Since when did baiting Samantha Armytage become a spectator sport?.
In the latest play, ABC news presenter, Virginia Hausegger, who sits on the board of the UN Women National Committee Australia, labelled the Sunrise co-host 'a mindless bimbo' for engaging in a Sex and The City skit with former cast member, Kristin Davis on the TV breakfast show.
Hausegger was outraged and cringing because she noted that Davis had been invited to Australia as a high profile supporter of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Strong stance: Ros Reines writes exclusively for the Daily Mail Australia on Samantha Armytage
Terrible skit: She says that the Sex and the City skit last week was terrible 'Samantha Armytage baiting'
Davis has toured UNHCR camps in Africa, which are helping to prevent sexual violence there and was the guest of honour at a special fund-raising event last week to talk about her experiences.
Armytage was to have hosted that $200-a-head lunch but was relieved of her duties and uninvited at the 11th hour. Talk about cringe inducing.
Of course this was a massive over-reaction. Just for starters, if Kristin Davis had not become world famous for playing prim goddess, Charlotte on Sex and The City, she would not have been sought out as a high profile supporter of the UN and invited to Australia in the first place.
Self-righteous comments: Reines writes that Virginia Hausegger's comments were self-righteous
Mindless bimbo: The ABC news presenter Virginia most recently called Armytage a 'mindless bimbo'
Like it or lump it, it's Davis's Sex and The City fame that has made her a drawcard for those turning up to what would otherwise be just another worthy charity lunch in Sydney.
This is not to detract from the work that the UN undertakes in Africa for refugees, who face some of the most horrid living conditions imaginable. Or its timely nature when it comes to the refugee debate over living conditions in Australia.
It is simply to make the point that charity fund raisers need strong celebrity drawcards, which is where Davis and her SATC fame comes in.
Celebrity drawcard: Like it or lump it, Reines says Kristin's SATC celebrity status makes her a drawcard
Round in circles: Reines says it is Sex and the City that made Kristin Davis so high profile in the first place
Secondly, while Sunrise is a news and current affairs show, it must also be entertaining breakfast television, which is part of a genre right around the world.
Sunrise's executive producer, Michael Pell understands his viewers well enough to know that they would expect to reference SATC with any interview with Kristin Davis.
It should also be pointed out that the actor's valuable UN work was given airtime before Armytage and fellow Sunrise presenters Natalie Barr and Edwina Bartholomew put on silly wigs and joined Davis for an SATC skit. It was never going to make the Edinburgh Comedy Festival but it was a homage of sorts to the hit show.
Entertaining television: While Sunrise is a news and current affairs shot, it must be entertaining breakfast TV
Issue addressed: Reines writes that Davis's valuable UN work was addressed before the SATC skit
Misplaced homage: She says it wouldn't make the Edinburgh Comedy Festival but it was a homage to the show
Unfortunately it was only Armytage who was pilloried by Haussegger and labelled as the dumb chicks ringleader. Surely Michael Pell should have also rated her a mention while Barr and Bartholomew were not named in the diatribe but referred to in passing as Armytage's gal pals.
So, what is it about Sam Armytage that makes her a target for such a very public dressing down?
Before she put the boot in, Haussegger justified her actions with the old 'this hurts me more than it hurts you' excuse. Yes, that old chestnut.
Un-sisterly: According to Ros Reines, Hausegger should have backed off from verbally abusing Armytage
'As a woman who has spent 25 years in television, believe me I ask these questions with great reluctance,' protested the self righteous ABC presenter after accusing Armytage of 'dialling up the ditzy dial' and pondering why she was so dead keen to present herself as a mindless bimbo.
If Haussegger felt so 'reluctant' to go there, maybe this was a sign that she should have backed off?
It's hardly the only character assassination Armytage has sustained lately. She has a long history of being the brunt of criticism in the media.
Character assassination: Ros (above) says this isn't the only character assassination Armytage has suffered
So it's back to what is it about Samantha Armytage, 39, that makes us want to draw blood?
Perhaps it's because she does not fit the conventional Barbie doll image of women in commercial television?
Sexy and effervescent, Armytage is never afraid to send herself up. Perhaps she makes it look so easy that we somehow hold it against her for seemingly having it all. As a single, independent woman with such a high profile role, she is surely living the dream and perhaps that doesn't seem fair.
Something about her: Veronica's comments are the latest in a long line of Armytage baiting
Yesterday Armytage hit back with a column in the media.
While not naming Hausseger, Armytage railed about 'the journalist who used the most base, vile and derogatory terms to describe not only a fellow woman, but a woman in her own profession.'
Further more Armytage posed another question: 'why is it that some of those who shout the loudest about feminism are the most unkind to other women.'
Unconventional fit: She says Sam doesn't fit the conventional Barbie doll image of women in television
Unfashionable: Samantha's response about not being a victim shows that Armytage baiting is out of fashion
It was a very strong defence but just as importantly Armytage has proven that she is not afraid to take on her attackers.
She has now sent out a powerful message that she is not prepared to be a victim anymore because she has a strong voice and is not afraid to use it.
Something tells me that as a spectator sport, Samantha Armytage baiting just went woefully out of fashion.
0 nhận xét:
Đăng nhận xét