From our seats in front of the television, it certainly feels like the
TV network programmers have all the power to entertain us. But the press
gatherings of the Television Critics Association in Tinseltown suggest
that others audaciously think they should be in the driver’s seat, and
they’re not shy about saying so.
The latest TCA press tour showed off the intimidating power of the
television critics flailing away at young, shy Bristol Palin, who’s
returning to ABC for an all-star version of “Dancing With the Stars.”
Look, there’s no doubt that Sarah Palin has figured out a way to
benefit from all the media attention – mostly negative, often vicious –
after the 2008 presidential race. The enemy of my enemy is my friend –
and her support has grown by the millions. Her supporters across America
made Bristol a fan favorite on “Dancing,” even if she was hardly Ginger
Rogers on the season debut. But the Palin-haters who dismissed her as
being on the show only because of her famous mother proved their real
agenda when Chastity “Chaz” Bono took a turn (as a “male”) on the
program, and the crickets chirped.
In
addition to the TLC series “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” and Bristol’s two
turns on “Dancing,” Bristol is currently on the show “Life’s a Tripp” on
Lifetime. Her father Todd will star in the fall on the NBC show “Stars
Earn Stripes.” There’s no doubt the TV critics hate the idea of this
family on television.
Washington Post critic Lisa de Moraes made great fun of how the Palins
are cashing in to become “the Barrymores of reality TV” and competing
with the Kardashians to see which shameless “family business” can do the
most programs. The Palins have a good response: “I don’t think it’s our
business,” Bristol said of her family, when one TV critic asked that
question. “I just think you guys are going to be talking about us either
way, so we might as well be doing something enjoyable and fun.”
“You haven’t gone full Kardashian,” joked ABC host Tom Bergeron. “No,
not at all,” Bristol replied. Bristol kept up the “might as well have
fun” line for the next hardball. She was asked: If you don’t like the
harsh media attention, then why don’t you just go home to Alaska and
raise your son, rather than make yourself a target? The “please go home”
feeling in the question was unmistakeable.
In the eyes of these critics, the Kennedys are American royalty, while
the Palins are to cordoned off with reality TV divas like the
Kardashians, or hicks like the stars of “Hillbilly Handfishing.”
A journalist also brought up a recent episode of “Life’s a Tripp” where
Bristol’s son said an “F-word” that was bleeped. (I say “a journalist”
because the critics don’t identify each other by name when they report
on how they have picked on young Palins.) Gay activists claimed the
little boy uttered their hated F-word, and Lifetime’s corporate line of
defense was no, actually it was the more common F-bomb. The better
question is why Lifetime felt that tantrum of profanity and brattiness
was considered great television, instead of cutting-room floor garbage.
The toddler bleeps haven’t helped. The “Tripp” show has performed badly
enough that it’s now airing in a late-night slot.
The critics’ toughest hardball question for Bristol was how she would
react if paired with a homosexual professional partner on the new season
of “Dancing With the Stars.” It’s also a somewhat strange question. On
Bristol’s previous tour of the show, bisexual comedian Margaret Cho and
her gay professional partner, Louis van Amstel, danced to “Copacabana”
with a gay-pride message. There was no storming off the set or critical
comments from Team Palin. But that is never good enough.
Under fire from the journalists, Bristol answered: “You know what? I
like gays. I’m not a homophobic [sic], and I’m sick of people saying
that, just because I’m for traditional marriage.” The media elite
replied by happily tweeting the grammatical mistake.
Again, the media code is obvious: no “homophobes” in favor of
traditional marriage should be allowed to star on a TV program – and
certainly not in a room full of ballroom dancers. It doesn’t matter if
they never say a word of protest, or never plan an “educational” dance
routine that honors Jesus and the ridiculed home-schooled kids who are
allowed to study Him in school time.
Would it be rude to ask Chaz Bono how she would feel if ABC paired her
with a male professional partner, since she was (and is) female? Not
just rude, it would be insulting. In the calculus of the TV critics,
Bono must be applauded for her courage, and Bristol must be brought low
because she’s a Palin.