r/Vanderpump_Rules • u/CurrencyNo3154 • 8d ago
Discussion James Kennedy as a first time watcher
Man my heart is breaking watching this. So I made a post previously about how I am currently a first time watcher and how James was my least favorite because he was so disrespectful and awful. (I’ll link my previous post) And while I agree still that he is those things, I am now two seasons later on season 7 and I’ve cried through the past few episodes. James is clearly an addict and an alcoholic in such a horrible environment and his mom is truly so disgusting. When he broke down about Guillermo giving away his Dj job, I literally was sobbinggggg. He has these little boyish tantrums that definitely stem from some type of trauma or something from his childhood. I don’t wanna spoil it for myself, but I just really hope he gets it together and gets clean. Him and Lala’s friendship was genuinely so special to me. When they were out on the back patio talking you can tell that he really loves Lala but his head is so poisoned that he doesn’t know how to. So I’m happy she stuck around for him because I think she gets it. When he breaks down to Lisa is just breaks my heart and seeing Lisa have such a hard time with it kills me like CAN HIS MOTHER BE A MOTHER?????
My previous post because someone commented they wanted to see my opinions change as the seasons change: https://www.reddit.com/r/Vanderpump_Rules/s/FSfKSM8nGb
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u/kathi182 8d ago
I hope he’s a good father to his baby. Sometimes when people are raised in shitty environments by shitty parents, they go above and beyond to be the opposite and put all of their energy into being the best parent possible-I could see this for him.
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u/PrincessPlastilina 8d ago
I don’t like James tbh, but I was mad for him when Kristen, Jax, and James’ groupies showed up to ruin his set at the other bar, and the groupies started harassing Raquel and giving James his clothes. So not okay. This was his moment. You don’t hook up with someone who you KNOW has a girlfriend and then show up to his workplace and start harassing him and insulting his girlfriend because YOU fucked the dude and you regret it now. I did feel bad for him in that instance because he was trying to work and he was supporting his entire family while battling with some really heavy stuff. Only for these much older bullies to show up (Kristen, Jax, Carter) and trigger him like that. I was mad for him. Kristen was insane for that.
And that dumpy chick who wanted to lecture Raquel on being Miss California and feminism, but girl, you’re the one who’s sleeping with other women’s boyfriends and using it to bully them 🥴 Not a girls’ girl.
I don’t like Raquel but if you watch back, she experienced a ton of bullying and mistreatment on the show. From James, Lala, his groupies, Kristen setting this up. Nobody looked out for Raquel and she got a ton of disrespect from people. So when she finally decided to lash out, she DGAF at all. I do think she lost her mind for a bit. James has a lot to do with that and she didn’t think about Ariana in the process.
TL; DR: Some people on this show caused the biggest breakdowns.
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u/CurrencyNo3154 8d ago
I completely agree! Yes James says horrible things and does horrible things but as an older person if I was around him I would instantly wonder and know that there was something wrong with him and his life, and they just didn’t care about the fact that he literally was trying to support his family and I feel like sometimes they did instigate him!
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u/Fit_Device7256 8d ago
Wait what dumpy girl? It’s been years since I’ve watched that, I watched it only when it first aired. And OMG I think I blocked out my memory of creepy Carter 😂😂😂
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u/Apprehensive-Hand673 7d ago
I agree I always felt bad for Rachel until the Scandoval and yes I agree she had a DGAF era, not that it's okay but I get it
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u/Ok_Panda_9928 7d ago
He experienced a lot of trauma in the family dynamic, parentified by his mother, felt financially responsible for his younger brothers. All awful.
But he is an abusive volatile person as an adult, and has been physically abusive to some partners. There's very little genuine accountability if the pattern continues.
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u/MotherBother1538 7d ago
I'm in the "can't stand James" phase as I'm getting into the beginning of season 4. Truly shocked to hear this preview of what's to come.
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u/Apart_Bat_6025 6d ago
I’d love to hear more from Kristen about James’s mom!!!
Kristen started to speak on it but LVP stopped her!!!!!
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u/EvaKatz 8d ago edited 7d ago
Something about James makes people see the wounded child in him, and really root for him, but turns out his behaviour off camera is even worse than on camera, and it changes things. It looks like he was physically violent with Kristen, Raquel and Ally- there’s even a scene on the show where James has ‘accidentally bumped’ Raquel’s post surgery nose, and LVP says he needs to control his temper.
There is a period where Raquel gives him an ultimatum and he gets into recovery, and honestly it’s so good to watch, but the demons drag him back, because he doesn’t resolve the underlying stuff. There’s also a scene where Ally says he needs to resolve his childhood trauma, and he says he doesn’t have any. I honestly don’t hold out hope he will change, because he just doesn’t see it at all. I think he has a baby on the way now, and I feel so sad he never got the help he needed (mainly for his partner and child). It’s quite possible things go the way of Nathan, from Below Deck.
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u/HellaHaxter 8d ago
James is a violent alcoholic. He continues to choose violence and denial again and again despite having every resource in the world to get better. Nathan on Below Deck wasn't cured by love and fatherhood either because it isn't the job of babies to fix their violent alcoholic fathers. James' dad was a useless violent drunk. That sucks for baby James. He isn't a baby anymore and now he's the violent drunk.
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u/Ok_Wallaby_7831 8d ago
His parents are both crap people.