Marital Woes

For me, Jon and Kate Gosselin are in the same category as Speidi - so-called ordinary people who star in a reality show that I don't watch. (No, the lady doth not protest too much. I've really never watched it.) For anyone who doesn't live in a cave however, it's impossible not to know that they're having marital problems of one kind or another. They're both having affairs, or not. They're getting a divorce, or not. It's all a publicity stunt to juice ratings for season 5 of their show, or not????

Is this really the most important thing that's going on in the world this week? If you go by the covers of celebrity magazines it is:

Star: Inside Jon & Kate's Twisted Marriage
US: Her Own Secrets - Kate and the Bodyguard
People: We Might Split Up

They're on the cover of the National Enquirer this week too, or at least half of it (She'll Lose All 8 Kids). Who's the other half of the cover story? John and Elizabeth Edwards (She Kicks Him Out.)

The Jon and Kate story can be looked at and thought about a bunch of different ways, but for now I'm sticking with one of my favorite themes - the ups and downs of fame in America. Based on what I've read, having their own little reality show started out as a pretty good deal for the Gosselins. They get paid somewhere north of $50,000 an episode, along with all kinds of goodies like trips to Hawaii and fancy furniture for their cool new house. They profit from DVDs, Kate's books and endorsement deals. They were well known, and presumably well liked, by the 4 million or so people who watch their show, but they weren't notorious. What could possibly go wrong?

Maybe the question is, Has anything gone wrong? I'm making the assumption that having your personal life splashed all over the tabloids, not to mention the blogosphere, the morning news shows and Entertainment Tonight, is not enjoyable. I'm assuming that they are now experiencing the downside of fame, when it gets out of your control and not everything that's being written is positive. I'm assuming that at this point for Jon and Kate, fame isn't fun any more, but maybe I'm wrong. After all, controversy and scandal make for good ratings and when you turn your life into a t.v. show, maybe in the end that's all that matters.