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Just stupid >> Jerry Springer on the values of tabloid TV by MATTHEW HAYS
But here he is, a tad dumbfounded by his invitation to Just for Laughs, a comedy festival. "I'm not a comedian," he says, "but hey, I'm flattered. They wrote some funny stuff for me." Not everyone was laughing last April 20. Just as the tabloid-TV-as-evil-influence arguments appeared to be waning, a couple of now-famous teens entered Columbine high school in Colorado, and opened fire, killing 13 (the body count rose to 15 after they took their own lives). Not an incident one would necessarily link to talk shows, but conservatives and liberals alike soon began pointing fingers at the likes of Springer, Marilyn Manson and Oliver Stone as possible points of inspiration for the school violence. The cultural blame game was on (again).
Trashy but free "Sure, the media has an influence," says Springer, a seasoned politician and lawyer, who's clearly an authority on spin. "And I think our show could have an influence, but not on school shootings. It's fair to blame the media, but you'd better also look at guns and parents as well. "Our show's just stupid. No one takes it seriously. No normal person would take this show seriously." But Springer certainly sounds serious when waxing philosophic about the importance of the right to be trashy. Take shots at his show if you will, but don't try to censor what comes out of the mouths of his guests; doing so might interfere with their sacred First Amendment rights to free speech. Springer's posturing seems a tad defensive upon reading his official biography press release, which gives the sense the man is more like a cross between Elie Wiesel and Mother Teresa than it does any mere TV personality. Springer was born in Britain while his family was in the process of escaping Nazi persecution. "At age five," the press release continues, "Jerry can still recall the sense of awe and anticipation he felt as he first saw the Statue of Liberty and crossed the gates of freedom on Ellis Island." Who could argue with that? (And then there's the lengthy list of charities Springer's involved with.)
Making violence real Saint Springer says he doesn't really think America has a problem with violence on TV--rather, he says it's the class of people on his show that people find offensive. Critics, he charges, are simply being elitist. "We like violence, we just want it to look good. In the movies, the hero is always gorgeous and blows things up. The violence is attractive--think Schwarzenegger, Gibson, Willis. With our show, there's nothing glamorous about it. People lose if they're violent. We want things to look sanitized. This show reminds people that violence is ugly." For all the talk of the little guy, however, Springer appears to have considerable disdain for his guests. "Oh no, not at all," Springer insists, surprised at the suggestion. "I just have disdain for some of the behaviour. I don't slap people, I don't curse. I'm a normal guy. I'm not going to cheer if someone fights." Despite Springer's eloquent defenses of his show, producers did appear to buckle to critical pressure when they recently made noises indicating extreme behavior would be toned down. By softening the rough edges, isn't Springer conceding his critics are right? "That's just because the company that owns the show is being sold. They don't want any trouble until the deal is done. Once the sale is complete, things will go back to normal--I mean, back to outrageous, rather. Nothing that's normal comes on the show. If they come along, we send them to Oprah." Finally, a local question: aware of the sovereignty movement in Quebec, what would Jerry Springer, who's witnessed some of the loudest brawls in TV history, do to solve Canada's ongoing unity crisis? "You could just annex Quebec off to the U.S. Just kidding! Actually, that's an issue that should be solved by Canadians. Americans have enough problems of our own. "The time will come in this world when our greatest loyalty is to humanity, not to geographic boundaries."
Jerry Springer hosts the Just for Laughs Gala Six on Wednesday, July 21 at 7:30pm, Théâtre St-Denis, $1641+t/s |
One wouldn't expect that there would be anything left that might shock Jerry Springer. His daily chat show, which enjoys stratospheric ratings, has featured a steady diet of freaky, outrageous, scrappy guests since its premiere in '91.