The Media
Tuesday is my late night. I stay at work until about 6:30 or 7. As we all know (or most of us, I guess) this Spitzer scandal has rocked my state. Channel 9 decided to interview my Executive Director tonight. If it were any other night I might have missed it. I listened and was impressed with how she portrayed the issue. I disagree with Rachel about some ways in which she runs GEMS, and personal stuff I know of that she has done to co-workers, but she is a great speaker who can really eloquently detail something so that it is clear, understandable and engrossing. One of my girls gave her a thumbs up after the interview and I internally thought about how well she spoke. After the interview was done the reporter and cameraman left, she joked about her pimples which she didn't notice until then. I don't watch the news but I planned to watch it that night to see how it turned out. I let a few folks know to tune in as well.
Then the shit came on and I was reminded of how fucked up the media is. Before showing Rachel's interview they gave a lead-in line.
"What does a hooker have to do to for thousands of dollars?! We asked one."
Foolishly, I was shocked. I can be naive sometimes. I forget that not everyone believes what I believe. Feels what I feel. I forget the level of ignorance in the world. Not trynna be arrogant. Just sayin. 'Cause I heard Rachel give them the "we don't like certain terms" speech. The reporter asked her how the issue should be referred and Rachel gave her the "teen prostitute" vs "commercial sexually exploited child/youth" schpeal. The lady sounded like she was taking heed and appreciative of learning the "proper" way to describe the issue.
Shut up. I admitted I was naive.
It still never occurred to me that they interviewed her solely for the "hooker's perspective." This is where I feel EXTREMELY naive because now it all feels so very clear and I can't imagine how I didn't see it. I can't understand why Rachel didn't see it. At the time it felt as though they just wanted another perspective. A more intricate view to this "scandal." But I should've known from just watching 1 minute of My 9 where the whole feel of how they were reporting this thing from the graphics and to "dun dun dunnnnnn" style of speaking make me feel as though this was more like Britney Spear's shaving her head and beating an SUV's ass rather than a government official being caught doing something illicit.
This all just reinforces my feelings about the girls being in the media though. If Rachel can't protect herself, how can she protect the girls? What types of decisions are being made about the media? Why and how interviews are made? I know the Montell Williams Show calls all the time and she constantly rejects them. But she did this interview pretty last minute and they chopped up her words and basically turned the whole thing into a poke and prod piece to try and get the juicy details that the court reports don't reveal.
And Rachel can deal with it. She's done it before. But a LOT of my girls would be devastated by something like that with them as the subject. Mind you, I asked Rachel to not have the girls on camera without thorough prepping some time last year and since then none of them have been in the media (to my knowledge). So there is some level of acknowledgment that this needs to be a process, but still... Stuff like this worries me.
That said the Showtime movie/documentary ("Very Young Girls") will be airing some time this year. And I asked about screenings for friends/family. One (or more) screenings should be coming up either in April or May, I think. I'll let y'all know (should anyone be interesting in attending). Apparently it's been getting praise. I'm still not sure how I feel about it, but I do want people to see it so we can discuss it. I guess that's the best you can do after it's already out there. Try to discuss it and hope someone is really listening.
Then the shit came on and I was reminded of how fucked up the media is. Before showing Rachel's interview they gave a lead-in line.
"What does a hooker have to do to for thousands of dollars?! We asked one."
Foolishly, I was shocked. I can be naive sometimes. I forget that not everyone believes what I believe. Feels what I feel. I forget the level of ignorance in the world. Not trynna be arrogant. Just sayin. 'Cause I heard Rachel give them the "we don't like certain terms" speech. The reporter asked her how the issue should be referred and Rachel gave her the "teen prostitute" vs "commercial sexually exploited child/youth" schpeal. The lady sounded like she was taking heed and appreciative of learning the "proper" way to describe the issue.
Shut up. I admitted I was naive.
It still never occurred to me that they interviewed her solely for the "hooker's perspective." This is where I feel EXTREMELY naive because now it all feels so very clear and I can't imagine how I didn't see it. I can't understand why Rachel didn't see it. At the time it felt as though they just wanted another perspective. A more intricate view to this "scandal." But I should've known from just watching 1 minute of My 9 where the whole feel of how they were reporting this thing from the graphics and to "dun dun dunnnnnn" style of speaking make me feel as though this was more like Britney Spear's shaving her head and beating an SUV's ass rather than a government official being caught doing something illicit.
This all just reinforces my feelings about the girls being in the media though. If Rachel can't protect herself, how can she protect the girls? What types of decisions are being made about the media? Why and how interviews are made? I know the Montell Williams Show calls all the time and she constantly rejects them. But she did this interview pretty last minute and they chopped up her words and basically turned the whole thing into a poke and prod piece to try and get the juicy details that the court reports don't reveal.
And Rachel can deal with it. She's done it before. But a LOT of my girls would be devastated by something like that with them as the subject. Mind you, I asked Rachel to not have the girls on camera without thorough prepping some time last year and since then none of them have been in the media (to my knowledge). So there is some level of acknowledgment that this needs to be a process, but still... Stuff like this worries me.
That said the Showtime movie/documentary ("Very Young Girls") will be airing some time this year. And I asked about screenings for friends/family. One (or more) screenings should be coming up either in April or May, I think. I'll let y'all know (should anyone be interesting in attending). Apparently it's been getting praise. I'm still not sure how I feel about it, but I do want people to see it so we can discuss it. I guess that's the best you can do after it's already out there. Try to discuss it and hope someone is really listening.