Due to the fact that I rarely get home from work at night much before 10:30 p.m., as well as the fact that I am pretty well-zonked out by the time I hit the door, I don't always get the chance to watch much television these days. Actually, I havent watched a helluva lotta tv in the past 10 years or so but I do try to keep up with the current programming when I can. Such was the case the other night while I was at my 2nd job. The giant tv in the front foyer was on to "Dancing With The Stars" one of the best shows on tv these days, or so they say. Personally, yeah, I do think it's a great show too but I havent watched it faithfully from season-to-season like some of the folks I know have. But this past Tuesday night, when I saw the last half hour of it, I became so rapidly infuriated by what I saw that I almost tossed my cookies - literally. Bristol Palin and her dance partner beat out Brandy (Norwood) and her dance partner in the race to the final competition for that show. Did I write that correctly? Damn, I'm still in friggin shock over this. Uhm. I have one problem with all of this and albeit, it's quite a major problem - Bristol Palin does not know how to dance. Am I the only person on this friggin planet who noticed that?
But this went way beyond some live nationally televised dance contest. This even went way beyond "all-is-fair-on-the-dancefloor" mentality. It wasnt just the circumstances leading up to Bristol & Mark staying in the contest and Brandy & Max leaving the contest, or the judges scores or the voters scores. Did anyone take a good long look at Brandy's face a few minutes after the verdict was announced? Her face was not that of someone who just lost a dance contest - her face was of someone who's heart was broken, who's spirit was literally crushed. When I saw her facial expressions and those tears streaming down her face my reaction was not "Oh poor Brandy, better luck next time" it was more like "What the fuck just happened here!?!?!?!?!?" And with damn good reason too. Brandy Norwood was - and still is - 10 times a better dancer than Bristol Palin could ever be. That's the bottom line. But not all of it. I wasnt the only person who reacted with sheer horror and disbelief when that announcement was made.
Did y'all notice how the entire dancefloor area and the audience areas around it went TOTALLY SILENT for about a good 5 to 7 seconds? Hundreds of people hovering around the dancefloor area, while millions of us at home, could not believe it either. Did you also notice that instead of going on with the celebratory and condolence speeches, there were none this time, only those centering around Brandy & Max? And do you know why? Because every single participant in that dance contest, every single person in that audience (with the exception of Miss Queen Nasty herself, Sarah Palin) and every single person at home knew for a fact - without a shadow of a doubt! - that something very very wrong, unfair and totally preposterous had just taken place. That talentless, silver-spoon-fed, big ole' Republican girl Bristol Palin, who cannot dance worth a shit to save her life, was "voted in" in to stay in the dance contest, whereas an extremely talented, bustin-ass-hard-working individual, as a dancer, a singer and an actress, Brandy Norwood was allegedly "voted out." Now I ask anyone who has any degree of common sense and average intelligence this - how could sucha travesty of injustice taken place? Did any of you bother to look at the faces of the other dance teams when the decision was announced? They had the same exact expression millions of tv viewers had "What the fuck, what the fuck!?!?!??!"
I'll tell you why ole' nasty, inept, nearly-immobile Bristol Palin is up there and why the extremely gracious, talented Brandy Norwood is not up there. A combination of Voting, Politics and Race. Arent those usually the key issues in any political campaign? Oops! Pardon me! We're talking about a dance contest, correct? I mean, the show isnt called "Politicizing With The Stars" - or is it? Oh yes indeedy and this aint gonna be over till the Hiv'er sings.
Voting. Dance teams on that show remain in the contest because of two reasons - the judge's scores and the viewer's votes. None of us at home can control the way the dance judges vote; but, we can control how viewers vote by doing just that - calling in and voting. If you noticed, that evening, one of the judges, Bruno whats-his-name, stated "Now you all see why it's so important to call in and vote, vote, vote!!!" Uhm, excuse me Bruno but we all already know that - we all did call in and vote. In spite of what happened on Tuesday evening, the American public would never - and I do mean NEVER - vote for some unknown, talentless, rich kid over one of the best entertainers of her generation, as well as the past couple of generations, unless of course, they were influenced to, right? More people on this planet know who Brandy is via her years of singing and acting than some nobody like Bristol Palin. That's right you read correctly, a nobody, someone who never had to endure a quarter of the hard work Brandy had to when building her career. Bristol Palin doesnt even know what the term "hard work" means to begin with. So she has to practice every day of the week to be on the show, big whoop, who hasnt had to do that? That entire voting issue can be described with one single word - rigged. Oh Heavens, who on earth woulda done someting as low-down and twisted as that? Hmmmm, I wonder...why I almost smell a rat...oh my....it must be Sarah Palin.
Enter Politics. It doesnt take a friggin rocket scientist to know that naturally, the Wicked Witch of the North, Sarah Palin, got all her Tea Party buddies and all her Republican compatriots together and told them "Oh please, please you must vote for my daughter Bristol, you know you're gonna love her, she's like the rest of us - rich, white - oh yes, must be white, no two ways about that - and has the personality of an amoeba, just like the rest of us!! So vote, vote, vote!!" And THAT is EXACTLY what happened. Those votes which came in for Bristol Palin were not votes from the average tv viewer who enjoys an entertaining, yet fairly run, televised dance contest - those votes came in from the Tea Party and Republican political machines....ya know, the middle-aged white guys who sit on their asses all day over in DC and call in while their mistresses are slipping their panties back on after a long, hard, 15 minutes worth of work...ya know, the uneducated, culture-less, upper-class broads who dont know much about international geography, who think that because they can see Russia from their backyard on a clear day that automatically qualifies them as a leader in international affairs....ya know, the people who are leaders of their well-greased political machines, yet are horrible parents who vehemently teach their children to call gay people the "F' word and black people the "N' word....yeah, those are the kind of people who voted Bristol Palin in and they DO NOT represent a true cross-section of American viewers as Sarah Palin imagines they do.
Race. Oh yeah. That definitely was a key factor on what happened on this past Tuesday evening. And you wanna know something? I've seen it happen all too often, over and over again in the last 30 or so years of my life and I am so sick of it. It truly is the perennial story it's always been - lazy-ass rich white girl with connections gets to have her cake and eat it too, while the hard-working, honest, decent black girl gets the crumbs thrown down at her feet. Well that is nothing butta bunch of bullshit! This wouldnt be the first time I have felt this way on this very same issue so I will say it loud and clear - this is one of those times that I am truly and thoroughly ashamed to call myself a white person, to be a caucasion. Scoff all you want, but it's the truth. In addition to everything else that was wrong about that night, Brandy is a victim of the centuries old myth that black women arent as good as white women and it simply amazes me that no one is calling out the management of that television program on this issue. And that is what I saw on "Dancing With The Stars" this past Tuesday night.
Look, this just isnt an issue of me writing and sharing with you everything that is strictly my opinion only. If any of you were to re-watch that show even once, it would not take a rocket scientist to realize that everything I have just said to you is clearly and undeniably illustrated in that television program. Sure, I'm more than certain that Brandy herself will continue to be mature and professional about everything that happened that evening; but, do you wanna know how Bristol Palin woulda reacted had her dance team been the one sent home? I'll tell you exactly how - she woulda said "Oh well" and gone back to her uneventful existence back home. In other words, she would not have given a shit because that dance contest doesnt mean a damn thing to her, it's all about publicity for her and her Mummy's political campaign. Sarah Palin wants to show America that she does have the clout to make a political statement in the entertainment industry. Bottom line, that's what it's all about.
And what about Brandy? She wanted to achieve a personal accomplishment, she wanted to have a new successful foothold for her career. All she wanted to do was shine and she indeed did, but she didn't get a fair shake - and that was wrong. It is inexcusable. Let's take a look at the shoe on the other foot, okay? Let's entertain the thought that I am dead wrong about everything that I have just shared with you. If you were to take away all my logical reasonings I have presented to you, the reader, here this evening and simply look at Brandy for who she is, you would see exactly what I've been seeing all along - a young woman who was looking to educate and advance herself in a new medium for her - professional dancing - and that is all. We know she can act, we've known that since she was a kid. We know she can sing, we've known that too since she was a kid. Now all she wanted to do was see how well she could do in professional dancing. Even though she's outta the competition, we KNOW she can do it. She wasn't on the program to make a political statement or to promote her own race. All she wanted to do was soar as high as she could - and she woulda, had it not been for the injustices that were thrown in her path.
Please do not even dare to tell me that Bristol Palin deserves the same chances that Brandy does because she doesnt. Those two young ladies are two totally different individuals with two totally different motives, one corrupt and the other very sincere. Actually, I highly doubt that Bristol Palin even knows the definition of the word "motive" but I'm quite certain that when in doubt she could always ask her Mummy or her rotten brat sister Willow for help with that. What happened to Brandy was wrong and even with her being outta the contest, I still think the issues I mentioned need to be addressed. Whether they will or not, I dont know, but I will remain steadfast in them. On that note, I shall continue to vote for the contestants of "Dancing With The Stars" but if by some unimaginable twist of fate Bristol Palin wins that competition it will only further substantiate what I've been saying all along - it was all rigged, a major set-up. Or as they use to say in Hollywood, "How can ya vote for talent when their aint none?" Exactly. My point exactly.
Looking back on viewing Brandy's facial expressions following the announcement that her and Max would be leaving the dance competition, I gotta admit that when her heart sank and broke, so did mine. I looked as deep into her eyes as any television viewer possibly could but quite frankly, one didnt need to look deep into them to see what had just happened. All I could think of during those several seconds were "My God, look what's happening to that person up there on the stage.... isn't anyone gonna do anything about it?.....why isn't anyone doing anything about it???...somebody get over there right now and hold her!!" And didja look at Bristol Palin's face when all this was going on? Blank. Emotionless. Totally devoid of all human consciousness. Remind you of anyone in particular? Yep, that's what I think too, just like her Mummy. Professionally, maturity-wise, personality-wise and talent-wise, it's quite easy to see that it's Brandy who should still be up there on that dancefloor, not Bristol Palin.
Because of my current work schedules I'm usually never at home to enjoy what's considered prime-time television. When I did watch tv more regularly years ago, reality tv shows like "Dancing With The Stars" were practically non-existent. I've noticed their dominance in the contemporary television world and while some such shows are good, I think there are too many of them. My take on that is that people have enough drama to deal with as it is in their daily lives without having more being heaped onto their already overflowing platters. My only hang-up about reality tv shows is that sometimes I see folks becoming too emotionally involved with them and that can be downright unhealthy. However, be that is it may, I do not think for one second that that is the case with me. I saw something that I felt was both unimaginable and unfair, and it enraged the living hell outta me. Television was originally created to provide entertainment to people, as well as a form of communication; however, when both that form of entertainment and form of communication becomes political then it's wrong because when innocent people unrelated to such politics get harmed in the process, everyone suffers. And that's the problem I have with "Dancing With The Stars." Thank you for reading.
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