When I first came to America I watched a lot of television. One of the shows I watched the most was the Jerry Springer Show. The people that he had on his show could be so strange and weird, but I was amazed by what I watched and heard. Some of the stories were shocking, outrageous, but also pathetic. Sometimes, I was not even sure if what I was watching was fake or real.
In Africa, I never imagined watching a show with men pretending to be women so they could have sex with other men. I never imagined women coming on the show to tell their boyfriends they were having an affair with other men and women at the same time. I never imagined a show where the topic every day involved publically humiliating people. There were always big fights about sex, people screaming bad words at eachother, throwing chairs, taking their clothes off, showing their asses, breasts, or penises. The Jerry Springer Show was like watching a tabloid magazine come alive in front of me with stories of lies, betrayal, lust, perversion and greed. I was so new to America, I thought this show represented the way a lot of people behaved in America!
In general, I think people are entertained by other people's troubles and like to make fun of them the way the stage audience does at the Springer Show, but I wonder if this is really a good thing. The show is popular in many places around the world. People are fascinated by America, but in many cultures they think we are all immoral and bad people. And according to The Jerry Springer Show, the guests seem poor, working class, and under-educated. They also seem disordered, senseless and sad. Who could think well of Americans watching this? I think people in other countries believe that many people in America are sexually perverted and many American women, in particular, are whores.
Jerry Springer is also very popular in London and it seems that his show is built on the same kinds of things that sell the very popular tabloid newspapers in London: Sex. Of course, according to the show's website (which looks like a tabloid magazine) Jerry Springer was born in London during WWII to parents who escaped the Holocaust. His family emigrated to the U.S. when he was five years old. According to his biography, Jerry Springer is a strong supporter of our Constitutional rights - particularly of free speech and a free press. He is a lawyer, was a member of the Cincinnati City Council and a mayor of Cincinnati. He became a popular newscaster and public speaker. He even considered running for Senator in Ohio in 2004. I may not approve of the stories and people on his show, but the show is a reminder that immigrants who come to America under difficult circumstances can become very successful. I am also reminded that people are free to do what they want and say what they want as long as they do not cause direct physical harm to anyone.
One thing I've realized is that the show highlights how ignorance destroys relationships, homes, occupations and ruins people's lives. Jerry Springer always seems to have a statement at the end of his show, a "moral-to-the-story", but is he trying to teach us to beware of our own ignorance or is he making money on it? I think the show gives otherwise ordinary people a few minutes of exposure on national TV, but exploits and makes a lot of advertising money from the bad choices people make with their lives and relationships. I don't think any of these people who go on the show go home with lots of money in their wallets. They certainly can't take home much pride.
In summary, the show reminds me that this is a still a free country where people can be as stupid and bad as they want to be and tell about it. I also think the show promotes the worst public behavior and attitudes. And the show invites audiences to take part in the on-stage spectacle, the humiliation, indignities and pain of others...like a cheering mob at a lynching. As such, I think the audience, by association with the show, also becomes vicious and ignorant. I am not new to America anymore and I would rather not be seen as someone who is ignorant or judgmental of other people. While I accept the right of this kind of program to be on TV and that some people will continue to see the show as entertaining, I no longer need to watch the Jerry Springer Show.
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