My Sunday Feeling

I confess that I don't much get Dancing With The Stars.  I know a lot of women that watch the show.  Then again, as I type this it occurs to me that all the women that have ever been in my life and/or are still trapped there have loved to dance.  And I suppose that it is harmless fun to see celebrities try to attempt to perform in areas outside their comfort zones.

For instance, I've always enjoyed watching politicians and other famous people attempt to throw the "first pitch" of a baseball game.  It is amusing to see Hillary Rodham Clinton fire one in there while a highly skilled basketball player like John Wall three hops it to the plate.  One of the most side-splitting hilarious things I have ever witnessed was Bob Ueker-the self-depreciating "Mr. Baseball" and the voice of the Milwaukee Brewers-sing "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" at Wrigley Field as a stadium full of Cub fans booed their lungs out. 

So I kinda get it.  What I don't get is how who gets kicked off DWTS sometimes is the lead story on the morning "news" shows.  And I also don't get how they pick the contestants for the show.  Which brings me to the gentleman above.

A part of the universe that watches DWTS is high pissed that transgendered Chaz (nee Chastity) Bono has been picked to compete in the Fall season along with the venomous Nancy Grace and lunatic professional basketball player Ron Artest.  I suppose I can see the inclusion of the latter 2 for the reason that Grace was in the news without surcease as she tried to convict Kaley Anthony from the TV screen.  Artest has been an NBA All-Star and he will most assuredly be the biggest, most powerful human ever to wear the sequins on DWTS.  If I were his partner I would rightly fear being accidentally hurled into the balcony by Ron Ron. 

But back to Chaz.  While I don't much care, I find his inclusion to be something of a mystery.  I'm not offended by his sexual orientation if that phrase is even particularly apt given the fact that he is now a man.  And I'm not attempting to be flip.  While I have many gay friends I don't think I know any transgendered folks.  I would think that they would have to be exceedingly complicated people.  And, contrary to the protests of the highly offended "family values" blowhards, I don't think they invited Chaz Bono to promote the "gay and transgendered agenda" any more than including Nancy Grace promotes the harridan agenda.  By the way, it occurs to me to check with Mark to see if he can shoot me his copy of the Gay Agenda.  I've lost mine.

But has the notion of what constitutes a "celebrity" been so seriously dumbed down in the Internet age that Chaz Bono may be considered to have achieved that status?  Back when I was a kid celebrities were people like Kitty Carlisle and other New York types that appeared on game shows.  What on Earth has Chaz Bono accomplished in life other than the fortuity of being born to Sonny and Cher Bono and having sexual re-orientation surgery?  Nothing that I can tell.  Kitty Carlisle may have been as utterly useless as Mr. Bono appears to be by the time she was doing game shows but she at least appeared in opera productions and on Broadway and
was awarded the National Medal of the Arts.  And I'm not just harshing on Chaz.  By the same token what did Bristol Palin have on her celebrity CV apart from getting knocked up while her Mother was running for Vice-President?  Again, nothing.  At least Bristol looked reasonably lithe and athletic which I would think would be useful for dance competitions.  This cannot be said of Mr. Bono beside whom DWTS alum Kirstie Alley seems taut. 

But then again, I don't much care.  My friend Jeanette, who is a very fine dancer, predicts that even I will be compelled to tune in to watch this lineup "perform."  Maybe so, maybe no.  It depends upon if there's nothing else to watch I suppose.

But my God.  Is Chaz Bono what passes for a celebrity nowadays?  Just because his Mother happens to be Cher and just because he switched out the plumbing?  Really?

I don't get it.