Saturday, November 04, 2006
commentary: television
It's very rare that I catch a 20/20 episode (nowadays, though I usually like what I see). I remember growing up that it was what my friends did on Friday nights while I was in church fellowship. Last night's two hour special was on privilege - money, family, but mainly money.
Several topics were touched on briefly throughout the night: nepotism in business (that Ivanka Trump seems pretty likeable), college admissions, celebrity treatment, beauty, money in the justice system and family legacies. All of these are valid topics and could warrant two hour specials on their own, which is why most of the reports left me wanting more, and feeling the slightest disappointment at 20/20's shallow coverage.
The one that incensed me the most (I was venting to Cari about it for a while afterwards) was the half-assed, lighthanded look at money in private university admissions. They interviewed a Cornell president saying that less than 50 percent of their admitted students are admitted based on money or family legacy. But what I wanted to know was what is being done about that? Have any of the students (aka the guy who scored 2400 on his SAT and got rejected from nearly every Ivy League he applied to) fought back? How do they justify it in court, or do they quash it before it reaches litigation?
Living in New York, which has the one of the largest income disparities (see this week's New York Magazine), it is apparent in every day life. There is definitely a difference between the students in my classes with their LV and Gucci purses and those that come in with no-name bottled water labeled "50 cents" on a bright yellow sticker. Living on the border of the ritzy Upper East Side and Spanish Harlem, it's a simple as walking out my door and turning left or right. On the right I find Park Ave., Madison, and the Museum Mile. On the left, noisy subways, snot-nosed children and Chinese food joints.
NY Magazine, in their money issue, did a survey of 100 school teachers, 100 uniformed workers, and 100 suits. Oddly enough, one of the results found was that 23 percent of the service workers considered designer clothes a necessity, while only 19 percent of the suits expressed the same sentiment. Granted, their definitions of "designer clothes" may differ (some people actually think of j. crew as basic...::shudder::), but that just shows the importance people place on appearance here in the City.
The entire survey can be seen on the website (for now). Although it is very NY-centric, it is interesting to see.
Still, I cannot stifle my disappointment with 20/20's shoddy coverage of privilege. They barely touched on deeper issues of how to define privilege, and seemed to justify the privileged point of view more often than the everyman point. Yes, I liked Ivanka Trump, but why spend so much time talking to her when you should be out finding someone who didn't get a promotion that went to the boss's daughter? There are so many more things that matter in conjunction with privilege and wealth that it didn't even attempt to address. So many rich kids get into Ivy Leagues. Did they also excel in a tough high school? What if they earned it? It's possible, but that possibility was completely ignored by 20/20.
Lumping things together to form a theme always runs the risk of being shallow. I'm glad they took a look at the subject, but really, don't you think you owe people real coverage?
Several topics were touched on briefly throughout the night: nepotism in business (that Ivanka Trump seems pretty likeable), college admissions, celebrity treatment, beauty, money in the justice system and family legacies. All of these are valid topics and could warrant two hour specials on their own, which is why most of the reports left me wanting more, and feeling the slightest disappointment at 20/20's shallow coverage.
The one that incensed me the most (I was venting to Cari about it for a while afterwards) was the half-assed, lighthanded look at money in private university admissions. They interviewed a Cornell president saying that less than 50 percent of their admitted students are admitted based on money or family legacy. But what I wanted to know was what is being done about that? Have any of the students (aka the guy who scored 2400 on his SAT and got rejected from nearly every Ivy League he applied to) fought back? How do they justify it in court, or do they quash it before it reaches litigation?
Living in New York, which has the one of the largest income disparities (see this week's New York Magazine), it is apparent in every day life. There is definitely a difference between the students in my classes with their LV and Gucci purses and those that come in with no-name bottled water labeled "50 cents" on a bright yellow sticker. Living on the border of the ritzy Upper East Side and Spanish Harlem, it's a simple as walking out my door and turning left or right. On the right I find Park Ave., Madison, and the Museum Mile. On the left, noisy subways, snot-nosed children and Chinese food joints.
NY Magazine, in their money issue, did a survey of 100 school teachers, 100 uniformed workers, and 100 suits. Oddly enough, one of the results found was that 23 percent of the service workers considered designer clothes a necessity, while only 19 percent of the suits expressed the same sentiment. Granted, their definitions of "designer clothes" may differ (some people actually think of j. crew as basic...::shudder::), but that just shows the importance people place on appearance here in the City.
The entire survey can be seen on the website (for now). Although it is very NY-centric, it is interesting to see.
Still, I cannot stifle my disappointment with 20/20's shoddy coverage of privilege. They barely touched on deeper issues of how to define privilege, and seemed to justify the privileged point of view more often than the everyman point. Yes, I liked Ivanka Trump, but why spend so much time talking to her when you should be out finding someone who didn't get a promotion that went to the boss's daughter? There are so many more things that matter in conjunction with privilege and wealth that it didn't even attempt to address. So many rich kids get into Ivy Leagues. Did they also excel in a tough high school? What if they earned it? It's possible, but that possibility was completely ignored by 20/20.
Lumping things together to form a theme always runs the risk of being shallow. I'm glad they took a look at the subject, but really, don't you think you owe people real coverage?
# posted by ange : 4:11 PM
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