An Update on Our Family

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 very much dislike the whole 'family vlogger' thing. In my opinion, it's so clearly being done for financial gain, as well as attention seeking. And the worst part, is that it's at the cost of children. These kids have no parts of their lives that are private, they're not consenting to having their faces plastered on videos for millions to see. They don't consent to millions of strangers basically being voyeurs of their lives. None of that is even counting the massive number of child predators that are out there. I don't even want to imagine the trauma that will cause them as they grow up. I mean, could imagine strangers coming up to you and telling you stories about yourself that you probably don't even remember?? I've watched documentaries of children who are now adults, that have had to change their names because of their parents' incessant need for money and attention.

One of the worst things are the actual viewers themselves, who get so invested in the lives of people they don't even know, that they neglect their own families. I mean, who constantly refreshes their YouTube feed because they're anxiously waiting on an update from strangers' lives? It's just weird. Then they feel like they basically own that family and can all but demand them to release the content THEY want, regardless of whether that family feels comfortable with it. And in this case, these crazy viewers threaten to COME AFTER THEM and their KIDS?!?! Yes, what happened was horrible, but some of these people looked like they lived in their parents' basements, their houses are filthy, etc. They really need to touch grass and sort their lives out before they get so involved in some else's. But at the same time, those vloggers basically asked for it, although the children (who are the real victims)....didn't.

It's just gross and disgusting, and the only way to prevent these tragic things from happening, is to stop watching it. Stop giving these people your views, time, and money. Unlike a lot of the comments I saw in this documentary, I don't wish harm on this family, or the parents. I hope they learn from this experience, and stop putting every aspect of theirs and their children's lives online. I pray they learn to actually enjoy the moments, instead of seeking to profit from them in some way.

As Episode 1 of "An Update on Our Family" (2025 release; 3 episodes ranging from 43 to 50 min) opens, we are introduced to Myka and James Stauffer, who painstakingly vlog on the YouTube family channel, going back to 2013. After 3 kids of their own, the couple decides to adopt a special needs boy from China. At this point we are 10 minutes into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: this is the work of director Rachel Mason, who just recently directed the outstanding (if tragic) documentary "Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna". Here Mason examines the phenom that is family vlogging, and as it turns out (wait for it!), things are not quite as they seem. This is not the first documentary looking at this issue. But as it turns out, all of it is just an appetizer for what plays out in Episode 3, when the Stauffers adopt a young boy from China. I won't say more about it so as not to spoil. I must admit I have never heard of this story before, nor am I all that familiar with the multiple family vlogs that apparently exist out there, all hoping to get enough subscribers that YouTube and sponsors will pay them handsomely, but raising the obvious ethical question of what these parents are thinking about making so much of their children's lives available to the public at large without the children's conscious consent. Apart from the interesting ethical issues raised by the documentary, in retrospect all of this could've been handled in far less that the almost 2 1/2 hrs. Running time of the 3 episodes.

"An Update on Our Family" started streaming on Max not too long ago, and I stumbled on it the other night, I watched all 3 episodes in a single setting. This mini-series is currently rated 100% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, which is far too generous in my opinion. If you are curious about the phenom that is family vlogging on YouTube or about adoptions of special needs kids from overseas, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

The documentary uses many editing cliches that have been overdone by the big streamers for about 10 years now. The ticker showing a video's view count rising rapidly. The breaking of the 4th wall when people are being interviewed. It's extremely boring. The first episode take roughly 50 minutes to say: 1) Vloggers are a thing. 2) People really like this particular family vlogger. 3) They might have enjoyed the attention from vlogging too much. That's it. You just saw the first episode. It is a sad reminder that many YouTubers these days can craft better documentaries than Netflix and HBO, with .1% of the resources.

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.