05-05-2003, 02:59 PM
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#1 (permalink)
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Registered User
Location: Somewhere in Ohio
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Weekly words of wisdom from Bill O'Reilly
LINKY
Quote:
Taste for the notorious
is coarsening America
Perhaps the most profound change in American society over the past 40 years is how bad behavior is processed. When I grew up in the 1960s, bad boys and girls were usually held accountable for their misbehavior, punishment was almost a lock and very few scandals resulted in profit participation.
Today, all that has changed. In the latest of a long line of rewards for questionable activity, Monica Lewinsky has been hired to host a prime-time television program called "Mr. Personality." Since Ms. Lewinsky has no TV experience, one can assume that the only reason she is doing "Mr. Personality" is that ... well, you know what I mean.
Lewinsky's employment follows a long list of people who have profited from notorious incidents. G. Gordon Liddy has a syndicated radio show, Oliver North works for Fox News, Winona Ryder is doing commercials fresh off her shoplifting conviction, Robert Downey Jr. got a role on "Ally McBeal" right out of drug rehab. The list goes on and on.
Paula Jones, who made a federal case out of sexual-harassment allegations against then-Gov. Bill Clinton, was paid six figures for showing her figure in Penthouse magazine. After seeing the pictures, I wanted to sue for sexual harassment. Jessica Hahn and Tonya Harding also made good money in the aftermath of their scandals. Many rappers will tell you the more they are busted by the police, the bigger their recording contracts. R. Kelly has a hit album after being charged with sexually abusing a minor.
The message here is that American society really doesn't care how anyone behaves and that some in corporate America will reward tawdry behavior all day long. Believe me, this situation is not lost on children. They see Lewinsky scoring in the media, and they know exactly how the play was made. Surely, TV programs starring Anna Nicole Smith and Lewinsky send a signal that the U.S.A. is a place where hard work doesn't really matter if you are ready to marry an 89-year-old guy or exceed your internship job description.
While it is true that we Americans love a story of redemption, contrition is not needed to capitalize on scandal. Few of the infamous ever admit wrongdoing, and it is certainly not required by those who hire them. No, the only thing that is required is a famous name, and it really doesn't matter how you become famous, just as long as you are.
You would think that NOW - the National Organization for Women - would be outraged over Lewinsky's "Mr. Personality" gig. Aren't there any women in America who are actually qualified to host a reality program of this kind, women who actually worked for years developing communications skills? Where is NOW on this?
In fact, where is anybody on this? I know these TV programs are culturally insignificant, but there is a larger issue here. Isn't there?
Unfortunately, very few of us care about the issue. Americans are numb to tawdry actions because we see so much of them, and the celebration of boorishness has now been elevated to a level the decadent Roman emperors would have enjoyed. The result is that America unquestionably has become a coarse society, a country where crude can be very profitable. And we're not talking oil here.
File the hiring of the infamous under freedom of expression. The Constitution gives us all the right to profit from our mistakes. And never has the business of bad behavior been better.
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Any thoughts or opinions on this?
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