Yesterday, Tony Kornheiser mentioned this Tom Shales column on Fox's new "reality" show, "The Simple Life" (which I am glad has started only because it means Fox will stop running the same commercial during football games that I have been seeing for what seems like a month now). Anyway, the review itself was less amusing/interesting than I expected, but then I came to this line:
Maybe if the show encouraged more hatred of the rich, who are having so much fun right now (as they usually do during Republican administrations) while the rest of us just hope to cope, it might be worth watching and worth having been made.
Several things struck me: 1) Shales, as the major media columist for WaPo and a published author or co-author on several books on the media, he is a) hardly "just hop[ing] to cope", and likely falls in a tax bracket that most Democrats would consider "rich", and 2) if he is talking about the extremely wealthy (e.g., Ms. Hilton and Ms. Richie), don't they always have a lot of "fun" (if such is defined as having a lot of money to spend) regardless of who's in power? I mean, what a ridiculous statement (and out of place, in my opinion, in a column on tv programs). Not to mention why would it be a good idea to encourage hatred of anyone?
Update: This post is sitting in traffic at the BELTWAY TRAFFIC JAM. Go see all the posts as they sit and wait for readership.
Bob Herbert of the NY Times writes the same way. He is always concerned about the plight of the poor, and seems to suggest he is part of that demographic. Needless to say, I am sure he lives a comfortable lifestyle on the upper west side...
Posted by: mark at December 3, 2024 09:32 AMDon't worry. As long as there are rich-haters on the left, they'll be liberal-haters on the right. It's an eternal truth.
What we really should be discussing is the merits of a quality television show like the simple life. Oh, wait... a show should probably first have a merit to warrant discussing it. :)
Posted by: Eric at December 3, 2024 10:53 AM
Yeah- But image Queer Eye came on a few years ago and someone wrote...
Maybe if the show encouraged more hatred of the gays, who are having so much fun right now (as they usually do during Democrat administrations)...
The guy would lose his job.
Hatred and bigotry is Ok as long as it is on the left.
Posted by: Paul at December 3, 2024 01:59 PM