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Will
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2004 12:58 am
Post subject: Racism on "The Apprentice" |
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Here in Britain, on terrestrial TV at least (it may already have aired
on Sky, but no way is Murdoch getting any of my hard-earned), we are
being exposed to Donald Trump's vanity project "The Apprentice".
Personally I find it fascinating; for one thing, during the many
longeurs I find I can profitably speculate upon how Mr Trump's
extraordinary Barnet is constructed and maintained.
One of the contestants on the programme is Omarosa, a black female
Political Something-or-other (Consultant?), who gives the impression
of being at the same time immensely capable and utterly clueless. She
seems to be master (mistress?) of irritating her co-apprentices (one
tonight described her as a "bitch", which seems to sum her up pretty
well).
During a previous episode another person responded to one of Omarosa's
many needling digs with the expression "that's the pot calling the
kettle black". Even as she said it, her face betrayed the
apprehension that Omarosa would play the racism card, and lo! there it
was, face up.
I don't really care that much about Omarosa's finer feelings - for one
thing, I've seen no evidence that she has any (though the small print
in the credits does tell us the bleeding obvious - that parts of the
programme have been edited that don't have any bearing upon the
result, so maybe she spends every waking hour off-screen caring for
sick animals), but this seems a bit close to the "niggardly" nonsense
which received some attention here some time ago.
My question, I suppose, is this. Was Omarosa just trying it on to
gain advantage in the game, or is this expression now deprecated in
America, or is she simply ignorant of it and its entirely non-racial
origin, and jumped to the wrong conclusion?
Will.
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Tony Cooper
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2004 5:49 am
Post subject: Re: Racism on "The Apprentice" |
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On 13 Oct 2004 11:58:17 -0700, billrigby@hotmail.com (Will) wrote:
| Quote: | My question, I suppose, is this. Was Omarosa just trying it on to
gain advantage in the game
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I my opinion, yes.
| Quote: | or is this expression now deprecated in
America,
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I've never heard anyone comment about any racial connection and this
saying.
| Quote: | or is she simply ignorant of it and its entirely non-racial
origin, and jumped to the wrong conclusion?
|
The show was aired here a year ago, but if I remember correctly
Omarosa was tired, harassed, and feeling picked on that day. I think
she just reacted. She wanted to rant on something, and that was
handy.
Throughout the series, she was known to attempt to twist things to
gain an advantage. It's very conceivable that she was taking
advantage of an innocent comment to gain some sort of advantage. |
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Will
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 15, 2004 2:35 pm
Post subject: Re: Racism on "The Apprentice" |
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Tony Cooper <tony_cooper213@earthlink.net> wrote in message news:<lefrm05q6bauj40f8bkute6q0kugioros7@4ax.com>...
| Quote: | On 13 Oct 2004 11:58:17 -0700, billrigby@hotmail.com (Will) wrote:
My question, I suppose, is this. Was Omarosa just trying it on to
gain advantage in the game
I my opinion, yes.
or is this expression now deprecated in
America,
I've never heard anyone comment about any racial connection and this
saying.
or is she simply ignorant of it and its entirely non-racial
origin, and jumped to the wrong conclusion?
The show was aired here a year ago, but if I remember correctly
Omarosa was tired, harassed, and feeling picked on that day. I think
she just reacted. She wanted to rant on something, and that was
handy.
Throughout the series, she was known to attempt to twist things to
gain an advantage. It's very conceivable that she was taking
advantage of an innocent comment to gain some sort of advantage.
|
The very next episode Omarosa was kicked to the kerb (Trump's strap
line is "up to the suite or down to the street"). It was clear (at
least, from the way the show was edited) that Omarosa was a pretty
useless member of the team. Lazy, self-aggrandizing and obsessed with
her "concussion", which lasted a week, and was occasioned by a piece
of plaster about the size and weight of a packet of cigarettes landing
on her head. Since her coiffure rivalled Donald's in its
ozone-depleting use of lacquer, it's highly unlikely that the plaster
actually made it through to her scalp to register with her central
nervous system.
Anyway, she's gone, and the programme's probably lost its only raison
de voir.
Will.
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Tony Cooper
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 15, 2004 8:47 pm
Post subject: Re: Racism on "The Apprentice" |
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On 15 Oct 2004 01:35:31 -0700, billrigby@hotmail.com (Will) wrote:
| Quote: | The very next episode Omarosa was kicked to the kerb (Trump's strap
line is "up to the suite or down to the street"). It was clear (at
least, from the way the show was edited) that Omarosa was a pretty
useless member of the team. Lazy, self-aggrandizing and obsessed with
her "concussion", which lasted a week,
|
She's all of those things, but she's not stupid. I think that she
knew she wouldn't make it through to the end, and orchestrated her
appearances to gain some personal recognition for future income
possibilities after the show. I haven't followed it, but I think
she's done pretty well financially since the show was aired last year.
I know she's written a book. She's probably very employable now. |
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Will
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Oct 16, 2004 1:43 am
Post subject: Re: Racism on "The Apprentice" |
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Tony Cooper <tony_cooper213@earthlink.net> wrote in message news:<7covm05mqiljlpiu1hlf72pj7m0v94mkmi@4ax.com>...
| Quote: | On 15 Oct 2004 01:35:31 -0700, billrigby@hotmail.com (Will) wrote:
The very next episode Omarosa was kicked to the kerb (Trump's strap
line is "up to the suite or down to the street"). It was clear (at
least, from the way the show was edited) that Omarosa was a pretty
useless member of the team. Lazy, self-aggrandizing and obsessed with
her "concussion", which lasted a week,
She's all of those things, but she's not stupid. I think that she
knew she wouldn't make it through to the end, and orchestrated her
appearances to gain some personal recognition for future income
possibilities after the show. I haven't followed it, but I think
she's done pretty well financially since the show was aired last year.
I know she's written a book. She's probably very employable now.
|
I was careful not to say that she was stupid. In fact she proved to
be a very wily competitor, highly manipulative, obviously very bright
but, as Trump remarked, with a huge chip on her shoulder. I'm not
surprised that she's done well out of the show, but I would imagine
that her old position of "political consultant" is now taken by
someone else. It seems to be a truism of these "reality shows" (I'm
thinking particularly of Big Brother, which you in America might have
been fortunate enough to have been spared) that it's the losers (i.e.
those who don't win, or who get booted off early) who do best.
Probably because come the end, everyone is terminally bored and
no-one's watching.
Will. |
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Peter Duncanson
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Oct 16, 2004 1:47 am
Post subject: Re: Racism on "The Apprentice" |
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On 15 Oct 2004 12:43:30 -0700, billrigby@hotmail.com (Will) wrote:
| Quote: | Big Brother, which you in America might have
been fortunate enough to have been spared)
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<evil grin> They haven't been that lucky.
--
Peter Duncanson
UK (posting from a.e.u) |
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