I asked Twitter why the Duggars make me angry. My mother emailed me to ask, "Well, why DO the Duggars make you angry?" This is what I replied:
"Well, I’ve never seen their show; I’ve only noticed the Today Show’s infatuation with them, but I think it’s:
Because when the world is on the brink of disaster resulting in large part from overpopulation, the idea that they have not just a right but a responsibility to make 18 and maybe more children seems arrogant.
Plus I don’t see how they can possibly sufficiently nurture that many people.
Plus they’re so robotically cheerful.
Plus they’re religious."
And even though my family itself went a little nuts with the R names, I could add the 18 J names to the list. It's so cutesy it just makes me want to hurl. And the dad named Jim Bob. Seriously? Jim Bob? I make faces and disgusted noises when they show up on my TV. I change the channel, then change it back, like poking at a bruise.
Having said all that, I'm perfectly aware that my own reaction to them is also arrogant. It's snarky. And bigoted. And the environmentalist take is disingenuous.
Do I want to believe that their cheerfulness is fake because it arises out of a faith that I cannot bring myself to share? Do I want their children to refute that faith by hating them for what they've wrought?
There's no reason that I should dislike earnest people happily living the life that their deepest beliefs mandate for them, is there?
Is there?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I hate them too. Just because it's not nice to be irritated by their ignorant bliss doesn't mean it's not okay. Religious people can definitely be nutty, and people who aren't religious have to live in the America that the right has brought us. I am, frankly, irritated at ANY family who has huge litters, especially when they have used fertilization treatments.
Merry Christmas, Mr. Rodius, to you and Aerie and Thumper. Thanks for providing details on your healthier lifestyle habits - you are an inspiration to me! Keep up the good work - you are doing very well as a dad, a husband, an employee and a blogger!
I saw the Duggars for the first time last weekend on a TV docu...omg...I couldn't believe this family...It was not only them..... their friends had come for a visit and those guys had 16kids...it was a fucking zoo. And I was ingrigued by it all. How the hell can so many kids be so well behaved? Does anyone get cranky and irritable? Are they allowed to express it if so? Longing to see how the older kids do once out of the household...
Post a Comment