Everyone agrees that The Oprah Show has had a monumental effect on its audience. You can like or dislike Oprah, but she put her heart and soul into her shows that were backed by her personal philosophy. Her goal was to improve the human condition. After the earliest years of the show, she scrapped topics that were presented to sensationalize. Oprah eventually could pick and choose topics that fit within her standards--whether you as an audience member agreed with her views or not.
The View has a different premise. Put five women together with different backgrounds and see what happens. The is a hodgepodge with no detectable philosophy, no uniform purpose. The problem with this casual form of programming is that The View has garnered a wide audience*. Right or wrong, many viewers get much of their news and information through "Hot Topics."
I take issue with The View because it has more prestige than it deserves. The individual co-hosts are regular people, but because they are seen by a wide audience, some of them have gotten too big for their britches. What they hold in their hands is far too big for them to handle.
Here are some pet peeves of mine that I saw over and over last season. I'm appalled that even Barbara Walters doesn't get this--unless she secretly is pushing Sarah Palin:
Each of the co-hosts--except for Elisabeth, and maybe the noncommittal Barbara, is liberal. When Bristol Palin was on Dancing with the Stars, the co-hosts who claim to love DWTS, constantly moaned about Bristol. For some reason they showed clips of Bristol dancing while leaving out viable contenders. They wondered how long Bristol would stay in, but--without realizing it--they were collecting votes for her. Right after Audrina Patridge received the highest scores from the DWTS judges, The View covered the show without mentioning Audrina--who got knocked out during that round. The View never failed to mention Bristol.
I had no problem with Bristol appearing on DTWS, even though she wasn't a "star." It would now seem that DTWS hires participants who can pull in popular audience members. I got bored with the constant attention that Bristol received, especially by The View. who talked about Bristol after every single competition. I prefer that a competitor receive attention due to good dancing.
My big issue with The View is that it threw votes toward Bristol without a clue about what they were doing.
The View often covers topics that it knows little about; it covers shows that it hasn't seen. The partial coverage of Dancing with the Stars and American Idol is shoddy. If the co-hosts haven't seen the shows that they're covering, they need to say so.
On the other hand, how many times must Whoopi make a face to remind her audience that she doesn't watch reality shows? She is much too intellectual, I suppose. Or she has better things to do with her time. I have news for Whoopi: The View audience is full of people who do watch these shows. Whoopi needs to get off her high horse and quit insulting her own audience.
The View now has three comics at co-hosts. The combo of co-hosts may work for ratings, but the show has become lopsided. Sherri Shepherd is one funny comedic actress. I adored her as Robert Barone's cop partner on Everybody Loves Raymond. But not all comics can be co-hosts. She can be funny and entertaining, but I don't necessarily want her imparting information to me.
I'm still dumbfounded that Sherri has admitted to having 10 abortions. I believe that admitting to 10 of these is not just stupid; it's hurtful and insensitive to those who've had to make the awful choice. I don't believe she fully understands what she did, or she would keep these 10 choices to herself.
Someone needs to tell Joy that she can't be a serious news person, or a serious discussion leader and still refer to someone with an opposing opinion as the B-word. On both Joy's shows, she asks leading questions like, "Don't you think her father. . . .?" She cares more about expressing her own opinions than finding out what her guest thinks.
The View co-hosts bully some of their guests. They evidently believe its okay to bully Nadya Suleman because people don't like her. If they were kind, they could try to feature her in a way that helps viewers understand her. But they don't. Once they caught onto Suleman's goofy laugh, they continued to gang up on her without letting her answer questions. Instead they confused her. With Suleman's confusion came her silly laugh that became more intense.
Frequently, one of the co-hosts asks a question I've been wondering, and I say, "Way to go," until someone else butts in and the guest has no chance to answer the question.
Here is my biggest complaint about The View, and this may seem like a minor deal, but it isn't: The ladies of The View do not hold men accountable when they cheat. Elisabeth is the only woman who insists on men behaving with principles, and I admire her for holding her ground. I will predict that the other ladies will--once again in Season 15--go on about how men aren't naturally monogamous. A woman shouldn't break up her whole family if her man cheats. These aren't hard and fast rules, but these are definitely the messages from this show.
President Clinton was a good president according to The View. The co-hosts don't seem bothered that he cheated. What Clinton did was demoralize the country and lower the standards for everyone, and the co-hosts give men a license to cheat. Whoopi has stated several times that a man can cheat and still be a good father. Much of the time I can admire Whoopi's individuality. She thinks outside the box. But sometimes she is way off base. Think this through, Whoopi. One of the best gifts a man can give his children is the open love and respect for their mother. A man teaches his children how to behave. When children are fortunate enough to witness true love between their parents, finding love won't be difficult. Cheating on a wife is a slap in the face to the children; it dishonors their mother.
I believe that The View influences its audience. Maybe in subtle ways. My wish is that the co-hosts and the producers would create a "Philosophy of Our Show." The show can't be all things to all people, so what is it trying to do? They should create a Statement of Purpose and then ask their well-paid co-hosts to take a class on interviewing guests.
My goal is to observe the show with a watchful eye until the co-hosts become better at their jobs. I hope to get through Season 15 without blowing up my TV.
*I will find some statistics on who exactly is watching the show.
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