I think everyone knows by now that reality television is not real. It was interesting news (I suppose) 15 years ago. I honestly don't understand why anyone cares anymore. With this in mind, I think it unfair to judge the real family based on what is seen. So when you see me make criticism, please note that I am criticizing the "characters" on the show, not the actual people. I don't know them, and for all we know, they could be lovely people.
This show is just another version of the Osbournes: spoiled "kids", a mother who clearly loves her kids but can't parent for crap, and a father whose given up all hope of ever having anyone recognize the value of his opinions. Bruce is a lot more like Dan Conner from Roseanne than he is Ozzy, but all three men seem to agree on one thing: the love of overbearing women. Disturbingly, in the likability contest, Roseanne seems to win out of the women picked. Scary thought, huh? Kris Jenner, as presented here, is a women who does seem to love her family. She is also one of the worst parents I have seen presented on a TV show in a long time. This is a women who harassed her daughter into posing naked for Playboy that clearly made her uncomfortable; a daughter who was trying to fight off the stigma of the sex tape. This is a women who gave out her daughter's private cellphone number in the middle of an argument because she criticized her (bad) management. This is a women who openly admits to living vicariously through her children (specifically in the Playboy episode).
The daughters are in their twenties, and are treated as if they were teenagers. Well, people rise to what is expected of them, so they act as such. Khloe's the only adult daughter that a normal person can relate to, and even she's a bit... scary. And then the two youngest children are pretty normal kids, but it disturbs me how often they are presented in an unflattering light. When they're in their twenties, are they really going to want to be remembered for playing on a stripper pole? Or mocking their sister? Or how about when the older one hit puberty, and they presented her as an angry little brat? Sure, that's how kids are at that age, but we should chalk at least SOME of that up to hormones and recognize that she's probably not going to want people to see her like that. When you're an adult, you get what you signed up for. When you're a child, someone needs to draw the line.
My other problem is that every episode has a adorable little moral and it's always pretty much the same: "I'll never take my family for granted again... Well, I mean I won't take them for granted again until next week". So they beat us over the head with a lesson that's never actually learned. At least when Full House did that, it was cute.
Is it entertaining? At times. But is it something I'd suggest to others? Not really, no.
