Betsy
03-07-03, 03:57 AM
For those of us that are queer, this is a really good read and the writer makes some excellent points. Even if you are not somewhere in the GLBT spectrum, it is still a good read.
The O'Reilly/Fox sleaze factor
If Bill O'Reilly and Fox Network's idea of normal sexual relations is promiscuity, exhibitionism, and the public picking your mate, then we 'aberrant' homosexuals hold the moral high ground.
By Kevin Naff
IT'S TIME FOR Fox News star and expert pot-stirrer Bill O'Reilly to look a little closer to home for the tales of corporate hypocrisy and moral corruption that are the mainstay of his uber-successful TV show, "The O'Reilly Factor."
As Fox prepares to unleash another trashy reality show, "Married by America," and rakes in profits from similar shows such as "Joe Millionaire" and "Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire?" it raises questions about the ethics of media companies that treat marriage as a joke or opportunity to get rich quick.
The rampant hypocrisy at Fox is depressingly evident. While Fox News continues to reign as ratings champ on cable by putting a conservative, right-wing spin on the day's news, the other Fox channel revels in lowest-common-denominator programming to lure viewers and make money.
Shows like the upcoming "Married by America," which allows the home audience to make the final decision on which partner is right for each contestant, are a crude slap in the face to gay and lesbian Americans.
We are denied marriage rights because the union of a man and a woman is too sacred to be sullied by granting the privilege to same-sex couples. Yet, Fox can profit from turning the sacrament into a lurid spectacle, reducing the sanctity of nuptials to a contest.
Committed, monogamous, long-term gay couples are not eligible for marriage rights, yet Fox can send two straight people to the altar who were chosen by call-in votes.
The degradation at Fox includes graphic seduction scenes, like a recent "Joe Millionaire" episode that featured Joe having sex with one of his wannabe wives in the woods. The woman can be heard cooing, slurping, and muttering sweet-nothings, such as, "Would it go better lying down?"
Joe is also shown getting drunk in a hot tub with four of the women; he can get it on with multiple partners on TV then, presumably, marry one of them. But, according to O'Reilly, sex between gay people constitutes an "aberration, a departure from the normal state of affairs."
IF FOX'S (AND O'Reilly's) idea of normal sexual relations involves promiscuity, exhibitionism, and allowing the general public to select your mate, then we aberrant homosexuals hold the moral high ground.
Of course, O'Reilly is not the chairman of the board at News Corp., Fox's parent company; he can't control programming across all Fox properties and we can safely assume he didn't greenlight "Married by America." But he can point the accusatory finger in a consistent, less hypocritical way.
Instead of only slamming black hip-hoppers and gay parents, how about doing a show on Fox's hypocrisy? Or the immorality of sham marriages? Or the impact of these trashy shows on America's children, whom O'Reilly claims to care so much about?
I suspect that such topics are not in O'Reilly's future. Better not to bite the hand that feeds an astronomical salary than be ethically and logically consistent.
O'Reilly routinely attacks soft targets like Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson, and hip-hop stars-du-jour. His call for a boycott of Pepsi for signing Ludacris to an endorsement deal cost the sometimes-profane rapper the gig.
Some black leaders have since called for their own boycott and criticized O'Reilly's hypocrisy in not attacking Pepsi for using equally profane (not to mention satanic) rocker Ozzy Osbourne in its current advertising campaign.
IN O'REILLY'S PUBLIC row last year with Rosie O'Donnell over gay adoption, he criticized gays for taking their sex lives public. "No good can come of discussing your sex life in public," he wrote. "You can champion anything in this country without putting your sex life on the table."
What O'Reilly fails to understand is that the benign forms of affection he shows his own wife, such as hand-holding, public kissing, or displaying her picture on his desk, are interpreted as "in your face" gestures when we try them.
O'Reilly likes to fashion himself an equal opportunity critic. Indeed, he has taken the occasional shot at Vice President Dick Cheney and other members of the Bush administration.
But the reality is that he revels in trashing anyone and anything that might make headlines and discourage his fans from switching the channel to "Wheel of Fortune."
That makes him a good entertainer and money-maker, but not a great thinker or voice for the little guy.
His comments on gays last year ranged from the promising ("Most clear-thinking Americans realize it is better for a child to live in a nurturing home run by gays, than to be on the merry-go-round of foster care") to the insulting ("Homosexuals should realize that their public presentation presents problems for the parents of young children").
If O'Reilly wants to help the little guy, he could start by publicly repudiating Fox's sleazy programming and endorsing gay marriage rights. If heterosexuals can compete on TV to win a husband, then committed gay couples should be allowed to join the party.
Opposing gay marriage on the grounds of sanctity and tradition put forth by so many of Fox News's conservative talking heads holds no water when their paychecks are subsidized by near pornographic programming.
Kevin Naff is news editor of the Washington Blade and can be reached at knaff@<hidden>.
The O'Reilly/Fox sleaze factor
If Bill O'Reilly and Fox Network's idea of normal sexual relations is promiscuity, exhibitionism, and the public picking your mate, then we 'aberrant' homosexuals hold the moral high ground.
By Kevin Naff
IT'S TIME FOR Fox News star and expert pot-stirrer Bill O'Reilly to look a little closer to home for the tales of corporate hypocrisy and moral corruption that are the mainstay of his uber-successful TV show, "The O'Reilly Factor."
As Fox prepares to unleash another trashy reality show, "Married by America," and rakes in profits from similar shows such as "Joe Millionaire" and "Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire?" it raises questions about the ethics of media companies that treat marriage as a joke or opportunity to get rich quick.
The rampant hypocrisy at Fox is depressingly evident. While Fox News continues to reign as ratings champ on cable by putting a conservative, right-wing spin on the day's news, the other Fox channel revels in lowest-common-denominator programming to lure viewers and make money.
Shows like the upcoming "Married by America," which allows the home audience to make the final decision on which partner is right for each contestant, are a crude slap in the face to gay and lesbian Americans.
We are denied marriage rights because the union of a man and a woman is too sacred to be sullied by granting the privilege to same-sex couples. Yet, Fox can profit from turning the sacrament into a lurid spectacle, reducing the sanctity of nuptials to a contest.
Committed, monogamous, long-term gay couples are not eligible for marriage rights, yet Fox can send two straight people to the altar who were chosen by call-in votes.
The degradation at Fox includes graphic seduction scenes, like a recent "Joe Millionaire" episode that featured Joe having sex with one of his wannabe wives in the woods. The woman can be heard cooing, slurping, and muttering sweet-nothings, such as, "Would it go better lying down?"
Joe is also shown getting drunk in a hot tub with four of the women; he can get it on with multiple partners on TV then, presumably, marry one of them. But, according to O'Reilly, sex between gay people constitutes an "aberration, a departure from the normal state of affairs."
IF FOX'S (AND O'Reilly's) idea of normal sexual relations involves promiscuity, exhibitionism, and allowing the general public to select your mate, then we aberrant homosexuals hold the moral high ground.
Of course, O'Reilly is not the chairman of the board at News Corp., Fox's parent company; he can't control programming across all Fox properties and we can safely assume he didn't greenlight "Married by America." But he can point the accusatory finger in a consistent, less hypocritical way.
Instead of only slamming black hip-hoppers and gay parents, how about doing a show on Fox's hypocrisy? Or the immorality of sham marriages? Or the impact of these trashy shows on America's children, whom O'Reilly claims to care so much about?
I suspect that such topics are not in O'Reilly's future. Better not to bite the hand that feeds an astronomical salary than be ethically and logically consistent.
O'Reilly routinely attacks soft targets like Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson, and hip-hop stars-du-jour. His call for a boycott of Pepsi for signing Ludacris to an endorsement deal cost the sometimes-profane rapper the gig.
Some black leaders have since called for their own boycott and criticized O'Reilly's hypocrisy in not attacking Pepsi for using equally profane (not to mention satanic) rocker Ozzy Osbourne in its current advertising campaign.
IN O'REILLY'S PUBLIC row last year with Rosie O'Donnell over gay adoption, he criticized gays for taking their sex lives public. "No good can come of discussing your sex life in public," he wrote. "You can champion anything in this country without putting your sex life on the table."
What O'Reilly fails to understand is that the benign forms of affection he shows his own wife, such as hand-holding, public kissing, or displaying her picture on his desk, are interpreted as "in your face" gestures when we try them.
O'Reilly likes to fashion himself an equal opportunity critic. Indeed, he has taken the occasional shot at Vice President Dick Cheney and other members of the Bush administration.
But the reality is that he revels in trashing anyone and anything that might make headlines and discourage his fans from switching the channel to "Wheel of Fortune."
That makes him a good entertainer and money-maker, but not a great thinker or voice for the little guy.
His comments on gays last year ranged from the promising ("Most clear-thinking Americans realize it is better for a child to live in a nurturing home run by gays, than to be on the merry-go-round of foster care") to the insulting ("Homosexuals should realize that their public presentation presents problems for the parents of young children").
If O'Reilly wants to help the little guy, he could start by publicly repudiating Fox's sleazy programming and endorsing gay marriage rights. If heterosexuals can compete on TV to win a husband, then committed gay couples should be allowed to join the party.
Opposing gay marriage on the grounds of sanctity and tradition put forth by so many of Fox News's conservative talking heads holds no water when their paychecks are subsidized by near pornographic programming.
Kevin Naff is news editor of the Washington Blade and can be reached at knaff@<hidden>.