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| Jenny McCarthy on The View: is ABC really this desperate? | Jenny McCarthy on The View: is ABC really this desperate? |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Is ABC's The View really this desperate for a ratings boost? This week they announced that Jenny McCarthy will join the program as a replacement for Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Hasselbeck, who went from Survivor contestant to serving as the show's token rightwing dingbat, is moving on to a more appropriate position at Fox & Friends, where she'll join an entire team of science-deniers, conspiracy theorists and professional blowhards. | |
| In McCarthy, The View seems to have found an equally appropriate candidate to play the Hot Dumb Blonde: McCarthy is perhaps the most famous peddler of the myth that vaccines cause autism, and has been an instrumental figure in convincing parents not to vaccinate their children. As a result of increasing numbers of parents refusing to inculcate their children against deadly diseases, illnesses that were nearly eradicated are coming back. A 2010 whooping cough outbreak in California, for example, was the worst in 40 years, killing 10 infants. | In McCarthy, The View seems to have found an equally appropriate candidate to play the Hot Dumb Blonde: McCarthy is perhaps the most famous peddler of the myth that vaccines cause autism, and has been an instrumental figure in convincing parents not to vaccinate their children. As a result of increasing numbers of parents refusing to inculcate their children against deadly diseases, illnesses that were nearly eradicated are coming back. A 2010 whooping cough outbreak in California, for example, was the worst in 40 years, killing 10 infants. |
| It's a frustrating choice from a show that bills itself as "featuring a team of dynamic women of different ages, experiences and backgrounds discussing the most exciting events of the day". The View is one of the only shows on television featuring an all-female panel discussing the news; why the insistence that at least one of them be an aesthetically appealing nincompoop? | It's a frustrating choice from a show that bills itself as "featuring a team of dynamic women of different ages, experiences and backgrounds discussing the most exciting events of the day". The View is one of the only shows on television featuring an all-female panel discussing the news; why the insistence that at least one of them be an aesthetically appealing nincompoop? |
| After all, there are plenty of television shows featuring all-male discussions convened by ostensibly serious reporters, and the producers of those shows don't seem to insist that one member of the team be best known for science-denial, good looks and fart jokes (unless the show is on Fox). | After all, there are plenty of television shows featuring all-male discussions convened by ostensibly serious reporters, and the producers of those shows don't seem to insist that one member of the team be best known for science-denial, good looks and fart jokes (unless the show is on Fox). |
| But when it's a women's show, someone has to be the pretty one, perhaps to relieve our anxiety over watching four women talk about current events. The assumption seems to be that no one will want to listen to four broads talking, because that's basically a coven. The solution is to make at least one is a babe – and then make sure she's not the brightest, which handily confirms our expectations of beautiful women. | But when it's a women's show, someone has to be the pretty one, perhaps to relieve our anxiety over watching four women talk about current events. The assumption seems to be that no one will want to listen to four broads talking, because that's basically a coven. The solution is to make at least one is a babe – and then make sure she's not the brightest, which handily confirms our expectations of beautiful women. |
| Which isn't to say that McCarthy is necessarily dumb; she just holds some bizarre and scientifically disproven views that suggest she's not the most thoughtful human on the planet. Other than what her anti-vax views imply, it's unclear whether she's intellectually checked-in or not. And that's part of the problem: outside of anti-vaccine activism, McCarthy has no record of political activism or even serious engagement with the world. She was a model turned host of an MTV dating show turned actress in several bad films. I actually find her gross-out sexy-girl schtick somewhat appealing: she farts, appears in ads squatting on a toilet and acted in a movie scene where she sat in a pool of her own menstrual blood. It's not exactly high-brow humor, but why let the boys make all the poop jokes? | |
| While I appreciate McCarthy's role in democratizing disgustingness, I'm not going to take someone seriously as a political and cultural commentator if his or her career has amounted to one long toilet gag. Women, of course, can make gross jokes and still be intelligent observers and analysts, but McCarthy hasn't shown any sign of that. And with plenty of sharp, smart, witty women to choose from who have made careers out of thoughtful analysis, it's a disappointment that The View chose to feature one who will surely make outlandish and funny remarks, but whose actual insights into the issues of the day seems limited. | While I appreciate McCarthy's role in democratizing disgustingness, I'm not going to take someone seriously as a political and cultural commentator if his or her career has amounted to one long toilet gag. Women, of course, can make gross jokes and still be intelligent observers and analysts, but McCarthy hasn't shown any sign of that. And with plenty of sharp, smart, witty women to choose from who have made careers out of thoughtful analysis, it's a disappointment that The View chose to feature one who will surely make outlandish and funny remarks, but whose actual insights into the issues of the day seems limited. |
| From that perspective, McCarthy won't be so different from Hasselbeck, whose political observations were consistently trite, severe and punitive. But while watching Hasselbeck talk politics is an exercise in masochism, at least she was somewhat connected to the topic. McCarthy dipped her toe into the political pool with her vaccine activism, using her celebrity status to encourage parents to forgo widely accepted and life-saving preventative measures, putting their own children and others at risk. That's beyond a simple difference of political opinion; that's shameful and deadly. | From that perspective, McCarthy won't be so different from Hasselbeck, whose political observations were consistently trite, severe and punitive. But while watching Hasselbeck talk politics is an exercise in masochism, at least she was somewhat connected to the topic. McCarthy dipped her toe into the political pool with her vaccine activism, using her celebrity status to encourage parents to forgo widely accepted and life-saving preventative measures, putting their own children and others at risk. That's beyond a simple difference of political opinion; that's shameful and deadly. |
| Should McCarthy's views disqualify her from speaking publicly? Of course not. Are there plenty of dumb men and men with ridiculous ideas on television as well? Absolutely. But The View producers surely had a large pool of potential hosts from which to select a replacement for Hasselbeck. That they affirmatively chose to offer a platform not only to a person who has done almost nothing in terms of political or cultural analysis but one whose only foray into that arena was promoting views that encourage the spread of disease and leave kids dead is unconscionable. | Should McCarthy's views disqualify her from speaking publicly? Of course not. Are there plenty of dumb men and men with ridiculous ideas on television as well? Absolutely. But The View producers surely had a large pool of potential hosts from which to select a replacement for Hasselbeck. That they affirmatively chose to offer a platform not only to a person who has done almost nothing in terms of political or cultural analysis but one whose only foray into that arena was promoting views that encourage the spread of disease and leave kids dead is unconscionable. |
| And it should make one question what they prioritize: interesting, nuanced discussions between intelligent women, or cookie-cutter stereotypes and controversy that compromises children's lives but is guaranteed (or at least more likely) to get ratings? | And it should make one question what they prioritize: interesting, nuanced discussions between intelligent women, or cookie-cutter stereotypes and controversy that compromises children's lives but is guaranteed (or at least more likely) to get ratings? |