A shameless nation

An unpopular truth

[Reprinted from Issues & Views January 13, 2003]

In "Spilling It All To Dr. Phil" (Washington Post, 12/31/2003), columnist Richard Cohen scores a home run in his assessment of an increasingly shameless society, where the likes of a "Dr. Phil" can find a niche. Cohen wonders why TV's Dr. Phil McGraw, who was so full of questions for his guests on the day that Cohen tuned in, failed to ask the all-important question of "why the people before him were so without shame or a sense of privacy that they were willing to parade their deepest sicknesses for little more than the entertainment of others." Cohen continues:

Such shows as "The Real World," "Survivor," "Fear Factor," "The Bachelor" or "Cathouse" are based on the truth -- the virtual Natural Law -- that there is nothing Americans won't do to be on television. At its most innocent, you can see this law at work around dawn, when people line up outside one of the morning shows to act as human scenery for Katie or Matt or Diane. At least these people are not humiliating themselves.

Not so the participants in the other shows. Those on "Cathouse," for instance, actually signed releases allowing HBO to use footage of them in a house of prostitution. Where I come from, little in life could be more humiliating, more shameful, more unmanly than admitting you had to pay for sex. Not anymore, apparently -- not if it will get you on television. . . .

This compulsive need to be on TV has become so routine that Dr. Phil will not even ask why they think 10 minutes with him will change a lifetime of behavioral patterns. The answer is clear: Television changes everything . . . somehow.

Dr. Phil understands this. He understands that what he really offers is not counseling, or his vaunted common sense, but validation: You exist. You matter. For being the open face of a shameless nation and for exploiting the American compulsion to be on TV, Dr. Phil is my Man of the Year.

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