also what we say.  They had a real engagement and a wedding that now makes me cry as I watch them promise things to each other that they seem to no longer be following through on.

I stood up for Kate long after people started bashing her parenting and attitude toward John.  The hubby and I have always found their relationship to be really amusing and, truth be told, the way they interact was extremely helpful for me in developing an understanding of how the hubby and I interact AND understanding that it’s okay – that it won’t all fall apart if you snipe at each other sometimes, even in front of the kids, or – gasp – in public.  And if they could handle eight, we could certainly handle one or two, seriously!

That said, it was apparent to me in the last (fourth) season that things had shifted.  Their bickering seemed less amicable and there was less apparent romance between them.  In addition, their life seemed increasingly less real.  They went on all these spectacular trips and no longer seemed to have any monetary concerns.  Part of the charm of the show was how they budgeted and managed on Jon’s salary and how Jon balanced his job with his family life.  All of a sudden, though, that all disappeared – as well as any extraneous friends and family members who had been on the show, reportedly due to several falling outs.

The hubby thinks more has been made of Jon & Kate’s problems than there really are, but I can’t agree with him.  I think they have some serious problems right now and I hope they are able to reconcile their difficulties.  People scoff when one becomes concerned about a television or celebrity couple, but there’s something about Jon & Kate that’s always seemed extraordinarily real.  They made for great television because they weren’t hiding anything, but it seems to me that they got caught up in their own celebrity and have been hiding behind those personas.  But now, as it crumbles all around them, I hope they find themselves again and the marriage I always admired so much.