Olivia Telecky-
On February 27th of this year, Hulu released their much-anticipated documentary on Ruby Franke, a family vlogger who was guilty of abusing her children both on and off camera. The documentary includes interviews with the eldest Franke children (Shari and Chad), some neighbors, and even Ruby Franke’s husband / the father of the abused children, Kevin. While the documentary does shed light on the struggles of having one’s childhood on camera, it quickly shifts away from that aspect and onto the more sinister abuse allegations. Though any documentary would be incomplete without focusing on the larger events that led to Franke’s arrest, by avoiding discussion on the early years of the family vlog, Devil in the Family misses the mark and even feels exploitative. In a documentary about children who had every aspect of their childhood filmed for the income their family depended on, they were barely asked about how this monetization affected them, instead focusing on the downward spiral of their mother. By doing this, the documentary engages in the same behavior it was created to criticize.
The first thirty minutes of the three-part docu-series focuses on the years “leading up to the abuse”. Shari and Chad discuss how they grew to dread being on camera and how they missed the family dynamics they gave up to live a life on YouTube. Kevin Franke even stated that he was very uncomfortable with the camera being on all the time. However, in the video recordings shown, the Franke parents were seemingly already abusing their children. When the documentary would cut to a shot of Ruby yelling furiously at her children for such crimes as “making noise”, Kevin could be heard in the background, backing her up. They even admitted to taking away Chad’s bedroom, referring to it as a “privilege” and forcing the child to sleep on a bean bag chair for seven months. Even though both parents were clearly participating in this behavior, the blame was on Ruby and not shared by Kevin, who was largely painted as having been unaware.
Though there is no problem with portraying Ruby Franke as an evil mother –her actions justify this judgement– there is a large problem with depicting Kevin Franke as the “good parent.” He was not a good father and, while there are different levels of abuse, no abuse is justified because it is “less damaging” than other abusive behavior. Another large issue with portraying these early years as happy is that it undermines the lived experience of Shari Franke and everything she has fought for in her adulthood. Shari has spoken in favor of legislation that protects children from family vlogs and wrote an entire novel about how growing up on camera stopped her from experiencing childhood.
These large problems were swept under the rug so the series could focus on Jodi Hildebrandt, a fake psychologist whose teachings “caused Ruby Franke to abuse her children”. Hildebrandt convinced Ruby that her children were possessed by the devil and worked with her to deprive her youngest two children of food and water while tying them up and forcing them to stand in the sun and exercise for hours on end. This behavior is absolutely horrible and deserves the focus it got. Hildebrandt had a history of tearing apart families with her teachings that some, including Kevin Franke, believed to be cult-like. It would be wrong for the documentary to ignore this influence and Hildebrandt’s direct involvement in the torture of the youngest Franke children, but in a three-part series, there should be enough time to delve into the stories of each child. By putting such a strong emphasis on the crazy, dramatic aspects of this case, it can be lost on viewers that abuse isn’t always such a spectacle.
These aspects are what makes this documentary feel largely incomplete. Documentaries are a great way to spread awareness for a subject, and with many other kids who are struggling with being in family vlogs or other predatory content, it is important to shed light on this pressing issue. But, to focus on the bizarre and micro-specific aspects of this case is to equate all child abuse to larger than life physical actions instead of what it often is: manipulation and overall unfair treatment. While it is nice to tie everything up in a little bow and say, “they were arrested, it’s over now”, the truth is it isn’t over for many children around the globe. Thus, the docuseries feels incomplete.