Monday, January 28, 2008

Dr. Phil has his pants up!


Today's (January 28th) Dr. Phil show featured the topic of sagging pants and whether or not it's ok to legislate what you wear. This "debate" got out of control with guests talking over each other several times.

Guests on the show said that the fad started inside the prisons because convicts cannot wear belts and then hip-hop artists picked up on it. Al Sharpton, rap group Ying Yang Twins, as well as three parents were on stage. Two of the parents (mothers) were against the sagging pants and the other parent, a father, supports it and even wears his pants in the same fashion.

Concerning the media...the debate took a turn in this direction during the show: how responsible are entertainers for influencing fashion?

Personally, I think clothing is such a minor issue compared to what is in the music lyrically as well as what is shown in videos. However, I don't care for the trend.

13 comments:

Linda Jones Malonson said...

I am so darn sick of sagging pants! But I must agree with you, they are the least of our problems. I wouldn't mind if the pants sagged, but I am tired of looking at so many folks' butts! And that is putting it kindly.

Some of the lyrics are enough to drive me up the wall --- But when all is said and done, there are constitutional issues, where the rights of one out-weighs the opinions of many.

Anonymous said...

i think he needs to stop making a big deal out of the pants. People should wear whatever they want to wear and whatever they feel like wearing. People need to stop freaking out so much. Especially dr. phil. I can't stand him for some reason. I dont know.

Anonymous said...

I don't think Dr. Phil should have guests unless it is like this, a debate. He's not really a doctor, despite where he graduated from. He is just another form of entertainment with the lines like "but seriously you have problems".

Anonymous said...

Andrew...interesting point about Dr. Phil not really being a doctor. He HAD a license to practice in Texas but gave it up several years ago to do what he does now.

Since this is the case, do you believe that there should be a disclaimer run before each and every show?

Anonymous said...

I also agree with andrew. I think Dr. Phil should get over the fact that he is not a real psychiatrist/doctor. I was just watching something on the news about this whole thing yesterday. Everyone thinks the same thing, Dr. Phil should just go away. There's only a few people in this world who actually like him. I honestly dont watch his show anymore, but it is so stupid from what i remember. And about your question, i think that there should be no show at all. But, whatever, thats how i feel and what i think. It's a free world. I have my strong opinions against dr. phil.

Anonymous said...

Vlad4ever...I have to disagree. I like Dr. Phil. I think his show does benefit some people.

Technically, you are correct. He is not a doctor currently because he surrendered his license BUT he did it voluntarily. It wasn't because of wrongdoing.

I guess, Vlad, what is it about his show that you find is "stupid"? With a show like Jerry Springer, we can pick that show apart and nail it for being "stupid." But why Dr. Phil?

Linda Jones Malonson said...

Struke, I don't care for the sagging pants trend either. I am sick and tired of looking at butt cracks.

The entertainment industry is built on influencing the general public, whether it be the rappers or extreme rockers, male and females. It's life, and we have learned to live with it --- however, I am sick and tired of the degrading lyrics aimed at women by rappers who makes millions of dollars from them.

But like the pants, the "degrading lyrics" --- have become a Constitutional issue. The rights of one verses the desires of many.

Very seldom I look at talk shows. But I agree, Phil does help some folks. I don't agree with everything he says, but on some levels he make sense to me -- and to quite a few others.

You are right Struke, clothing is a minor issue, and minor issues are used by politicians to divert the general public from the major issues, like this massive inflation that has put us in this bad recession. Everything going up except the salaries. It's the poor verses the rich, and there is no middle class in between.

Anonymous said...

Amias...great points. The sagging pants especially bother me in the fact that it's known that this trend started in prison and that people are taking a fashion "trend" from convicts. What's next...everyone wearing orange jumpsuits or stripes? Emulating prisoners is shameful. Where is society going?

No argument here about the degradation of women in music. It does happen across the board in many genres of music.

Anonymous said...

i saw this episode, i felt that the two people who had some of the best points were the rappers featured on the show. the one guy who i believe was the mayor of a city in texas was left speachless more than once. its funny how its not always socioties view of intelligent people are the ones who have the best points.

Liquid said...

Gulp......

(((lookin' over my left shoulder to make sure my hiney's not shinin')))

I could care less what others wear.....geeze!

I'm just not allowing my son (or daughter) to leave the house wearing, ANYTHING, ill fitting.

House Rule.

Anonymous said...

liquid...I'm curious. How old are your children? What do their peers wear? What do they think about the "House Rule"?

And an even bigger question...do your children say what they think about what their peers wear?

Anonymous said...

To answer your question about Jerry Springer and Dr. Phil....
First of all, Jerry Springer is just a joke and strictly for entertainment. It's so sad that america has become so low in its standards of what kind of shows interest them. I just had this discussion with my boyfriend yesterday. Most Americans nowadays receive pleasure from seeing stupid stuff on tv, like the people on the Jerry Springer show for example. It's so fake, but people are so happy to watch it because it entertains them and gives them a laugh. Dr. Phil isn't as horrible as Jerry Springer, but some of the things he does could be considered annoying. I dont know. I havent watched his show that much, but have you noticed how every other "psychiatrist" used to or has their own show? Even if they didn't succeed on their own as much, they make their own show where they give people advice. Montel, Ricki Lake, etc.... Even though most of them don't have a show, it used to be a common trend. I think that drs. and psychiatrists, and therapists should just stick to being in an office and helping their clients the way they did before they started having shows, and just not having their own show at all. No one is really benefiting from it as much as people think they are. Also, have you noticed lately how in america, when parents can't deal with their kids by themselves or if a child starts acting like a kid, they send them to a psychiatrist? Like, seriously, why is it that whenever anyone has a tiny little problem like with bad grades or something general, they can't just suck it up and deal with it? Every day people go to psychiatrists, waste their money, and if they're not crazy to begin with, the psychiatrist doesn't help them and just causes them to become crazy and lose their minds. Even in schools, guidance counselors, half the time they don't even help students. I have had some personal experiences with guidance counselors that dont help and a friend who has suffered so much in her life because her mother sent her to see a psychiatrist instead of dealing with her own problems.

My friend is a sophomore in school right now. She had problems in the beginning of the schoool year because she just couldn't fit in. She was sort of an outcast and couldn't find anyone else except for me to be friends with. She didn't have similar interests like the "popular girls" in her class. But she cared about other stuff, like getting good grades and getting a good education. Her mom wanted her to dress more like a popular girl dresses and act more like a popular girl, but the problem was that she didn't care about how she dressed and wanted to dress her own way; to be an individual. So, instead of helping her and giving her some advice, her mom kept on putting her down and telling her she was a loser and that she was fat and that no one liked her. She was basically emotionally and mentally abusing her. She also threatened to kill her every single day. My friend went to the guidance counselor at her school and told her everything that was going on. As a result, the guidance counselor told her that she has mental problems and that she is crazy and mentally disabled. Totally not true. Then her mom came, and the guidance counselor told her that she needs to go see a doctor. So they went to almost all of the doctors possible, and her mom only listened to the advice of the doctors who told her what she wanted to hear; that her daughter was crazy and has an illness. There were some doctors who said that she was just a normal child who is going through typical puberty and she's in the adolescence age and that there's nothing to worry about and that she just has to show her that she loves her. Her mom didnt listen to doctors who told the truth. Basically, the "bad" doctors gave her antidepressant pills that ended up literally killing her soul. Also, instead of going to a normal school, her mom and the guidance counselor decided to send her to CEVEC or some random behavioral school, i dont remember. Also, she was prescribed antidepressant pills that she absolutely didnt need. They basically killed her soul and personality. Didnt help her at all.

The moral of the story?
- Because her mom listened to the guidance counselor and the "bad" doctors, she turned her daughter into a crazy, mentally ill girl. But, she was an absolutely normal girl before all this crap happened. And her mom should have helped her instead of driving her insane. There is no point in listening to doctors and psychiatrists and guidance counselors in america nowadays because all they want is your money, and they dont care about your health as much. If she hadnt listened to the doctors, both of them would have gotten through it and then everything would have been great.

Anonymous said...

Vlad4life...that's an intense post. With so many people clogging doctors' offices, I think that Dr. Phil sometimes is a reality check for some people.

I think for many people, Dr. Phil cuts through the crap and tells it like it is.