fracas

Shh. Don’t tell Olga, The Traveling Bra,  but some people are still burning bras… or in this case, jockstraps. Whoops. Now you can’t tell Frank, The Sedentary Jockstrap either.

It seems that David Archuleta, that wholesome boy next door some predict as the final American Idol standing this year, has a Stage Dad.

According to reports abounding since last week’s show, the senior Archuleta has been banned from rehearsals for future shows. Said Andrea Canning, of ABC News:

“Jeff Archuleta, the father of “American Idol” contestant and fan favorite David Archuleta, has reportedly been banned from the show’s rehearsals.

The stage dad has been accused of meddling with his son’s routines during rehearsal, and “Idol” producers have apparently had enough.”

and

“It’s not the first time Jeff has been accused of being a demanding stage parent. He was reportedly banned from the set of “Star Search” after reportedly harassing some of the other contestants during David’s run on the show in 2003.”

Now, just this past week, I happened to catch the first episode for Danny Bonaduce’s new show, I Know My Kid’s a Star, and you know… after watching some of those parents, being known as a Stage Parent is just about the last thing on earth I can imagine anyone desiring to be!  Most often (if child beauty pageants are any indication) it’s been the female gender suffering from that need to stage parent and I have to say I’m at a loss to understand why this is something the male gender would want equality with the female gender over.

It’s not like being a Stage Parent is good for your child either. Yes… it may end up meaning that you get to live out your own childhood dreams through them. Yes, it may mean they end up making more money anyone could ever dream of. Yes, it may mean they end up worshipped and idolized by throngs of people who, for reasons only their own mental health care professionals know, feel a need to worship and idolize a celebrity, and yes… it may mean they get to lve their lives as though they were some form of royalty.

It may also mean they get to become a drug addict or an alcoholic. It may also mean they lose the ability to have anyone real in their lives, anyone who loves them truly for themselves and who will hve the courage to say no to them. It may mean they might, after gaining a few years in age, decide they’ve had enough of you and put you out of their lives and then write a tell-all book about what a controlling ass you were and why it’s your fault they have a life of misery that money can’t fix. Yes… it may mean they become another sad duplication of any number of child stars who’ve gone before them, some of whom sadly, are not with us anymore due to an untimely death at their own hand or the result of overwelming drug or mental health problems.

I’m sure that’s what you wanted for your child when you first saw them enter the world, take their first breath and cry.

Isn’t it?

To see a slideshow of some of Hollywood’s most famous child stars who have or had a Stage Parent, click your way over to this ABC page. If you’re like me, you’ll probably notice how none of them fit any of that stuff I just said.

And if you’re also like me, you’ll click over to Humor-Blogs and see what the others in that merry band of boobs have written about today!

[Photo Source: (Kenny Crookston/AP Photo)]