Why the hell does Natalie ask Kate if she can empathize with Jon (having 8 kids before 27!)? They are her kids too, and I'm sure it was just as hard for her as it was for him. Because Jon is young and male he gets a free pass to bail out on his kids? What a stupid fucking question. #kateherstory
@Crabby Cakes: I know, I know! It's either my liver goes or my brain explodes from watching them. I'm hoping that I've chosen the lesser of two evils. #kateherstory
I can't stand Jon Gosselin, but I hope she takes some personal responsibility in this mess. She's estranged from her parents and three out of four siblings? That can't be because everyone else has a problem, she's gotta make some changes. #kateherstory
I think she showed her true colors at the end of the interview when she said the "kids miss the crew and cameras" and taking it away was ruining their lives. It was such a desperate plea to get the kids back on the show. Its really all about the money with this woman. #kateherstory
@snailsalot: While I do think most of what she does is money-driven, I can understand why the kids miss the crew. This is really all they know- they've grown up with these people in their home and now they're gone, mom and dad aren't together anymore, it's a lot of change for these children to deal with. #kateherstory
The only reason I have any sympathy for Kate is because their marriage and divorce was/is a lot like mine. My ex husband was such a needy, clueless loser, I basically had to order him around like a child to stop him from doing the stupidest things or to get him to help with anything. He brought out the worst in me and I seemed like the most controlling, angriest bitch ever. When we divorced, he did exactly what Jon is doing: partying, messing around with dumb, gold digging girls, spending reckless amounts of money, etc.
I can't stand Jon Gosselin and I know that and the reason I'm so interested in this story is because of my own experience. Con artists are great at making themselves look like angels while making others look like the bad guy. There are still people who think my ex is the sweetest person, while others know what a crazy douche he is. I also have the feeling that Kate had no idea exactly how immature Jon was (or still is) before they married. I remember thinking my ex had tricked me into marrying him by acting like a somewhat normal human being while we were dating, because he sure as hell dropped the act later.
@jeepchic: I don't know, have you seen the "how they met" episode of J&K+8? Jopn was basically a carefree punk, (dressing much as he does now,) who had a menial job and whose parents footed the bill for his travels and exploits. He was also in a relationship when they met, and Kate knew that, but on the show, she basically says, "*shrug* I knew he'd be mine."
He also says many times that he wasn't ready to have kids, but Kate wanted it so badly, he gave in. Again, Kate's reaction is something like, "I wasn't waiting until he was ready!"
I'm not saying any of this as a reflection on your situation at all, but I think with J&K, there were a lot of red flags, both for Kate and for Jon. #kateherstory
@tinybubbles: @History Major: It was and still is frightening. I learned a lot from that experience and am in a wonderful relationship now. The important people in my life know him for what he is.
@Crabby Cakes: I didn't know that about them. I knew two weeks into my marriage that I had made a mistake. Looking back, there were red flags that I either didn't notice or chose to ignore, but it was nothing like after the ceremony when the shit hit the proverbial fan. Ugh. I cringe just thinking about it. There definitely were a lot of differences from J&K, it just reminds me a lot of what happened to me. #kateherstory
@jeepchic: Great observations; sounds like you're well shut of the guy.
From the clips of J&K I've seen, Jon struck me as one of the mentally absent dads I've encountered in my days. These guys will be sitting in the living room while one of their children is crying and the other is parked next to Dad on the sofa chewing on a firecracker with a leaking diaper. Never does Dad's attention deviate from the soccer game or Gears of War 2 or whatever. When Mom comes in to investigate and get reasonably perturbed, Dad will be like, "Why are you raising your voice? I wasn't doing anything."
The problem, of course, is the not-doing-anything. There are some men who are incapable, for whatever reason, of hearing women unless the women are infuriated. They will ignore ten soft-pedaled suggestions that they accomplish something but will hear the eleventh one only when it's delivered at 140 decibels. Wives eventually learn to skip the preliminaries and go straight to severity. Their husbands have trained them to do so. No sane person continues using an ineffective technique.
After the separation, Jon bought a two-seater convertible and rented a two-bedroom apartment for himself in New York City. That says volumes about how much hands-on parenting he does of his own volition.
And to claim now that well, he never wanted all these children anyway is infantile blame-shifting. Reminds me of Adam in the Garden of Eden: "The woman tempted me, and I did eat." Spare me. No one force-fed Adam and Kate didn't steal Jon's sperm while he slept. It's beyond me how anyone can defend him at this point. You don't have to adore Kate to acknowledge that Jon is insufferably irresponsible. #kateherstory
@cirocco: oh so well said, mon chere. All the clues are there. Red flags are red for a reason (if only I'd realized that!) If he says he's not sure if he's a) ready to get married, b) ready to have kids, or c) will do _______ in 2065 or when makes up his mind, whichever comes first, believe him. And if he can't be bothered to take responsibility for the growth in his own life, or listening to his partner without the addition of screaming or crying, it only gets worse with the comfort of commitment. Signed, Bitter but Smarter. #kateherstory
I think the front of her hair looks really nice. I'm glad she seemingly kept it pretty classy in this interview. She could have gone down a whole bitter road after that "does that sound like the John you know?" question. #kateherstory
Do I really hate when people make their point by asking themselves a question and subsequently answering it when they could just make a declarative statment instead? YES. #kateherstory
@saya: Ha, my husband and I did this! Though he wore an Ed Hardy knock-off he got at Target, and I glued my four babydolls to a ribbon that I wore as a belt. And he lost one between parties somewhere. #kateherstory
"Do you empathize with what Jon was going through (having eight kids before he was 30, etc.)?" Um...she doesn't have to empathize, she lived it too! Why does Jon get license to act like a teenager? I can't really stand either of these people, but I do loathe the implication that the transition for a young mother is or should be seamless, and the young father should naturally feel stifled and shirk responsibilities. #kateherstory
@BetteD: I resent that Natalie Morales has a job like this when there are countless competent people who don't. That question had so many layers of stupid and wrong! #kateherstory
@BetteD: Yeah, that was an insane question. Most notably for the lack of any awareness on the part of the interviewer. "Can you, person who has lived the exact same experience, even begin to empathize with his experience? What about Jooooooooon?" Shut up, lady. #kateherstory
@thehighshelf: Absolutely agree. It's so hard to keep a job in journalism; it totally escapes me how Ms. Morales has managed it. I've seen episodes of Access Hollywood that were more informative and engaging. I'd describe her interview style as a cross between bitchy high-school cheerleader and your chiding great-aunt. #kateherstory
I no care about Gosselin Disaster Parade, but I can say that the close up camera angle and lighting was quite flattering to her, but the pan back, when they would show them both on the couch in one shot, was definitely not flattering. Her knees looked like they were coming to kill us all, and her head looked oddly shrunken. #kateherstory
Wow, perception has gone from Kate is a horrible, nagging, controlling wife/poor John and kids, to John is a child/poor Kate, to Kate is a bad mother/those poor children, to poor Kate/ John is a d-bag. And now we're at John is a d-bag/Kate is a famewhore/won't someone think of the children. Anyone want to make up their minds here? What's it gonna be next week. This show was on TLC for some time before Jon or Kate became celebs, so it reasonable that neither of them expected the media storm surrounding them. Its also understandable that the money is nice enough to comprimise a few morales and justify it to herself that it's really for the kiddies. I can see how both J and K think they can control public perception by granting these interviews to defend themselves (however poorly executed). I would also remind you all (b/c I know you know this) that media and t.v. are fabricated stories with an enormous amount of editing and bias. You get to see what the network/journalist/producer wants you to see. Everyone has a little responsiblity in this monster story. Not just Kate and John. #kateherstory
@ZemarSea Urchin: Well, sure. But J and K should know better than anyone about media manipulations. In the first clip, K said that becoming a parent means you put your own shit aside and do what's best for the kids. If either of them truly lived this philosophy, they would pull the plug on this show and stay under the radar.
And I, for one, have consistently found both John and Kate to be odious people and terrible parents. No shifting perceptions here. #kateherstory
@PhillyLass: It is true that both of them are talking out of their ass in most of these interviews. I have to admit that I don't watch these ridic shows because exposing ones family to a fickle, judgemental public is exploitive in my mind and unfair to the family dynamic. Though I admit to watching Rock of Love a couple of times. But I am trying to refrain from judging either to harshly because despite what I see in print or on television I just don't think it's the whole story. So yeah I think John's an idiot and Kate should step up to the plate now that she is a single mother but it is not my final judgement and I am leaving space to be proven wrong. #kateherstory
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How many interviews is this now with the tears? 5? 6? 8? #kateherstory
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I'm not getting a lot of work done, but I am finding them more tolerable. #kateherstory
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(not to say Jon isn't a total ass himself) #kateherstory
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I can't stand Jon Gosselin and I know that and the reason I'm so interested in this story is because of my own experience. Con artists are great at making themselves look like angels while making others look like the bad guy. There are still people who think my ex is the sweetest person, while others know what a crazy douche he is. I also have the feeling that Kate had no idea exactly how immature Jon was (or still is) before they married. I remember thinking my ex had tricked me into marrying him by acting like a somewhat normal human being while we were dating, because he sure as hell dropped the act later.
End rant. #kateherstory
11/03/09
He also says many times that he wasn't ready to have kids, but Kate wanted it so badly, he gave in. Again, Kate's reaction is something like, "I wasn't waiting until he was ready!"
I'm not saying any of this as a reflection on your situation at all, but I think with J&K, there were a lot of red flags, both for Kate and for Jon. #kateherstory
11/03/09
@Crabby Cakes: I didn't know that about them. I knew two weeks into my marriage that I had made a mistake. Looking back, there were red flags that I either didn't notice or chose to ignore, but it was nothing like after the ceremony when the shit hit the proverbial fan. Ugh. I cringe just thinking about it. There definitely were a lot of differences from J&K, it just reminds me a lot of what happened to me. #kateherstory
11/03/09
From the clips of J&K I've seen, Jon struck me as one of the mentally absent dads I've encountered in my days. These guys will be sitting in the living room while one of their children is crying and the other is parked next to Dad on the sofa chewing on a firecracker with a leaking diaper. Never does Dad's attention deviate from the soccer game or Gears of War 2 or whatever. When Mom comes in to investigate and get reasonably perturbed, Dad will be like, "Why are you raising your voice? I wasn't doing anything."
The problem, of course, is the not-doing-anything. There are some men who are incapable, for whatever reason, of hearing women unless the women are infuriated. They will ignore ten soft-pedaled suggestions that they accomplish something but will hear the eleventh one only when it's delivered at 140 decibels. Wives eventually learn to skip the preliminaries and go straight to severity. Their husbands have trained them to do so. No sane person continues using an ineffective technique.
After the separation, Jon bought a two-seater convertible and rented a two-bedroom apartment for himself in New York City. That says volumes about how much hands-on parenting he does of his own volition.
And to claim now that well, he never wanted all these children anyway is infantile blame-shifting. Reminds me of Adam in the Garden of Eden: "The woman tempted me, and I did eat." Spare me. No one force-fed Adam and Kate didn't steal Jon's sperm while he slept. It's beyond me how anyone can defend him at this point. You don't have to adore Kate to acknowledge that Jon is insufferably irresponsible. #kateherstory
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Had to share this with everyone. Probably the best Jon and Kate costume I saw this Halloween. #kateherstory
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Yes, they have.
Are we sick of the Gosselins now and forever?
Yes, we are.
Do we wish the Gosselins would sink back into anonymous parenthood and let their children grow up in peace and normality?
Yes, but I don't know if that will ever happen. Sucks to be their children. Sucks to be us. #kateherstory
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And I, for one, have consistently found both John and Kate to be odious people and terrible parents. No shifting perceptions here. #kateherstory
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