Julie Chen- It’s about the viewers, not your ex-boss


julie_chen_plastic_surgery

This past week the cat was let out of the bag, Julie Chen had plastic surgery. Apparently someone had some explaining to do and it seems the  best explanation was racism.

Chen said that getting her eyes done (upon further review, the nose is not the same either, but I digress) was because of a racist comment a prior boss made. According to Chen, here’s how it went down.

Chen: I want to fill in as an anchor.

Ex-boss – “You will never be an anchor. You’re Chinese. You’re not relatable.”

Yes, yes, no doubt it’s a racist comment. But was HE actually racist or was he being blunt? Truth be told, she wasn’t the anchor ideal, but her boss didn’t create the ideal, you know who did? The viewers. Viewership is king. If a television stations loses viewers, someone’s going to get fired.

The hard truth is whether you’re black, white, old, young, wrinkled, whatever, there is an ideal that either makes or breaks a television show.  It is the viewers that have set the precedence.

I think we can all agree that there is a television ideal out there. And to be quite honest I think it has a lot less to do with race and more to do with likeability and the “it” factor. Oprah Winfrey is a great example of that. She is a likeable person, someone you feel you could go out to dinner with and have a blast. You can bet she’s got plenty of stories about racism, but to my knowledge she never had plastic surgery.  Yet she’s been wildly successful.

From a woman’s perspective I believe that once a TV anchor hits a certain age, they’re no longer desired as a key anchor. I’ve watched the change here in Chicago. Men seem to stay until they’re 90 where women rarely if ever hang on to their lead anchor spot much past their early 50′s- if that.

The truth of the matter is that it comes down to cashola. Youth, beauty and sex sells. Therefore, anyone older, not fitting the mold, or not getting ratings is going to get passed over or fired, period. Is that discrimination? Absolutely! But what are we going to do about it?

Well, some like Chen get plastic surgery. Is it wrong? Honestly, I don’t care that she had the surgery I just don’t want to hear that she did it because that was the ONLY way she would be accepted and be successful. There are plenty of people out there, Black, Hispanic, Asian that have made a fantastic career for themselves and likely without surgery.

Here’s the truth, we the people ultimately dictate what sells. So if Julie Chen has a beef with someone, perhaps she ought to stop pointing the finger at her called out racist ex-boss and take it up with viewers. They get the ultimate vote on who stays and who goes. (Reprinted from MoMentumNation.com)

What do you think?

 

Here’s to never wishing for more time, rather making the most of it.

Nicki


2 responses to “Julie Chen- It’s about the viewers, not your ex-boss”

  1. I think it’s true, and we the viewers keep forgetting that fact. If we demand change, we’ll get change. If we don’t demand external change, we’ll keep thinking it’s us and internalize the issue. Great job making your case.

    • Alexandra, that’s so right. People are quick to point money at the behind the scenes folks or advertisers, but the truth is that if people are watching they ultimately make the decisions for the world of media. Thanks for your thoughts!

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