It's hard to make an argument for paying attention to the Miss America pageant because the pageant hasn't really made a compelling argument for its continued existence. Why hype up a competition that has so little ultimately at stake?
In a genre where dressing up contrived circumstances as "reality" is an accepted practice, a competition between people who are deliberately subverting realism is a delightful twist.
As played by Sharon Gless, Madeline -- sporting shoulder-dusting earrings, a Guy Fieri haircut and a perpetual cigarette dangling between frosted-coral lips -- cannily works the motherly-retiree angle as a way of getting people's guards down (including her son's) and then mercilessly imposing her will on them. Truly, she's an inspiration for anyone looking for an alternative to today's youth-obsessed TV culture.
Alas, there is no "Check out the patrons at a water park" cable channel, but there are sports, glorious televised sports, and nothing is more rewarding than watching the NCAA softball finals (to give one example) or the NCAA swimming and diving finals (to give another). And coming up, there are the Olympics.
The Super Bowl, with its male posturing, scantily-clad cheerleaders, and rampant corporate sponsorships, has never been exactly a feminist's dream come true. This year, however, there is one more reason to throw your remote at the screen and run for cover, and it comes in the form of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow. And his mother. And the Focus on the Family anti-choice commercial they'll be starring in during the game.
Not only does this show perpetuate the popular "fat equals unhealthy" with its unspoken corollary "therefore, thin equals healthy," it also overtly coaches its participants to engage in what Kate Harding so aptly called "the fantasy of being thin." And then there's the vomiting and dehydration. That's healthy, right?
Egypt. India. The Ukraine. Oprah tried to show viewers what life’s like for married women in these places via her "Marriage around the World" show Wednesday. Unfortunately, the Queen of Talk came up short, delving into tired subjects such as Muslim women and the head scarf, mail order brides from Eastern Europe and why anyone would choose arranged marriage. What’s more is that while profiling women from around the globe, Oprah not only reinforces stereotypes about women of color but also argues that women from Denmark are the ones to be emulated. The not-so-subtle message? White Western women have it best, while others continue to lead pitiable, backwards lives.
Can we talk about the food thing? It wasn't particularly cute when Aaron Sorkin made Republican blonde Ainsley Hayes' thing her prodigious appetite, and it's sort of unsettling how Liz's unhealthy and emotional relationship with food is played as hysterical now.
This whole late-night kerfluffle is an odd relic of a dying age. Maybe, the next TV institution won't be as much of a boys' club as late night turned out to be.
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