World's Strictest Parents UK ~ Israel

chocolate chips

Fri, Mar 08 2013, 11:07 am

Miri1 wrote:

SJcookie wrote:

Chocoholic wrote:

Are Jack and Gemma Jewish?

I was also wondering that.
I think they are.

Gemma was wearing a Hebrew name necklace.

IIRC she received this in Israel from one of the families or the one she was staying at can't remember exactly.
They are most definitely not jewish.

This show is a series with kids being sent to Israel, Japan, China, Holland and France I think. A few more places too. There is nothing Jewish about this show except the Jewish family they are sent to. It is a praise to the family that they have such good discipline rules that they were chosen for this show, it is not easy and it is not only what was on camera!

Of course every person has different ideas what is better childcare, better discipline, better frumkeit etc but obviously this works for them, their kids are how they want them to be. Not our problem anymore!

devo1982

Sat, Mar 09 2013, 7:07 pm

amother wrote:

It seems that Gemma is a model and dancer- nightclubs, pole dancing, according to her profile on starnow.co.uk
Smile

Why the smile, amother? I find it terribly sad that the only worthwhile thing she seems to have found to do in life is take off her clothes for the camera and strangers. She seemed like she had a great deal of potential, but was badly lacking in self-confidence and carried a lot of pain. When Tzipi cradled her face to show her affection, I nearly wept because I bet that was the most motherly, affectionate, tender gesture Gemma'd received in years. You could tell by how she reacted to it as well.

marshmellow

Sat, Mar 09 2013, 7:19 pm

devo1982 wrote:

amother wrote:

It seems that Gemma is a model and dancer- nightclubs, pole dancing, according to her profile on starnow.co.uk
Smile

I am not the person above, I agree she was in a lot of pain, but I don't think we can say that her parents didn't show her any affection I think that is not true, her parents seemed to love her very much indeed, it simply got to a point that they could not tolerate her behaviour so she effectively cut herself from them by her behaviour, hence the reason she was so emotional when she read their letter saying they love her etc. If you read one of the comments says it is from her mother saying she was sad she did this programe because a lot of it was contrived, Gemma's rebellion was contrived for the camera and they are still very good friends with the Israeli family.
I agree it is very sad that this is what she has ended up doing. A real shame

Last edited by marshmellow on Sat, Mar 09 2013, 8:15 pm; edited 1 time in total

devo1982

Sat, Mar 09 2013, 7:53 pm

marshmellow wrote:

devo1982 wrote:

amother wrote:

It seems that Gemma is a model and dancer- nightclubs, pole dancing, according to her profile on starnow.co.uk
Smile

I am not the person above, I agree she was in a lot of pain, but I don't think we can say that her parents didn't show her any affection I think that is not true, her parents seemed to love her very much indeed, it simply got to a point that they could not tolerate her behaviour so she effectively cut herself from them by her behaviour, hence the reason she was so emotional when she read their letter saying they love her etc. If you read one of the comments says it is from her mother saying she was sad she did this programe because a lot of it was contrived, Gemma's rebellion was contrived for the camera and they are still very good friends.
I agree it is very sad that this is what she has ended up doing. A real shame

No, I understand that. I thought the letter they sent her was very sweet. I just meant there's a lot of difference (to me at least) in gestures of affection - a hug versus cradling her face like that. To me, the face gesture really made it shine through how lost and confused and like a little child Gemma was, if that makes sense? I know her parents care about her deeply and that these scenes are manipulated, but I think both Gemma and her parents found themselves in a situation where they were both at odds with each other without knowing why. All sides are hurting. In such a relationship, to me, it's only natural that tender gestures of affection and caring fall by the wayside, and when Tzipi literally reached out to her, it seemed to fill a need Gemma had been running from for a long time.

I didn't mean to make it sound like her parents didn't care about her at all - I expressed myself poorly.

marshmellow

Sat, Mar 09 2013, 8:09 pm

devo1982 wrote:

marshmellow wrote:

devo1982 wrote:

amother wrote:

It seems that Gemma is a model and dancer- nightclubs, pole dancing, according to her profile on starnow.co.uk
Smile

I am not the person above, I agree she was in a lot of pain, but I don't think we can say that her parents didn't show her any affection I think that is not true, her parents seemed to love her very much indeed, it simply got to a point that they could not tolerate her behaviour so she effectively cut herself from them by her behaviour, hence the reason she was so emotional when she read their letter saying they love her etc. If you read one of the comments says it is from her mother saying she was sad she did this programe because a lot of it was contrived, Gemma's rebellion was contrived for the camera and they are still very good friends.
I agree it is very sad that this is what she has ended up doing. A real shame

don't worry and yeah I see what you mean

Peanut2

Sat, Mar 09 2013, 11:14 pm

MrsButterfly wrote:

Peanut2 wrote:

Maybe, but I mean like an Israeli mizrahi family of some sorts without any ounce of American in them. KWIM?

Then there would be a language barrier.

There are mizrachi/sefardi native-Israeli families that speak English. Not as well as (most) Americans, but enough for this show. There is an element of culture clash to the show and I think that would be fun to watch. I know I'd enjoy that.

StrongIma

Sun, Mar 10 2013, 4:51 am

I was intrigued to see other shows in this series, and I discovered that tzniyus was demanded by every single family - even blacks in chgo -but it wodun have been better to convey this as a sense of self-respect, though, as opposed to "what will the neighbors think?"

the thing that I don't get though is how do they convince these super-rebellious teens to go to a foreign country to stay by disciplinarian families - is it because they figure it's a free vacation or what?

amother

Sun, Mar 10 2013, 8:48 am

StrongIma wrote:

they probably get a lot of money, either that or they think it would be cool to be on tv.

willow

Sun, Mar 10 2013, 9:36 am

StrongIma wrote:

That is what I said

chanchy123

Sun, Mar 10 2013, 9:43 am

DrMom wrote:

I always wonder how unobtrusive the camera crew and producers are on these shows. Do they provoke the kids to misbehave?

I saw a few clips of these shows after viewing the Israel show. It is hard for me to believe that a guest in someone's home would start drinking and smoking and trashing the place. I realize these kids are troubled, but some of their behavior seems so extreme that I wonder if they are egged on by the crew.

They might not need the encouragement of the crew, I'm pretty sure they understand that they are playing a role here.

sequoia

Sun, Mar 10 2013, 11:15 am

I have now watched almost every episode available on youtube. If only we got to see less of rebellious teens smoking and more of different families and cultures.

So far I love the Coleman family in Ireland, the family in Seattle with the disabled mother, and the Sikh family in New Delhi.

Really, it's not about strict or not strict. It's about giving kids from (almost always) broken homes the chance to experience normal family life for a week.

amother

Sun, Mar 10 2013, 11:20 am

I do not believe they come from broken homes I believe that if anything is responsible it is the society and culture of today in the (uk?) Is this a UK programme? because the uk is badly messed up. culture is drink drink drink, let's get drunk. Yes parents must take accountability too but it is very hard when the surrounding culture is so pervasive. They are not Jewish teens so they are totally emeshed in the society of today. The parents can only do so much unfortunately