I just looked at tonight's tv schedule and ABC could be the biggest
loser. ABC's decision to put the ESPY awards on ABC instead of
ESPN could be one of the biggest scheduling mistakes in American tv
history. Even the ESPN channels, which are the normal home of
the ESPY awards, have more appealing programs. "Home Run
Derby" and "the Pan American Games" are easily more appealing shows
than a silly awards program whose big winner has been known for over
a month.
The E! network which is owned by NBC is taking advantage of the free
publicity ABC has provided about "Killer" Jenner to run three 1-hour
programs about Jenner becoming a female impersonator.
The last I heard Jenner is not having surgery to become a woman by
replacing his male genitals with female ones. Thus he will
be a female impersonator rather than a woman. If I
were actually interested in seeing Jenner in a dress I would watch
those programs instead of sitting through nearly three hours of a
program I wouldn't otherwise have an interest in just to see him get
an award. E! or news programs will likely show the award
presentation later. NBC itself has "America's got
Talent" for the first hour followed by a reality show called
"American Ninja Warrior".
The 3-hour length of the ESPY award program makes it much less
attractive to viewers. The length implies the program
will feature a lot of award categories most viewers won't be
interest in. One of the most common complaints about
awards shows is that they are toooooooo long. One of the
biggest reasons people sit through awards programs is to find out
who wins. ABC had eliminated the mystery by saying the
big award will go to Jenner.
Of course ABC could not very well suggest that Jenner was competing
against others for the award. If others were being considered
for the award their efforts would be shown. ABC couldn't very
well show a clip of Lauren Hill playing her last basketball game to
raise money for cancer research followed by a clip of Noan Galloway
competing on "Dancing with the stars' using an artificial leg and
then show Jenner putting on a dress. If they did
that one would believe Jenner was a legitimate winner.
Showing posts with label E! Network. Show all posts
Showing posts with label E! Network. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Did Jenner, or E! Network, Pay for Arthur Ashe Award?
I'm not accusing anyone of bribing ESPN or its employees at this
point. I'm just looking for a logical explanation for
giving the wealthy actor formerly known as Bruce Jenner an award for
courage for a decision that required no special courage because the
decision is going to make him even richer. I also want an
explanation for why ESPN which is owned by ABC is going out of its
way to promote a program on the E! Network which is owned by
NBC. A bribe is a logical possibility considering
Jenner's purported wealth and the tendency of many rich people to
think they should be able to buy anything they want.
I'll suggest another possibility in my next post.
How can anyone with an ounce of sense give a courage award to someone for accepting a reality show contract to appear as a woman, or, for that matter, as Count Dracula or a clown? I don't recall anyone giving Jamie Farr a courage award for playing the crossdressing Cpl. Max Klinger on "M*A*S*H*". Would Jenner have gotten a courage award if Paramount had given him a contract to appear in public and on television as part of a new "Star Trek" series in which he played an alien such as a Klingon, a Bajoran, or maybe even a Cardassian?
Perhaps if Jenner's "condition" had kept him from getting a contract there might be some merit in considering his action courageous. How can doing something that is financially rewarding be considered courageous? Giving Jenner an award based on his "condition" implies that he is afflicted with something dreadful like Jim Valvano's cancer or Pat Summitt's dementia.
The whole decision smells like there is more than one dead skunk in the middle of the road. The timeline for Jenner's various publicity activities strongly implies that Jenner, or more likely his publicity agent, had arranged with ESPN for the award before the interview with Diane Sawyer was telecast on April 24th. ESPN's announcement just after the publication of the Vanity Fair article appeared sound's like they scheduled the announcement in conjunction with publication of the article. The claim that they hadn't been considering anyone else implies they made the decision long before the article was published. The award will be given out just before Jenner's new series starts.
Considering the prestige associated with the Arthur Ashe award, the expectation would be that potential nominees would be selected by at least the end of March so they could be properly evaluated. The people at ESPN seem to be saying they waited until the last minute and grabbed Jenner's name out of the news. Wouldn't it be more believable to think that they worked out a deal to give Jenner the award as part of his publicity campaign for his new show? Or, in other words the award is just part of a publicity stunt. It is common to pay those who help publicize a tv series.
I'll suggest another possibility in my next post.
How can anyone with an ounce of sense give a courage award to someone for accepting a reality show contract to appear as a woman, or, for that matter, as Count Dracula or a clown? I don't recall anyone giving Jamie Farr a courage award for playing the crossdressing Cpl. Max Klinger on "M*A*S*H*". Would Jenner have gotten a courage award if Paramount had given him a contract to appear in public and on television as part of a new "Star Trek" series in which he played an alien such as a Klingon, a Bajoran, or maybe even a Cardassian?
Perhaps if Jenner's "condition" had kept him from getting a contract there might be some merit in considering his action courageous. How can doing something that is financially rewarding be considered courageous? Giving Jenner an award based on his "condition" implies that he is afflicted with something dreadful like Jim Valvano's cancer or Pat Summitt's dementia.
The whole decision smells like there is more than one dead skunk in the middle of the road. The timeline for Jenner's various publicity activities strongly implies that Jenner, or more likely his publicity agent, had arranged with ESPN for the award before the interview with Diane Sawyer was telecast on April 24th. ESPN's announcement just after the publication of the Vanity Fair article appeared sound's like they scheduled the announcement in conjunction with publication of the article. The claim that they hadn't been considering anyone else implies they made the decision long before the article was published. The award will be given out just before Jenner's new series starts.
Considering the prestige associated with the Arthur Ashe award, the expectation would be that potential nominees would be selected by at least the end of March so they could be properly evaluated. The people at ESPN seem to be saying they waited until the last minute and grabbed Jenner's name out of the news. Wouldn't it be more believable to think that they worked out a deal to give Jenner the award as part of his publicity campaign for his new show? Or, in other words the award is just part of a publicity stunt. It is common to pay those who help publicize a tv series.
Friday, June 19, 2015
ESPN and Capital One Are Dishonoring Real Heroes
The decision by ESPN and Capital One to allow the actor previously
known as Bruce Jenner to desecrate the Arthur Ashe courage award
dishonors real heroes. Jenner has done nothing to deserve the
Arthur Ashe award.
Jenner's decision to be the character Caitlyn in an E! Network reality show is a common type of action in the entertainment industry. There is nothing unusual about an entertainer with a male body impersonating , or playing, a female character. His action involves no more courage than all entertainers must have to perform before an audience. His theft of the Arthur Ashe award to make himself look courageous is nothing more than a sick public relations stunt.
It doesn't take courage for someone to take a high paying entertainment job that doesn't involve physical danger like the driver of a truck load of dynamite would face. Many of us old guys would be willing to let our hair grow, or wear a wig if the hair has stopped growing, and put on a dress for the kind of money Jenner is getting from the E! Network.. Some of us might be willing to go even farther than Jenner is willing to go and let them remove what David Letterman calls our "junk". When a man reaches 65 it sometimes isn't much more than junk anyway.
Giving a courage award to someone who has done nothing courageous dishonors those who have actually done something heroic. Giving an award named after the black man who integrated the American Davis Cup team to a wealthy white entertainer so he can further his career is sick. When Arthur Ashe discovered he had received an HIV infection from a blood transfusion he worked to educate people about the disease and founded Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS and the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health. Jenner's decision to do a new reality show playing a woman doesn't remotely compare to what Ashe did.
The actions of a young college woman named Lauren Hill does compare favorably with Ashe's actions. When she found out she was dying of an incurable cancer she dedicated the remainder of her college basketball career to trying to raise research funds so other young people would not have to share her fate.
Sgt. Noah Galloway didn't get a fatal disease in Iraq, but he did lose an arm and a leg. If I had suffered that type of injury in Vietnam I would probably have spent the rest of my sitting in front of a tv set. Galloway chose to fight back like Arthur Ashe and became a motivational speaker and even finished 3rd in the show "Dancing with the Stars".
Both of these individuals demonstrated far more courage than Jenner has. I recently saw a news story about a young father who demonstrated far more courage than Jenner. When a man attempted to steal his car with his son inside, this courageous father jumped on the moving vehicle and held on as long as he could.
The men and women who have served in the War on Terror have demonstrated far more courage than Jenner. The same can be said of those who work as police officers or firefighters.
If Jenner accepts the award he will mark himself as a coward rather than a hero. Jenner's attempt to steal the award reminds me of an old Warner Brothers cartoon about a phony hero dog. At the start of the cartoon "Fresh Airedale" the dog helps a burglar by serving as a lookout until the car chases the burglar. When the dog hears someone coming he pretends he has chased the burglar away. When the dog hears about another dog being called the "Number 1 Dog" he travels to the Number 1 dog's home and attempts to push him into a pond. The phony hero misses and ends up in the water. The Number 1 Dog rescues the phony, but is exhausted by the effort. The phony revives first and when he hears people coming acts like he rescued the Number 1 Dog. The dogs in the cartoon were males, but Jenner wants to be referred to as a female. When you get older you sometimes have trouble remembering some words. Does anyone remember the word for a female dog?
Jenner's decision to be the character Caitlyn in an E! Network reality show is a common type of action in the entertainment industry. There is nothing unusual about an entertainer with a male body impersonating , or playing, a female character. His action involves no more courage than all entertainers must have to perform before an audience. His theft of the Arthur Ashe award to make himself look courageous is nothing more than a sick public relations stunt.
It doesn't take courage for someone to take a high paying entertainment job that doesn't involve physical danger like the driver of a truck load of dynamite would face. Many of us old guys would be willing to let our hair grow, or wear a wig if the hair has stopped growing, and put on a dress for the kind of money Jenner is getting from the E! Network.. Some of us might be willing to go even farther than Jenner is willing to go and let them remove what David Letterman calls our "junk". When a man reaches 65 it sometimes isn't much more than junk anyway.
Giving a courage award to someone who has done nothing courageous dishonors those who have actually done something heroic. Giving an award named after the black man who integrated the American Davis Cup team to a wealthy white entertainer so he can further his career is sick. When Arthur Ashe discovered he had received an HIV infection from a blood transfusion he worked to educate people about the disease and founded Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS and the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health. Jenner's decision to do a new reality show playing a woman doesn't remotely compare to what Ashe did.
The actions of a young college woman named Lauren Hill does compare favorably with Ashe's actions. When she found out she was dying of an incurable cancer she dedicated the remainder of her college basketball career to trying to raise research funds so other young people would not have to share her fate.
Sgt. Noah Galloway didn't get a fatal disease in Iraq, but he did lose an arm and a leg. If I had suffered that type of injury in Vietnam I would probably have spent the rest of my sitting in front of a tv set. Galloway chose to fight back like Arthur Ashe and became a motivational speaker and even finished 3rd in the show "Dancing with the Stars".
Both of these individuals demonstrated far more courage than Jenner has. I recently saw a news story about a young father who demonstrated far more courage than Jenner. When a man attempted to steal his car with his son inside, this courageous father jumped on the moving vehicle and held on as long as he could.
The men and women who have served in the War on Terror have demonstrated far more courage than Jenner. The same can be said of those who work as police officers or firefighters.
If Jenner accepts the award he will mark himself as a coward rather than a hero. Jenner's attempt to steal the award reminds me of an old Warner Brothers cartoon about a phony hero dog. At the start of the cartoon "Fresh Airedale" the dog helps a burglar by serving as a lookout until the car chases the burglar. When the dog hears someone coming he pretends he has chased the burglar away. When the dog hears about another dog being called the "Number 1 Dog" he travels to the Number 1 dog's home and attempts to push him into a pond. The phony hero misses and ends up in the water. The Number 1 Dog rescues the phony, but is exhausted by the effort. The phony revives first and when he hears people coming acts like he rescued the Number 1 Dog. The dogs in the cartoon were males, but Jenner wants to be referred to as a female. When you get older you sometimes have trouble remembering some words. Does anyone remember the word for a female dog?
Thursday, June 18, 2015
E! Network Paying Jenner for "Sex Change"
The E! Network has destroyed the story by the actor formerly know as
Bruce Jenner that his decision to adopt a female persona is a result
of some feeling he really is a woman even though he still
wants to have sex with them. E! is doing a series
on Jenner's transformation into a female character named
Caitlyn. Now don't we all feel sorry for Jenner having to take
all that money to the bank. I wonder if he will be crying all
the way to the bank.
Jenner has no intention of becoming an anatomically correct woman. He prefers to have sex with women which indicates his brain is male rather than female. His brain and body are of the same sex which means he is not transsexual. He merely wants to be a character called "Caitlyn" during the day. At night if he can find a woman to go to bed with he plans to still be Bruce.
The term for entertainers who wish to perform as female characters is "female impersonator". Males who aren't entertainers who like to dress as women are called "transvestites". Such men don't want to be women. Twin advice columnists Ann Landers and Abigail van Buren used to claim they had been told transvestites were better lovers than other men. However, I'm not aware of any scientific studies on the subject.
Men should be allowed to dress as women if they can do so without looking too ridiculous. If women can get jobs digging ditches and driving dump trucks, men should be allowed to look beautiful if they can. However, I can understand why women don't want such men in their restrooms. Old overweight guys like me or men who look like the actor who played the character with the metal teeth in the James Bond movies probably shouldn't try to look beautiful.
Those who think Jenner is being courageous ignore the fact that we accept it when entertainers do what might be considered outrageous appearance or behavior for non-entertainers. Music videos by singers like Madonna can have a weird appearance. We may even prefer that entertainers act weirdly. That way we can say maybe we can't sing or act like Pat Superstar, but at least we're normal. Circus owner P.T. Barnum recognized in the 19th Century that people would spend money to watch a "freak" show.
Jenner is not homosexual, but people today accept homosexual entertainers. Singer Sir Elton John remains popular even though people know he's homosexual. Ross "The Intern" Matthews on the Jay Leno show was openly homosexual.
Liberace was a very popular pianist in the mid 20th Century in America and Britain even though many recognized that he was homosexual. He denied it but his speech, clothing and mannerisms fit the stereotype people had of homosexuals. His denial may have helped his popularity among those who thought they knew his secret. They would have watched for clues they thought indicated he was homosexual. People at the time knew that homosexuals usually didn't admit it.
The exception to acceptance of homosexuals would be men who want women to see them as sex symbols. Women aren't as likely to swoon over men who "don't like girls".
Female impersonators like Jenner have long been accepted as entertainers. People like to watch men impersonating women. Many people consider such situations inherently humorous which could mean Jenner has a better chance of success impersonating a woman than if he played male characters.
RuPaul Andre Charles has had television shows for years. Frank Marino has made a career in Las Vegas impersonating Joan Rivers, including 20 years at the Riviera Hotel. Australian John Barry Humphries has played the aristocratic character Dame Edna Everage for 50 years in Britain and America. The character started out as a housewife.
Robin Williams [Mrs. Doubtfire] and Dustin Hoffman [Tootsie] appeared in successful movies in which the male character each played impersonated a woman to get a job. Actors Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari started their careers playing women on the tv series "Bosom Buddies." Jamie Farr helped make the popular series M*A*S*H* a success by playing a character who was trying to get out of the army by wearing women's clothes.
When E! was paying Jenner to be a husband and father he acted like he was a normal heterosexual male. Now that it wants to pay Jenner to be a female character Jenner claims to really be a woman. Jenner seems to be whatever sex the network is paying for.
Jenner has no intention of becoming an anatomically correct woman. He prefers to have sex with women which indicates his brain is male rather than female. His brain and body are of the same sex which means he is not transsexual. He merely wants to be a character called "Caitlyn" during the day. At night if he can find a woman to go to bed with he plans to still be Bruce.
The term for entertainers who wish to perform as female characters is "female impersonator". Males who aren't entertainers who like to dress as women are called "transvestites". Such men don't want to be women. Twin advice columnists Ann Landers and Abigail van Buren used to claim they had been told transvestites were better lovers than other men. However, I'm not aware of any scientific studies on the subject.
Men should be allowed to dress as women if they can do so without looking too ridiculous. If women can get jobs digging ditches and driving dump trucks, men should be allowed to look beautiful if they can. However, I can understand why women don't want such men in their restrooms. Old overweight guys like me or men who look like the actor who played the character with the metal teeth in the James Bond movies probably shouldn't try to look beautiful.
Those who think Jenner is being courageous ignore the fact that we accept it when entertainers do what might be considered outrageous appearance or behavior for non-entertainers. Music videos by singers like Madonna can have a weird appearance. We may even prefer that entertainers act weirdly. That way we can say maybe we can't sing or act like Pat Superstar, but at least we're normal. Circus owner P.T. Barnum recognized in the 19th Century that people would spend money to watch a "freak" show.
Jenner is not homosexual, but people today accept homosexual entertainers. Singer Sir Elton John remains popular even though people know he's homosexual. Ross "The Intern" Matthews on the Jay Leno show was openly homosexual.
Liberace was a very popular pianist in the mid 20th Century in America and Britain even though many recognized that he was homosexual. He denied it but his speech, clothing and mannerisms fit the stereotype people had of homosexuals. His denial may have helped his popularity among those who thought they knew his secret. They would have watched for clues they thought indicated he was homosexual. People at the time knew that homosexuals usually didn't admit it.
The exception to acceptance of homosexuals would be men who want women to see them as sex symbols. Women aren't as likely to swoon over men who "don't like girls".
Female impersonators like Jenner have long been accepted as entertainers. People like to watch men impersonating women. Many people consider such situations inherently humorous which could mean Jenner has a better chance of success impersonating a woman than if he played male characters.
RuPaul Andre Charles has had television shows for years. Frank Marino has made a career in Las Vegas impersonating Joan Rivers, including 20 years at the Riviera Hotel. Australian John Barry Humphries has played the aristocratic character Dame Edna Everage for 50 years in Britain and America. The character started out as a housewife.
Robin Williams [Mrs. Doubtfire] and Dustin Hoffman [Tootsie] appeared in successful movies in which the male character each played impersonated a woman to get a job. Actors Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari started their careers playing women on the tv series "Bosom Buddies." Jamie Farr helped make the popular series M*A*S*H* a success by playing a character who was trying to get out of the army by wearing women's clothes.
When E! was paying Jenner to be a husband and father he acted like he was a normal heterosexual male. Now that it wants to pay Jenner to be a female character Jenner claims to really be a woman. Jenner seems to be whatever sex the network is paying for.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
