TLC's new show?

MeganAstra · May 2011

Did anyone watch My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding? I totally missed it and wanted to see it.

I used to live in Augusta, GA and in N. Augusta across the river there was a huge commune of people who lived like this. A lot of the girls get pregnant by age 15 and they go to the 3D ultrasound place in town to find out if they are having a boy or girl so they know whether or not to have an abortion. They don't like having baby boys. They dress up their little girls like hookers and walk them around town. I also know they really like sushi b/c they were ALWAYS packing out the sushi restaurant. The commercial looks bizarre, but this is seriously how they dress every day.

pettycrocker · May 2011

Ya they had a couple episodes on sunday night I caught, and it was totally bizarre. It was like a train wreck though- I wanted to change it but I couldn't, I just watched the whole time with my mouth open in disbelief.

MeganAstra · May 2011

I know right?! I tried to do some research on them for a sociology project... they are so bizarre and they are very secretive I ended up doing a project on the Irish Tinkers instead (they are a group of travelers similar to these folks but they are much more traditional and live very poor) There is like no information about them out there so I really wanted to see that show. I'll just have to wait for a re-run...

heather_09_15_07 · May 2011

Yeah, we watched this.

You must be thinking of something different. The people in the show are UK and Irish "travelers," not really gypsies. They are strict Catholics and part of the reason they marry so young, I'm sure, is because premarital sex is strictly forbidden. The girls aren't even allowed to leave the house alone.

TheLastCall · May 2011

The whole documentary is on Youtube if you want to watch it. I had to be at work yesterday but didn't have anything to do because of the holiday, so I watched up until the 4th episode because it's so addicting.

sarahanderic2009 · May 2011

Its disgusting. I would strangle my daughter for dancing like any of those girls. I like how its not a cultural thing either. The guy asked where they learned to dance like that and the little girls said, Beyonce. SERIOUSLY?

You can't cuss in front of a man, but you can dress like a total whore and dance like a stripper? Interesting.

PURE TRASH, but yet I am still going to DVR the series!

MeganAstra · May 2011

heather_09_15_07:

Yeah, we watched this.

You must be thinking of something different. The people in the show are UK and Irish "travelers," not really gypsies. They are strict Catholics and part of the reason they marry so young, I'm sure, is because premarital sex is strictly forbidden. The girls aren't even allowed to leave the house alone.

Oh really? I didn't know the people on the show were British. Just from what I saw on the commercials they looked exactly like the folks I lived by. But the people in my town did call themselves "Irish Travelers" and not gypsies, they must be related somehow. The word gypsy is a very broad term. The Irish Tinkers are another group of "gypsies" that come from Ireland... but they don't act like that. They are really poor, and don't have flashy things.

Emilicious88 · May 2011

I wanted to watch it so bad! But when it came on, DH turned the channel and said he wasn't watching it. I think we ended up watching House Hunters or Family Guy. =

andrea922 · May 2011

MeganAstra:
heather_09_15_07:

Yeah, we watched this.
You must be thinking of something different. The people in the show are UK and Irish "travelers," not really gypsies. They are strict Catholics and part of the reason they marry so young, I'm sure, is because premarital sex is strictly forbidden. The girls aren't even allowed to leave the house alone.
Oh really? I didn't know the people on the show were British. Just from what I saw on the commercials they looked exactly like the folks I lived by. But the people in my town did call themselves "Irish Travelers" and not gypsies, they must be related somehow. The word gypsy is a very broad term. The Irish Tinkers are another group of "gypsies" that come from Ireland... but they don't act like that. They are really poor, and don't have flashy things.

Tinker is a slang for Traveler, they are the same. Yes, the series is completely based in the UK.

pettycrocker · May 2011

heather_09_15_07:
Yeah, we watched this.
You must be thinking of something different. The people in the show are UK and Irish "travelers," not really gypsies. They are strict Catholics and part of the reason they marry so young, I'm sure, is because premarital sex is strictly forbidden. The girls aren't even allowed to leave the house alone.

This was a little confusing to me because from what I saw in both episodes, they referred to themselves as both terms. I just assumed "traveler" was another term for gypsy and vise versa.

andrea922 · May 2011

Mrs Castillo:
heather_09_15_07:
Yeah, we watched this.
You must be thinking of something different. The people in the show are UK and Irish "travelers," not really gypsies. They are strict Catholics and part of the reason they marry so young, I'm sure, is because premarital sex is strictly forbidden. The girls aren't even allowed to leave the house alone.
This was a little confusing to me because from what I saw in both episodes, they referred to themselves as both terms. I just assumed "traveler" was another term for gypsy and vise versa.

Travelers do refer to themselves as gypsies.

heather_09_15_07 · May 2011

Mrs Castillo:
heather_09_15_07:

Yeah, we watched this.

You must be thinking of something different. The people in the show are UK and Irish "travelers," not really gypsies. They are strict Catholics and part of the reason they marry so young, I'm sure, is because premarital sex is strictly forbidden. The girls aren't even allowed to leave the house alone.

This was a little confusing to me because from what I saw in both episodes, they referred to themselves as both terms. I just assumed "traveler" was another term for gypsy and vise versa.

I think gypsies were traditionally an ethnic group (I think) but I did hear them refer to themselves that way, too.

When we were in Ireland several years ago we saw some of their caravans outside of Derry and MIL (who is from Ireland) warned us they were generally known to be theives and to be extra careful that we didn't get pickpocketed while in that area.

Latesha0911 · May 2011

sarahanderic2009:

PURE TRASH, but yet I am still going to DVR the series!

HAHAHAHA I love messy TV!

MustanGTbaby13 · May 2011

I found it totally disturbing

I couldn't watch it.

Veittobe · May 2011

Ok, you've convinced me to set my DVR.

thequeeenbee · May 2011

Darn. Now I have something else to add to my "need to watch" list.

hecallsmecat · June 2011

This show is hilarious. It is based in the UK, but the people on the show are of Irish roots. If you can understand what they are saying (hard for Americans generally) they do have a sort of Irish accent. I live in London, but mostly see them outside the city, but I travel to Ireland often because my husband is Irish and see TONS of gypsies. Never get too close to one though unless you want to be pick-pocketed. "Traveller" is the politically correct terms used nowadays, they do refer to themselves as "gypsies" too. "Tinker" is an old-fashioned term because a hundred years ago they used to have carts filled with objects made from tin that they would try to sell. If you called one of them a tinker to their face they will beat the crap out of you though. If you've ever seen the movie "Snatch" Brad Pitt plays a good part as a "Pikey", another nickname for these people. If you want to see a good depiction of old-fashioned tinkers, watch a great old Irish movie called "The Field." All of these terms refer to the same group of people. Generally, they are poor, but some have made some good money (usually not by law-abiding means). They live in caravans as a part of their culture. Some of the wealthier ones will have a house if they are permanent in a community (rare) but they will sleep in the caravan because when a gypsie dies they burn the body in the place where they die, so they don't want to burn the house down. They do treat the girls like crap, and if you notice in the series you don't see many of the men because they are all wanted by the police. The show is a pretty true-to-life picture of modern gypsies.

hecallsmecat · June 2011

Another note about gypsie children: Like I said in my last post, I live in London where I do see gypsies. I actually work with children and have gone to some of the poorer communities and have actually worked with a few gypsie children like the little girls in the show. They do dress and act like you've seen, but mostly because of media influence. I've driven by many caravan parks full of travellers and every one of them has a (stolen) satelite dish on their caravan. It's hilarious! However, they are VERY religious people, strict Catholics, though they seem to bend the rules a bit when it comes to the men beating the women which happens a lot. It's a very unique culture that they are hell-bent on preserving and the gypsies who have been on the show have mostly been ostrasized (sp?) from their communities. They all know that they will get married at 15 or 16 and start having kids right away, but that's their life. They don't get regular jobs or anything and most of them do not go to traditional schools so it's not like they are waiting for anything. Considering their dangerous lifestyle (fighting, drinking, poor eating habits, etc.), they generally do not live till old age either. It's actually pretty sad and very hard to work with the children since you get no parent cooperation and they generally do not stay in one place long enough for a teacher or social worker to make a difference, if any contact is made at all.

hecallsmecat · June 2011

History lesson: The gypsies of today are decended from the Irish people who were pushed off of their land by the English hundreds of years ago when the English took over Ireland. Some Irish vowed never to settle down so that they would not have to pay rent to an English Lord. They continuously travelled the land (hence the nickname "travellers") and formed a very tight-knit society with their own culture that has been strictly passed down for generations. They even have their own type of language that is a bit of a cross between Irish and English, which can make it very hard to understand them. They are VERY proud of their culture and try to keep it as pure as possible by not letting outsiders in and marrying cousins and all that. They consider themselves "the real Irish", though funny enough so do people from the west of Ireland who are not gypsies because the English at one point made all Irish people move west of the Shannon River, so if you ask my husband (who is from a farm in Leitrim) he is one of the real Irish, though he does have respect for the gypsies and knew many when he was growing up.

andrea922 · June 2011

hecallsmecat:
History lesson: The gypsies of today are decended from the Irish people who were pushed off of their land by the English hundreds of years ago when the English took over Ireland. Some Irish vowed never to settle down so that they would not have to pay rent to an English Lord. They continuously travelled the land (hence the nickname "travellers") and formed a very tight-knit society with their own culture that has been strictly passed down for generations. They even have their own type of language that is a bit of a cross between Irish and English, which can make it very hard to understand them. They are VERY proud of their culture and try to keep it as pure as possible by not letting outsiders in and marrying cousins and all that. They consider themselves "the real Irish", though funny enough so do people from the west of Ireland who are not gypsies because the English at one point made all Irish people move west of the Shannon River, so if you ask my husband (who is from a farm in Leitrim) he is one of the real Irish, though he does have respect for the gypsies and knew many when he was growing up.

I never saw them in London when I lived there but saw them outside of London (quite a bit outside) when we would travel to Newcastle. Pikey is a very derogatory term for them. And my British dh has no respect for them, like almost all Brits, since they don't pay taxes and are know for their theft.

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