Gary O'Blog
CELEBRITY REHAB, JOE THE PLUMBER
Posted by: Gary O'Brien
Saturday, March 7, 2009 10:38 AM
Some recent guests seem to have made an impact with listeners as I have received more than usual response about them. SOBER HOUSE/Sherry Gaba A recent conversation with the eloquent and very interesting Sherry Gaba, who is a psychotherapist and life coach on the VH-1 reality series "Sober House' had listeneres agreeing with what I told her on the air...it is a very interesting show, but I felt guilty watching it. Sherry seemed surprised by that, but it is a show that is a spin-off of "Celebrity Rehab" with Dr. Drew. Perhaps the original intent of the show was to show celebrities at their lowest and with addiction issues trying to recover, and then help 'regular' people who may have such issues themselves see that one can recover. However, watching the show made me feel dirty in that I was watching another human being sharing their deepest fears and low-points in their lives and even showing them being filmed after a relapse. If this isn't exploitation of these people for ratings and profit I don't know what is. Dr. Gaba was wonderful and did even admit that it may be on the verge of exploiting these people. She said the show does not encourage them to go out to bars, but guiess what? The cameras are there when they do, and the cameras catch them drinking and the cameras catch them drunk and high when they relapse. It's all caught on tape and when aired comes with teasers as to how low will they go just before they go to a commercial break where the show makes money off of these troubled individuals. If they did not relapse on tape, I imagine it wouldn't be a very dramatic program, there would be fewer viewers and less money would be made from advertisers. It is very voyueristic. I guess it makes we who do not have addiction issues feel better about ourselves, but what these peole are going through...celebrity or not...seems highly personal and frankly none of our business. Why would these 'stars' go on camera at their lowest moments? Is it the old adage...there is no such thing as bad publicity? Even in Rehab, does this keep their name out there? I assume they get free therapy for being on the show...but is it worth it? It reminds me of a celebrity Jerry Springer show where people who have real struggles in their lives share them on national television. We see a sincere Andy Dick try to get his life back together again and he is a real cheerleader for the other houseguests. That is a real high-point and inspirational aspect to the show. To see some others like Steven Adler of Guns and Roses continually relapse and have us see close-ups of him high and out of it...seems in really pooor taste and maybe something he will regret later dealing with his serious issues on camera rather than privately. Rodney King is on the show too. Is he really a celebrity? Certainly, the hope is everyone gets better and gets their lives back on track. These celebrities have had a rough go of it and the show does let us all realize how hard it is to kick addiction. But I can't get the bad taste out of my mouth that this show is using these celeb's toubles and serious issues to advance the career of Dr. Drew and make money for the producers and VH-1. I do want to thank Sherry Gaba for being on the show. She doesn't necessarily agree with me on this. She does feel through her expertise and the others on the show that she and they can help. I hope they are successful. She has a big heart and really wants to help. For that reason, she is welcome back on the show any time to talk about these serious issues that many celebrities and non-celebrities must deal with. JOE THE PLUMBER I really enjoyed the conversation I had with Joe the Plumber recently. He was thrust in the spotlight one day when Barack Obama came to his neighborhood when he and his son were playing football. "Joe" asked a question that ended up being shot by ABC News and the rest is history. Both the Obama and McCain campaigns used him as an example and a metaphor in their campaigns. He started being hounded by the media and his life was changed forever. At one point, after expressing some of his opinions, he sent his family away and he stayed at home with the doors locked with a gun handy in case he needed to defend himself. He has become a celebrity. When I asked him if he liked being a celebrity, he quickly answered 'no!" However, since he became known, he has written a book, hired a publicist, does interviews, has covered conservative politics for Pajamas media, and some rumors say he has even signed a recording contract? At least based on what he has done since he has become known, it does seem like he is loving it and making good use of his 15 minutes of fame. Perhaps it will turn into more. He surely was a very nice man, a very articulate man and has strong opinions on the current political scene. He was surely one of the most interesting guests I have had on the show in a long time.Comments
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