Why Shows About Large Families Attract Viewers
TLC canceled the family’s reality show after two seasons, saying that decision occurred before the patriarch’s arrest. The network, which said it was “shocked” and “deeply saddened” by what Willis had done, faced a similar scandal with former reality-star Josh Duggar.
TV shows that portray large Christian families as nostalgic and wholesome can be misleading, says Fisher. While showrunners were inventing silly storylines for the family members, “life and death stuff” was occurring behind the scenes, she says. “A lot of people have been taught there’s an ideal—having a large family living according to conservative beliefs. When you see someone living that out, it’s like a shining beacon you can all aspire to. And a lot of people aspired to what we were saying we were. The truth is, we weren’t.”
Fisher also points to commercial exploitation of children in these families. “It’s really disturbing to see what we sometimes platform,” she tells the Los Angeles Times. “We need to ask, what is the level of responsibility that we all have? Am I doing anything to support what I see happening here, whether it’s just clicking on the TV? My dad was making money off of us. There were children involved who did not have a choice. And I don’t think that’s okay.”
Recovery Continues for Jessica Willis Fisher
Therapy has been vital to Jessica Willis Fisher’s healing process, especially due to fuzzy memories from years of gaslighting. “When…you’ve been told that you’re mistaken, and you’ve been told that you’re a liar and you’ve been told that you’re the problem, there is some confusion for sure,” she says. “I definitely had a big section of my life where it was kind of easier to think that I was the crazy one, and that I was the one who was wrong instead of facing the reality of how bad things really were.”
Her memoir isn’t comprehensive, she adds. But it’s what she is “ready to say at this time” in an effort to “make sense of what happened to me.” She hopes to help other survivors, now that she can “see my story in the context of a much larger, greater issue that has gone on for generations before me.”
Fisher, married to husband Sean for five years, says going public with her story has led to lots of support—including from her mother. Some of her sisters have since come forward about being abused, and Fisher says they each “have their own different stories” from a “complicated” upbringing.
As for religion, Fisher continues to search for a safe church environment. In 2018, she wrote, “There is much to learn for myself about the truth of healthy relationships, faith, family, home, success, fulfillment and so much more. I appreciate the grace that is given by those closest to me.”
