Just watched The Apprentice while doing a bit of stats homework and finishing up the paper I just posted. I don’t like several things about the new trend of reality shows. First, I don’t like the fact that people are getting nastier to each other, and by virtue of so much exposure, it influences viewers to a certain degree that this is an okay way to be–particularly when the nastiest win and are rewarded. Secondly, they’re all starting to look alike. Third, I don’t like the fact that I am still attracted to them.
Is it because of the personal nature, the untutored (well, somewhat) unstaged “live” action? Are we fed up to the gills with the fantasy worlds of cowboys and Indians, gumshoe detectives, moms and dads dealing with unreal “everyday” lives?
What Donald Trump said to the gentleman he fired tonight was deplorable. The man had made an unwise decision to give up his exempt status in order to defend another player, and Mr. Trump called him “stupid” at least a dozen times. He also said he was probably the best player in the room, but the mistake the man had made was something that could destroy a company.
I’m not naive about how business runs. I do prefer it to be considered as the bad side of doing business, rather than held up as something you can handle ruthlessly and with scorn. Mr. Trump obviously knows how to conduct business, and has admittedly learned from his own mistakes. That does not mean that he has the right to be rude. His decision may have been just; it just wasn’t handled with any consideration for his victim.
Are we denigrating the niceties of life in the name of entertainment? How sad.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology