|
|
Losing It With Jillian: "Fix Yourself, Or I'm Outta Here"
Commentary by RTVC Staff Writer Jennifer Wielgus
June 30, 2010
|
Jillian Michaels
If "Losing It With Jillian" gets renewed for a second season, I have a suggestion for the families who would apply: Perhaps consulting a marriage counselor would be more appropriate?
Jillian certainly can work wonders as a teacher and motivator. Her mom is a therapist, so she knows the importance of mental health. But some issues are beyond even her expertise -- especially when she has just one week to address them, and she spends most of that week in a kitchen or a gym.
I'd say a relationship that has been fraying for 15 years qualifies as an Over-Jillian's-Head issue.
Todd and Amy Franklin, the couple at the center of the Week 7 episode of "Losing It," had been married for 15 years. Or at least they'd been together that long. They had two young daughters. And they appeared to be growing apart, rapidly.
Todd was stubborn, self-centered and set in his unhealthy ways. He seemed oblivious to his wife's anguish. Amy told Jillian she had tried to lose weight and get healthy -- she even had gastric bypass surgery at one point -- but Todd didn't like the healthy version of her. So Amy went back to tiptoeing around his issues, nursing her wounds with cigarettes and food, and stewing in her resentment. The couple's daughters seemed more concerned about Amy's bad habits than Todd did. And even though Todd was the one who applied to be on the show, his family and friends seemed more concerned about changing than he did.
The rift in Todd and Amy's marriage came to a head during a sparring session at the gym. Jillian had Amy tell Todd all the things that were bothering her, while also throwing punches at him. She gave him an ultimatum, basically saying, "Fix yourself, or I'm outta here." You got the impression she was seriously contemplating divorce.
That was perhaps the most dramatic scene in the seven weeks of the show, but it begged the question: How the heck was Jillian going to help these people in a week? I mean, really help them? Sure, she got them exercising, eating better, and starting to talk openly about their feelings. That's a good thing. But it's just the tip of the iceberg. If Todd and Amy couldn't see that their marriage was a bigger, more pressing issue than their weight, then Jillian should have pointed it out to them. If they didn't realize they needed additional therapy -- and lots of it -- to spare their kids the pain of a divorce, Jillian should have led them out of the boxing ring and to a counselor's office.
But that's not the kind of thing you can delve into on a one-hour reality show. And that's the fundamental flaw with this particular one-hour reality show.
So far on "Losing It," every family's story has been tied up in a neat little bow by the end of the episode. Jillian comes back to see her subjects looking slimmer and happier, and she gives them a $50,000 check to buff up their bank accounts. The total transformation just doesn't ring true. We're left wondering what's really going on behind the scenes, and what the family is doing to mend the way it relates to one another. Yeah, they all look better, but are they better together? How do they synchronize their personal development with the day to day physical, emotional and spiritual needs of their family?
These are questions best contemplated by the would-be stars of future "Losing It" episodes. If you're failing in your role as spouse and parent, maybe stepping in front of cameras for a crash course in life from America's Toughest Trainer shouldn't be your first move.
Jennifer Wielgus is a content editor/blogger at phillyBurbs.com, a popular news and opinion website in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Originally from Chicago, she's a big sports fan (Cubs, Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks and Northwestern), a competitive athlete, and attempts to balance a seemingly contradictory passion for fitness and TV.
You can read Jennifer Wielgus' recap of this episode on phillyBurbs by clicking here.
You can contact Jennifer at jwielgus17@gmail.com.
|
Send Press Releases, Tips, News, Gossip: Click Here
Reality TV Headlines | Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Staff Information | RSS Feed
All listings are subject to change.
Site Design and Programing Copyright 2003 - 2010© Reality TV Calendar, all rights reserved.
All articles are the intellectual property of and copyrighted by the individual authors.
By submitting an article to Reality TV Calendar you are granting Reality TV Calendar
permission to display the article in perpetuity.
Free Hit Counter
|
|
|
