I was channel surfing today and found the Maury show. It was the ones where the audience has to guess if the person is a man or woman. Well I wanted to know everyone's  feelings on a show like that. Good bad or other.

I was grossly offended by the fact that he was doing such a show. Not sure why I felt I needed that justified here. Maybe it was a bit of amazed that it was even on. My wish is one day we wake up and they are the freaks.

That sounds terrible! I mean, just considering the motive behind the idea of the show... The viewer doesn't just get empty-minded entertainment from it, but may also acquire the ability to point out those that don't fit into this show's "norms," as well as a predisposition to looking at whether or not people that happen to present fairly androgynously are male or female.

Which of course feeds into another issue, which is the question of why being able to tell if someone is male or female matters. The people viewing such a show would probably become inclined to think that being able to pick the differences and determine a sex for someone is a thing of importance...

And it's not.

... And, trans-relatedly, it also makes it more difficult for people in the process of transitioning.

What may make me angry is that the developers probably took all of these things into consideration, and thought it was a good idea...

Quote from: Laura91 on June 02, 2011, 06:42:18 PM
Maury is a scumbag that gives freedom of speech a black eye. His audience is nothing more than a bunch of overgrown schoolchildren that point and laugh at "the freaks". Screw him, his ilk and the braindead losers that comprise his audience.

I agree that the Maury show is dumb, but what does freedom of speech have to do with this? The people on his show are voluntary participants.

Quote from: Laura91 on June 02, 2011, 07:45:29 PM
It has to do with the fact that Maury has the freedom to peddle trash on TV and that indirectly influences people (people ARE influenced by this). I am talking about his audience and not his guests.

That means the Maury show is exercising its free speech, I think a lot of times it is easy to forget that free speech is only meaningful because it allows people to say things we don't like as well as things we do like.

Not that I don't agree that there are many better ways to use a half-hour television block. Unfortunately that's just what the people want 

What's weird is I loved watching those episodes when I was about 10 years old.

It's not free speech, it might be freedom of the press (always limited to those that own a press, or in this case, a network).   And networks cater to the lowest common denominator as a first-course matter of business.  So, this is what you get.

I guess I should feel offended but, in all honesty, that stuff doesn't bother me as much as it probably should. Don't get me wrong though. People have every right to be offended. I try not to take things so personally. I guess you could say I'm just a laid back person because I don't get offended by much.

I also don't feel any hatred for Maury. To be honest though, I've never watched his show so I'm not sure what its about. But television tends to air what the people want to see. If they don't do that then they won't be on the air very long. I don't really blame him. Instead I would place blame (if I had to) on the ignorance of others. Because our little realm is still not really understood, it becomes a sort of phenomena that the world views. I guess that's why that kind of stuff interests people. I can't really say for sure though.

Basically, I just don't watch things that offend me. I understand that others may enjoy watching it but I've found it is easier to just change the channel then complain. I mean I'm sure there are people that don't like the things I watch too. Its a double ended sword really.

Quote from: tekla on June 02, 2011, 10:40:57 PM
It's not free speech, it might be freedom of the press (always limited to those that own a press, or in this case, a network).   And networks cater to the lowest common denominator as a first-course matter of business.  So, this is what you get.

Yep, that's what it is.  I had to listen to this crap at my last shop location my company put us in.  The room was 16' high and had no acoustic ceilings.  No acoustic separation between benches.  We all worked on units that had audio and/or audible characteristics to them.  The TV tech had to "burn" the TVs before sending them out.  We had to listen to this daily trash they called "Talk shows".  Maury is almost as bad as Springer.  And, you know what commercials are played locally during the shows?   Lawyers!  "Don't take the law into you hands!  Want to sue? Call me!  I will get the money you deserve!  Have a DUI/DWI?  Call me!  We are here 24-7!  Call 1-800-XXX-XXXX!  This after the verbal and physical fights on those shows, they need them!
  Jolene

Quote from: Laura91 on June 02, 2011, 06:42:18 PM
Maury is a scumbag that gives freedom of speech a black eye. His audience is nothing more than a bunch of overgrown schoolchildren that point and laugh at "the freaks". Screw him, his ilk and the braindead losers that comprise his audience.

I agree.

Watching the audience go absolutely ballistic is just sickening, and all the high-fiving, "I KNEW it was MAN!!" Yeah, only because Maury said so. 
I've only seen half an episode and I swore off the show. Jerry Springer is the same and have honestly never watched it. The ads were enough to scare me. 

Maury Povich has been doing these shows since the early '90s.  Same old crap.  I had the misfortune of seeing one in April.  In addition to the whole audience screaming, "That's a man", "That's a man", "That's a man", "That's a man", "That's a man", "That's a man", "That's a man", "That's a man", "That's a man", "That's a man" over and over, Maury had as a tease going into commercial, "Coming up, what's beneath these dresses will be revealed!". 

Quote from: TraciMC on July 07, 2011, 08:29:32 PM
Maury Povich has been doing these shows since the early '90s.  Same old crap.  I had the misfortune of seeing one in April.  In addition to the whole audience screaming, "That's a man", "That's a man", "That's a man", "That's a man", "That's a man", "That's a man", "That's a man", "That's a man", "That's a man", "That's a man" over and over, Maury had as a tease going into commercial, "Coming up, what's beneath these dresses will be revealed!".

LCD  Think TV Set.
  Joelene

My opinions have been expressed already by others in this thread, but I do wonder how many people actually take these reality/talk shows seriously. Maybe I'm just fortunate to meet the right people, but everyone I know who has watched these shows finds them complete rubbish.

Tyra had some reasonable trans representations on her show, I remember the Oprah with Kimberly Reed and I thought it was fairly tasteful too. It shows me that talk shows don't have to be this trash in order to get viewers, so I view it as pure malice on the networks behalf that shows like springer and maury are even put on air.

Quote from: Hikari on July 08, 2011, 06:04:41 PM
Tyra had some reasonable trans representations on her show, I remember the Oprah with Kimberly Reed and I thought it was fairly tasteful too. It shows me that talk shows don't have to be this trash in order to get viewers, so I view it as pure malice on the networks behalf that shows like springer and maury are even put on air.

I agree on Oprah and Tyra.  But Oprah is gone for now and I was pleasantly surprised when I saw a Tyra installment on YouTube (I no longer have a TV set).   Tyra is the beautiful person, better refined, that came out of the crucible of the fashion industry. 
  As for the people who see those trashy shows, I got a few in my neighborhood.  They are not too smart, ignorant, and don't really care to try to  understand anything that befuddles them.   They represent all of the racial makeup in my area, no group not represented here.  These people don't come on the same type of forums that I do.  It takes some brains and tolerance to use Susan's and the other forums I subscribe to.  You see these people on some of your local news outlet comments page on the bottom of the featured story.  They use their web name there as a nom de guerre and write all kinds of nasty insults (e.g. insulting the new widow) and other nonsense there. 
  Joelene

Unfortunately, pandering to the masses is not new and it is a bit difficult for me to express my dislike of "entertainment" options such as those over which Misters Jerry and Maury preside with totally hijacking the thread. 

In May, 1961, Newton Minnow spoke these words: But when television is bad, nothing is worse. I invite each of you to sit down in front of your television set when your station goes on the air and stay there, for a day, without a book, without a magazine, without a newspaper, without a profit and loss sheet or a rating book to distract you. Keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland.

Prescient?

Susan

  Yes, that FCC chairman saw it coming with the payola scam on radio and the TV game show riggings he had to prosecute.  I was taught about who in electronics got screwed and those who wangled their way to the top in my Navy avionics class!  It got worse in the mid 60's when the the networks mandated that their local affiliates had to stop doing their local shows in the soap opera and the evening timeslots.   
  Enter Maury. 
  One was an interview show that was on primetime and local.  The very congenial host with the proper questions was well known by the celebrity guests he interviewed.  One of his guests was Christine Jorgenson.  This was the first time I thought that I was not alone with my GID.   
  Joelene

Yeah, that was back in the dark ages when the Government thought it could dictate to the media.  Turns out, it works in the exact opposite way now.