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David Letterman—A Skewed View
5-Oct-2009
Written by: Chelsea Toder
Four smart women sat round a table on "The View" today to discuss Letterman—and all but one had blinders on.
The news is simple: with Whoopi gone, Barbara Walters hosted "The View" today and didn’t do her job. Just this morning, days after Letterman broke news of his romantic trysts with staff and interns on his own late night TV show, the women of "The View" took the topic to the table. But while Letterman’s indiscretions are ripe for cultural conversation on hierarchical intimacies, the pressures facing women in the work place, and fame as foreplay for infidelity, immorality, and abuses of power, with the exception of guest host Lisa Ling, the women of "The View" weren’t seeing clearly.
In fact, one can only imagine the pancakes burned, the pantyhose put on backwards, and the female jaws that dropped this morning as the usually smart, opinionated women of "The View," handled a grown man with kid gloves. Sherri Shepard referred to Letterman as a “stand-up guy” for coming forward and admitting to his indiscretions. What? Did she forget that his coming forward was the result of an alleged extortion plot? Did she not remember that this “stand-up” guy only admitted to fornicating with interns and co-workers when (allegedly) blackmailed by Halderman in a 2K extortion plot? If this 62-year-old married man with a young son stood up more than he laid down with thirtysomethings and interns, he wouldn’t be in this dirty mess in the first place. The truth is, Letterman only picked up his pants when the cost to his wallet threatened to weigh them down. And while Behar should be credited for admitting, “It’s very reckless behavior,” the woman famous for her no-bullshit attitude was disappointingly and undeservedly gentle.
But none slacked more than Barbara Walters herself—and none tried harder than Lisa Ling. When Behar brought up the subject of Letterman’s wife, Walters responded, “She’s not complaining.” When Lisa Ling revolted at the image of interns having sex with Letterman, Walters insisted he was “attractive.” When Ling made a valiant attempt to use the incident as a diving board to discuss women in the workplace, referencing her own experiences navigating the often murky waters of career and sexuality, Walters cut her off. When Ling commented on the abuse of power of the successful, older comedian having relations with young interns and staff members, Walters emphasized that none of the women were coerced. And when Ling basically begged to continue the important discussion after the break, "The View" returned from commercials to Walters announcing that “they” felt they had completed their Letterman discussion and were moving on.
Viewers were left stunned. It seemed Walters was hell-bent on showing Letterman in a favorable light and one was left thinking she should apply for a position in Letterman’s PR department or offer to aide his lawyer. Come on. We are talking about a 62-year-old host of a hit late night show—a married man, a father, and a boss—who just admitted on national television that he has slept with more than one of his female employees. We are talking about a man who slept with an NYU student, a man who allegedly keeps a bedroom suite above the Ed Sullivan Theater where the Late Show is taped, a man with a loose fly and looser morality. The segment reeked of a possible personal relationship between Walters and Letterman, rather than a host meant to impartially contribute to cultural issues on national television. Lisa Ling was the only unedited dose of reality and even her pointed, thoughtful comments couldn’t poke a hole in Walters’ Letterman agenda.
In short, why did the women of "The View" bother to touch the topic if they were going to play by doctored Letters?
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