Another startling example of exactly why you would avoid going to court at all costs has popped up this week in England.

Divorcing couples are facing the prospect of their lives being turned into a reality TV show because Family Court proceedings in Britain will be televised. Public humiliation you ask? No Thanks!

In this post we have included an article from The Times of London which gives a good rundown of what is actually planned, and how and why someone would think this is a good idea.

From our point of view it is another great reason to stay away from the Family Court where you lose all control of the process and the outcome.

That is why we say,

Don’t go to court, Go to BrightSide!

Kevin Maher

If divorce wasn’t hard enough 

— imagine the world watching 

you do it

Kevin Maher – Monday March 16 2020, 12.01am GMT, The Times

You know that moment in any faltering relationship when you’re at your lowest ebb? When your sense of interpersonal failure is at its most crushing and everything you did wrong, every petty decision, every harsh word spoken, every irrational resentment coalesces to signify the overwhelming tragedy of two people who found each other in absolute love, but whose inherent incompatibility eventually curdled into hateful life-defining toxicity? Well, here’s an idea. Why not put that on the telly?

No, I’m not talking about the ringer the clients get squished through in The Split, the BBC’s racy legal drama. No, this is the really juicy stuff. Prepare for the conjugal equivalent of WWE SmackDown because the Ministry of Justice has announced that divorce proceedings in the UK can be broadcast from court. The ostensible reason for this shift in policy is, supposedly, to allow the great unwashed a better understanding of the justice system.

It’s the same way, presumably, that reality TV hits such as Love Island allow the public a better understanding of mating rituals or I’m a Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here! allows the public a better understanding of the flora and fauna of New South Wales. In other words, is anyone really going to tune into Kramer vs Kramer Live! to polish their legalese?

I can’t think of anything more repellent. The regurgitation of all your worst bits for all to see? A lowlight reel of utter humiliation. Like the time you stormed out of the house because you couldn’t think of a winning retort, then sheepishly returned when you realised that you had forgotten your wallet, your phone, your coat and your shoes. Or the time you forgot to pick up the kids because the Champions League final had gone to penalties and you felt that it was the right moment for the young ones to learn some independence. I picture, suddenly, sparring couples all over the land contemplating the reality of divorce TV and deciding: “You know what? I think we can probably work through this one!”

Or not? The potential for the opposite effect is truly chilling. The drive for celebrity status that fuels the worst aspects of contemporary culture could, thanks to this one decision, produce a boom time for the divorce industry. Think of all the limelight-hoggers out there for whom a starring role in divorce telly would merely represent a stab at nascent fame and a chance to rehash Meryl Streep’s iconic screen-chewing speech from Kramer vs Kramer, namely: “I have worked very, very hard to become a whole human being, and I don’t think I should be punished for that!”

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