An Update on Our Family

While watching the first episode all I could think was "this has to be satire". There's no way these people are actually this cringe, right? The bizarre woman who sorta narrates even tries to use the Kardashians as some measure of "normal". Then the influencer with the Big Dumb Hat showed up and it officially jumped the shark.

This is just a bunch of self-described "influencers" with no talent and no substance at all. Based on the show description there's eventually going to be a story about an adopted kid, but the entire first episode has nothing to do with that. If you want to watch a documentary on the downfall of society, this is the one.

This series is great if you know of online drama but need it to be condensed into an HBO style documentary for you to actually care about any of it. Hannah Cho is the perfect person to lead everyone through it because she explains what's going on through the lens of a fan who had been there from the beginning, but also from the perspective of someone who also lives and breathes social media for her own livelihood. It's like when your bestie is explaining really great controversy happening outside of your social circle that doesn't affect you but is fascinating nonetheless. The perspectives of the journalists covering it vs social media responses in the last episode are part of a larger picture that I'd love to see this documentary team explore more.

I feel like instead of a proper documentary, this is one of those obnoxious YouTube video essays. It DRAGS and truly could've told the entire story in an hour. There's a good 30 minutes' worth in the first episode alone where they're just saying the same things over and over and over again.

We get it. People feel community by vlogging. Yes, we get it - YouTube can be lucrative. Yes, we twigged 10 minutes ago that this woman really wanted to be a mom and seemed authentic about it.

It's really frustrating because this doco touches on some actually interesting topics, but it feels a little bit like HBO asked them for an episode count and they had to pad for time. You're better off reading the article the entire thing is based on, because there's no particularly new insights here either (the family they're all discussing declined an interview).

The door I've parents of this young lad got him because they thought he was content for their YouTube channel. They picked an autistic child from China to bring home thinking he would fit right in. They were wrong.

Parents, please listen. Respect your kid's anonymity. Don't post them online. Let them have a happy childhood without fear of cameras catching every moment.

These parents are really gross. Stop entertaining these types of people. They will make you feel like a bad parent just by watching them being so dedicated. They are not dedicated. When those cameras go off those kids are suffering. Do. It support this kind of stuff.

When the director was interviewed on TDS, I was excited because I thought there was going to be a brutal balance between the freak show jobless ass-hats and more rational objective people. It's obnoxious, not infuriating due to truth bombs. The editing is awful and I truly wanted to punch my TV while watching this. I had to pull out my phone to answer work emails and schedule a doctor appointment to unburden my growing anxiety and anger. I don't think this director intended this, but she has no distance from the subject matter. There is no story, but rather YouTube vomit clickbait style rabbit holes. You have failed to uncover this and have instead become what you claim to loathe.