GLARE OF THE SPOTLIGHT, Part 3 - The Gosselin Effect

Psychologists have various laws and effects that purport to explain our behaviors. One is the Hawthorne effect , where when workers improve while they’re being observed. The theory goes that the very act of observation affects the behavior being studied. The name derives from worker research on industrial psychology, which was conducted at the Western Electric Company Hawthorne plant near Chicago. The “Pygmalion effect” says that if teachers have higher expectations of some children and show that expectation, the improvement of those children was roughly twice that of the other children in the same class. And there is the straightforward “Principle of Cause and Effect,” which says that nothing happens for no reason. There is always a distinct origin for that effect.

I’d like to promote Pat Rocchi’s Gosselin Effect:

The presence of a motion picture camera lens will
magnify the subject’s flaws to the point of destruction.

Exhibit one, counselor, is a recent cause célèbre (dethroned, of course, by Governor Marc Sanford and Michael Jackson): the disintegrated marriage of the now-infamous Jon and Kate Gosselin, parents to eight unfortunate children and stars of Jon & Kate Plus 8. For you readers who have been in a cave in recent weeks, Mr. and (nee) Mrs. Gosselin, the parents of twins and sextuplets, traded their home life for a so-called reality series on The Learning Channel. This exchange provided them with a new home, free trips, and free merchandise. However, the bill came due in the most recently season, and the cost was their marriage.

Jon was accused of having an affair. Kate was accused of shrewish behavior that seemed to merit infidelity. Jon says he never wanted to be a TV star. Kate luxuriates in her fame, which came complete with a million dollar home, a tummy tuck and, apparently, at least one friendly bodyguard.
As Hank Stuever of the Washington Post so aptly put it, “(T)his is not a documentary in any true sense, nor is it reality. In searching for a word that describes Jon & Kate Plus 8, the subtlest forms of the word abuse spring to mind, which, alas, is why the show is so alluring.”

Didn’t we learn this nearly 40 years ago with “An American Family,” the PBS documentary of the Loud family? The Louds (an appropriate name, it turned out) comprise Dad Bill and Mom Pat, their eventually uncloseted son Lance, sons Kevin and Grant, and daughters Delilah and Michelle. They were filmed relentlessly for a quotidian total of 300 hours. In that time, Lance came out famously, and the other children showed their unhappiness more subtly, less flamboyantly. In a spooky bit of foreshadowing, Bill and Pat’s marriage came apart before our very eyes.

A cliché says, “the camera doesn’t lie.” That’s not really true, for cameras shed light only on the subjects on which they are focused. But it is fair to say that cameras are good at uncovering truths. Just look at the Gosselins’ twin daughters, Madelyn and Cara, both 8 years old. You don’t need to look very hard to see their resentment not only of giving up their own childhoods for the sake of this program, but also to serve as built-in babysitters for the sextuplets. The camera also shows Jon’s urge to end this intrusion.

If you don’t believe in the power of the camera to see, try looking back at your own family movies or photos. Distanced by time, you may finally catch the disaffected gawk of that one family member who was not really interested in being there. Perhaps you’ll see the gauzy gaze of that funny uncle who, it turns out, was hiding a substance abuse problem. Or maybe much of that smiling was de rigueur and not genuine.

Perhaps it is time to ignore shows that bring people into our homes whom we would not normally invite. Are they really worth our time? What are our motives for watching them? Are they really illuminating in any higher sense of the word? Are we really interested in the mumbling, stumbling former rock star? Or are we laughing at them?

Perhaps we should turn off the cameras in our own lives, too. It is very possible that we are not capturing reality in our own lives as well. Why not look through our eyes rather than our lenses and just interact with our family and friends one on one? You may be surprised at what you learn. Pleasantly so.