Philip of Macedon

I found this clip on YouTube. It was called "Dr. Phil Kicks Guest Off Show."

12/19/06


For those of you who can not watch this ridiculous clip, (And the reason could very well be on my end because I have never embedded anything from YouTube on this blog before so I hope it works.) let me give you a brief description.

Evidently, it is from a recent Dr. Phil show. The guest was the guy who produces the videos “Bum Fights” which consists of him walking around with a camera and paying homeless people to beat each other up or commit other such physical ugliness. One of the scenes actually has a homeless guy pulling his tooth out with a pair of pliers for a few dollars. To introduce his guest, Dr. Phil plays a video montage with the above mentioned scenes cross cut with the producer saying things like “We don’t exploit, we put them to work,” and other such non-sense. When the montage is over, we are back in the studio and the producer is sitting on one of the chairs. Phil turns to him and tells him to leave because he has nothing to say to him. A heated argument ensues and the producer is escorted out by security guards all to the chanting of the audience who are ecstatic that Phil stood up to this immoral jerk.

The telling line is when Phil says, “…having just seen this footage…”

Now, I have never watched the Dr. Phil show, so for all I know he has been laying down this kind of horseshit for years. I had the impression that he was one of those self-help guru type guys. The kind who gets fat people or drug addicts or habitual sex addicts on and tells them that they are fucking up, change your ways, etc. It always seemed silly to me but I understand there is a market for that sort of thing. No harm no foul. In other words, I always thought he was sincere as far as his content goes.

But this shit is a set-up, at the very least orchestrated by Phil to make himself look like a crusader for justice, or both Phil and his guest with the Bum Fight guy agreeing to be “sandbagged” because if he picks up sales worth $30.74 he considers it a net gain. The guest has no worries that his “image” or his “reputation” is being impugned. He is a man who produces a series of media called “Bum Fights,” I honestly don’t think he cares what society thinks of him.

So, if the Bum Fight guy is being dishonest is an open question, but there is absolutely no doubt that Phil is full of feces. Does he expect us to believe that he had NO IDEA what this guy did for a living? Does Phil think that we would actually believe that he was so overcome with moral outrage that he made a spontaneous decision to throw this guy off his set? Does he expect us to believe that all through the booking and preparation process that took place before the actual taping of this show, Phil didn’t pay any attention to the fact that the central guest of the episode was some guy who makes a living by paying bums to urinate on themselves? Is he suggesting that he has absolutely no idea what the hell is happening on his own show?

Come to think of it, Phil is starting to look more and more “Presidential” every day.

That this producer is a sleazebag, or at least amoral, there is no doubt. I have never saw any of these vignettes of human beings, people who polite society has written off, doing truly terrible things to other human beings…or themselves…but just the idea of displaying such human squalor for profit reeks of Randian capitalism. Looking at this guy’s material through that prism puts it all in perfect perspective…to me anyway.

But what of this Dr. Phil guy? He positions himself as a moral center that is going to lay down some truth and the world will be a much better place for his insight. This piece of footage proves that he is no better than a sensationalist hack that lucked out by having a powerful woman, Oprah, by into his jive, which led to the big house, the multiple cars and, I suspect most importantly, the external validation and recognition he so desperately needs to actually feel something…anything at all.

But here is the interesting part. As the guest was getting tossed off with a typically highbrow line used in a totally base cynical performance (“Sir, you could leave now”), in his defense said something that was actually the beginning of a discussion:

“You say that I am exploiting people, what do you call what you are doing? Why do you think people are watching your show?”

Yes, why do people watch this dreck? What the producer was suggesting, and I concur, is that the reasons why people watch the fat guy get chewed out or the dope fiend get chastised on shows like Dr. Phil are the same reasons why people view a homeless guy slam his head against a dumpster for $20…Either to see someone get humiliated or dehumanized and in the process feel better about their own lot in life.

This is not a new phenomenon. It goes all the way back to the Romans who would gather around and watch people being ripped apart by wild animals cheering the whole time giving each other the Latin equivalent of a high-five.

While the Roman example deals more with physical blood lust, the degradation of other human beings seems to have always been part of the spectrum of entertainment. From ancient Greek Tragedies; to traveling religious inquisitions which would create carnival like atmospheres whenever they would roll into town with the money-shot being the incineration of a human being whose crime was probably not being in conformist step; to human oddity shows where people would ridicule people inflicted with some disease that made them “different” so, therefore, to be feared; to current reality shows that reward obnoxious and completely unacceptable behavior as long as it produces “conflict.”

So Dr. Phil, instead of doing that totally trumped up “I’m offended” act and that is what it was…AN ACT…could have said something to the effect of:

“You sicken me but you do live in a very large house. After all these years of social evolution, why are purveyors of such detestable filth, like yourself, still able to prosper? Is it simply “human nature” or is it a learned behavior that we find joy and entertainment in someone else’s misery and spiritual breakdown? And why can someone who portrays himself as someone who clears away the bullshit and gets to the bottom of things, such as myself, book someone like you if I am not going to deal with the actual provocative questions your very existence raises and just do some kind of ratings stunt that gets people talking about me and maybe earns me a raise but does ABSOLUTELY nothing to further anyone’s insight into the human experience?”

Although the guest’s body of work is obviously more despicable, being that people probably get physically hurt in his videos, isn’t it fair to say that Dr. Phil is at least playing in the same league?

Larry