Monday, March 9, 1998
"Why I hate Jerry Springer"
TALK SHOWS: Voyeurism in America has taken disturbing turn for
worse
By Kevin Powell
University Wire
Believe me, I have tried mightily not to.
But there is no ignoring the fact that Jerry Springer’s talk
show is as potent as El Nino; so much so, remarkably, that wherever
I go to a college campus for a lecture, to a gathering of
professionals or even to my barbershop, more people than I am able
to count are completely infatuated with the pandemonium that has
come to define Springer’s program.
Indeed, it has gotten so bad that Ghent Elementary School in
Norfolk, Virginia, recently sent home notes with students
suggesting to parents that they monitor their children’s viewing
habits a bit closer. It seems that several students have taken to
imitating the screaming, the hair-pulling, the punching and the
chair-throwing that are Springer’s trademarks.
Once again we Americans have become addicted to the sensational
(think O.J.) and logic has been replaced by the epicurean’s need to
be titillated, whatever the price of the ticket.
No matter. I think it is downright sad that a plethora of
Americans either make their schedules around Springer, or set their
VCRs to catch the latest battle royale. Not only do we sit there
and inhale Springer, but long after the program is over, we mill
about debating the topic of the day:
"Man, you can tell she was a he by her Adam’s Apple."
"That ain’t true! You gotta look at her feet."
"Later for that. She’s ugly anyway. I wouldn’t’ve even stepped
to her in the first place."
That dialogue came in my barbershop, while watching a recent
episode about men who did not know that their girlfriends were men.
Anticipating this particular installment, my barbershop set up two
TV sets to insure customers would not miss a thing! When the
desired fight transpired, the roar was deafening and if I would
have closed my eyes I could easily have sworn that I was at the
Super Bowl. Or a pro-wrestling match.
But maybe that is it right there. Maybe we Americans are simply
more voyeuristic than I ever thought and get a perverse
satisfaction from observing other people’s turbulent lives from a
safe distance.
I mean, shucks, haven’t I appeared on the first season of MTV’s
hugely popular docu-soap "The Real World?" And haven’t six
additional seasons of that show been produced this decade, plus a
spin-off called "Road Rules?"
And haven’t numerous college students, hip-hop heads,
skateboarders and otherwise cool women and men, from all walks of
life, come up to me asking, "How can I get on ‘The Real
World’?"
We have been reared on a culture which says, often and loudly,
that the only way to be someone is to be someone who is seen. Now,
thanks to the explosion of talk shows and cable TV, we have the
opportunity to be seen as much as we want. And in any form or
fashion we desire.
Not surprisingly, Jerry Springer is running neck and neck with
Oprah because so many of us, I think, need excitement in our
otherwise dull lives and because Springer’s guests, in a twisted
way, make us feel so much better.
One friend said to me it was "empowering" to know her life,
compared to Springer’s guests, just isn’t that bad.
Yes, I do hate Jerry Springer’s program and will continue to
hate it until it is taken off the air for good. Yes, I do believe
in free speech, but I do think all of us, when we step into a
public arena, have to think responsibly about what we are doing,
particularly when our actions affect so many.
Likewise, I hate the fact that so few Springer viewers wonder if
these "guests" are actors; or acknowledge that these guests’
self-esteems might be so low that a free limo ride, and whatever
other trinkets are tossed at them, propel them to come on national
TV and make complete fools of themselves.
But, then again, the Springer show is like that old tale of the
people looking and laughing at the monkeys at the zoo. After a
while, you begin to wonder who is really caged, and who is really
getting the last laugh?Kevin Powell is the author of "Keepin’ It
Real: Post-MTV Reflections On Race, Sex and Politics." He was an
original cast member on MTV’s "The Real World."
E-mail him at kevinpowe@aol.com.