Your view on "The View"

[AccuTron]

I haven't had a TV in years, and yes the room is much easier to decorate and actually like.  And no I don't miss anything, as you probably guessed.  Thus, I haven't actually seen any full episodes of the "woman's program" named "The View."  I have followed links to several clips of the show.  These clips might be a few years old.  I have just researched staffing changes, but that tells me little about how it actually plays.  Some of you will be more current.

 

I am not surprised at what I saw.

 

First, red pill, it's a COMMERCIAL program, soap selling, not at all interested in struggles involving integrity, which gets in the way of urge to purchase.  

 

There's that nice feminine V in the logo, which has it's appeal, and would look good on the grill of classic autos.  Otherwise who cares.

 

In the middle, controllers, seat, is what I call Squishy Gal, whose name I find is Joy Behar.  I can imagine this:  "Oh Mr. Jesus, that was a nice twenty seconds of hearing your words.  Now, lets turn to Mr. Satan for his view.  Our audience wants to know!"  I presume this is what the show producers want.  Give Satan his say, the viewers will stay, and somebody is later going shopping.

 

In my limited samples, there is little chance of anything but claptrap getting thru.  I've seen clips of intelligent women guests being cut off from developing the point of the argument, utterly gutting it's value, in order for some ditzy interruption which will guarantee only a level of shallowness.

 

Worse, Whoopi Goldberg, seeming to be the "token spine" can easily spot BS for what it is, and say so.  But they keep her on the wing, where she can throw a peanut at the middle now and then, but then be kept in her place.  Whoopi should be the show's producer and central figure, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

Comments?

[Kevin Beal]

Haha. I only know the show from a half dozen or so video clips.

 

The impression that I get is that they are a bunch of cackling hens trying very hard to make reality bend to their whim by establishing consensus about a bunch of issues I couldn't care less about. Buzzwords, taking offense and sound bites they can parrot all bouncing off each other until some kind of balance is reached in some manner I don't understand. I can't follow anything because they love to talk over each other, usually by repeating something they already said, or by taking offense. Both options completely empty of any rational content.

 

I heard this theory about the play preferences of boys and girls; I don't know if it's true, but it goes that boys think about their toys mechanically, and girls think about their dolls operating in different social situations and how to manipulate in order to get what they want. Not that manipulation is always bad. I think it can be a good thing, but the sort of dialog that I've seen is stuff like:

 

girl as doll (G): "I really think you should go to the movies because it will be fun, and you want to have fun don't you?"

other doll (D): "well, I do want to have fun, so, okay, I'll go to the movies with you"

 

D: "I don't want to eat my vegetables"

G: "I really think you should eat your veggies"

D: "but I don't want to"

G: "vegetables make you healthy, and without them you won't be healthy. If you get sick, you'll be really sad"

D: "okay. I guess I should eat my vegetables"

 

There are obviously exceptions. My niece didn't seem to care much for dolls when she was little. But I wonder if a certain kind of female personality really finds forming consensus through non-rational means entertaining, and that this type of woman likes shows like The View. (Entertaining like I find rational debate entertaining).

 

If she could have a power like that, that means having control in social situations, which clearly has value. Personally, I can't stand it and I find it exhausting to watch, and I suspect that may be because of some largely inherent difference between the genders.

 

I appreciate that there are a lot of women who find it as painful as I do, but this show is incredibly popular, and it's not a male audience.

[AccuTron]

Thanks for a good reply.

[hannahbanana]

I personally find the View boring as hell on a good day, sickening on a bad day. Basically, it is a complete waste of an hour. Sometimes there are good things said, like certain sound clips of Whoopi pointing out the BS, but I'm pretty sure it's mostly by accident, like how a bad parent may accidentally get one part of the job right (they're still a bad parent).

 

I think it's worth it to look at WHEN the show is played, which is during the day along with all the soap operas and such. This means that the only women who would be watching it are either unemployed, or are stay-at-home moms, for the most part. So I guess I'd use that as a basis for why it may be popular. If you're unemployed, maybe you are less educated and aren't as discerning when it comes to good conversation, I don't know. Maybe if you're a stay-at-home mom, you want to take a break from the kids and get some "girl talk," which may be lacking when you have to dedicate so much time to parenting.

 

There may be other reasons too, other things that the main viewership would think, but that's what comes to my mind first.

[shirgall]

I think it's worth it to look at WHEN the show is played, which is during the day along with all the soap operas and such.

 

With time-shifting and youtube clips being so prevalent this is less of a factor than it used to be.

[hannahbanana]

With time-shifting and youtube clips being so prevalent this is less of a factor than it used to be.

Less of a factor in what? Who views it? Just want to make sure I understand you fully

If that's the case, I suppose so...you're right, anyone could watch it whenever they want on the internet. But it was originally conceived as a daytime television show, which catered to a certain viewership, so the point of the show would have been originally made to be something that people who watch tv in the middle of the day want to watch, you know what I mean? So even though the importance of it now may be less, like you said, I think that it's still valuable in thinking about what the point of the show was in the first place.

 

But yes, like you said, I think you have a point about what it means to people now, in the present. One point being that now you can cherry pick the good parts and put it into a little clip to make a point. I think that's pretty cool, and I'd even like watching them. Would that make me want to watch the entire show? Probably not. But by that point, it's completely subjective and just my opinion

[utopian]

Its a way for foolish old prudes to feel like they have meaning in their lives by participating in something that only feels important as they watch what is rest of their lives pass them by. Daytime television is mostly consumed by women, and it's a great way to brainwash them into whatever narrative or agenda the media wants.

[shirgall]

Less of a factor in what? Who views it? Just want to make sure I understand you fully

 

Yes, I think it's easier for people who want to see something to see something, and it's polarized by the fact that people who want to see something else have more choices based on what they set to record.

 

Viewership (ahem) of the The View is considerably less in both percentages and total numbers than the liberal echo chamber daytime shows of my youth (Phil Donahue and Oprah).

[fractional slacker]

The View is/was fantastic cinema if viewed through the proper lens. It's basically a giant platform to pander to the voting block of female public school conformists of the non-conservative variety.  It has lost a lot of luster from its heyday a decade ago. Watching Barbara Walters feign curiosity of meaningless drivel was worth the price of admission.
Now its largely coasting by on momentum and used as a way to employ otherwise lackluster, or unproven talent.  While The View is now another vehicle for lefty and feminist propaganda, it does a decent job of being a barometer of what mainstream ideas are being pushed on to the modern 'working moms.'