The Remains of Ruby Franke - The End of 8 Passengers | TRO

Intro - 00:00
Family Values - 06:03
Tough Love - 13:04
Making A Bed - 19:36
Lying In It - 26:32
Decline - 34:01
A Separation - 40:28
Spiral - 47:47
Arrest - 56:02
Shadow - 1:02:27
Therapy-Speak - 1:09:47
Connections - 1:16:09
Distortion - 1:23:39
Already Gone - 1:30:07
Remains - 1:36:26
Outro - 1:42:15

Family channels, they still haven’t won me over yet.

Whether it’s the ACE Family’s exploitation of influencer status, the Stauffers’ false enchantment surrounding adoption, or Ned Fulmer’s facade of faithfulness, there is a sense that the presence of cameras can corrupt one’s perceptions of what a family means, and the honesty and values that would typically be shared behind closed doors. The only value that such channels will offer is as a guide to parents and soon-to-be parents who want to be the best they can be, sometimes as a template on how to practise parenting, and sometimes as a template on how not to. You’d still be within your rights to ask the question whether this trade off is worth it for the broadcast of what is a very personal attachment during formative years, and if it would actually be more effective to seek guidance from professionals in the field, but if family channels are here to stay, let’s hope they can provide some instruction for the next generation of parents.

The truth is though, that most channels in the genre are disinterested in serving that purpose, they’re more there to entertain audience members, and although some may try to defend certain videos as edutainment, a lot of modern family channels just take a rather generic formula in content creation, and add children. With that said, there are exceptions to this rule, couples and channels who do promote navigating challenges within their families, and either provide advice, or insight into how certain issues are resolved. Of course, there is no one size fits all manual on how to properly parent, and over the past century, the prevailing wisdom on how best to instil clear morals and values into the youth of today has evolved significantly, alongside our own morals and values, with many families from all around world moving towards more moderate blueprints on discipline from within the family. This has received broad support from paediatric psychologists, although it has still been met with some resistance from people who feel that the traditional model worked on a practical basis for them, and therefore there’s no reason for why they should deviate from that. With the opportunity for families from all backgrounds to broadcast themselves online, you’re inevitably going to experience a wide pool of parenting techniques, some of which may lean more towards the traditional methods that resonate with a cohort of the population.

At the same time, traditional parenting is a system that has needed to evolve as well, particularly given how certain aspects of that system, including physical reprimand, is now widely reviled and considered outdated. It’s uncertain therefore, whether it’s more fitting or ironic, that one of the most progressive places to video-share has become a bastion for people promoting more traditional parenting styles. Especially with the common narrative that today’s youth are out of control.

The truth is that ultimately, regardless of what an expert might say, everyone is always going to have their own ideas of how to do something, and without the constraints of network approval or peer-reviews, parents are free to share their own techniques on YouTube, but what does the modern form of traditional parenting look like? Well, for a few years towards the end of the 2010s, one individual thought she had it down to a T.

So let’s head on down to the wonderful state of Utah, to a mother of six and content creator by the name of Ruby Franke.