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27/08/2018
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By Neal Zoren, Special to Digital First Media
Former Miss America Suzette Charles appeared on 'Good Day Philly' to talk about the pageant.
Associated Press
Noodling through the stations while lackadaisically dressing and preparing to embark on my day, I was stopped by something I rarely hear on television these days.
An articulate person was taking an unpopular stance, matching logic with passion, and even fielding the inevitable and journalistically necessary question about veering from current political correctness.
I’m so used to the lineup of smug, partisan pusses waiting to have discussions with CNN’s Chris Cuomo or, worse, the kneejerk pundits on Fox News or MSNBC, I was happy to forgo packing the comfortable shoes I could at some blessed point change into from the polished lace-ups that are my business drag and listen.
The speaker was Suzette Charles. Yes, the one-time Miss America who attained her title when its original holder, Vanessa Williams, was forced to relinquish it in 1984.
Her venue was not one of the high-powered news programs. Not a Cuomo or Cooper or Lemon in sight. It was my admitted favorite morning staple, “Good Day Philadelphia,” the usual resting place of my 7 a.m. remote hunts, and Charles was not commenting on the national repercussions of payoffs to Stormy Daniels or even the genuinely significant courtroom headlines involving Paul Manafort or Michael Cohen.
She was speaking to “Good Day” hosts Karen Hepp and Mike Jerrick about her alma mater, the Miss America Pageant, and why and she other Miss Americas, including most especially current “queen of femininity” Cara Mund, have spoken out or written, as a group, in protest of moves by the chair of the Miss America board of directors, Gretchen Carlson, to change the pageant in ways that address both decades-old criticisms of the pageant and, yes, political correctness as defined by the keepers and arbiters of such rot.
Charles was poised to the point of coolness and succinctly sincere as she spoke about the jettisoned swimsuit competition that initiated the Miss America contest in the 20s. She emphasized that the Miss America Organization was primarily a scholarship program that provided helpful funds for participants. She said money for the scholarships is raised mostly at local levels and that if Carlson wanted to concentrate on anything useful, it should be to raise larger amounts so bigger scholarships can be granted, scholarships that cover a full four years at university rather than part of one year, as the usual $15,000 grants do now.
More importantly, she said clearly it should be up to the participants and adherents of the pageant to decide how it should proceed and not to trendy public opinion.
As I said, it was how well Charles spoke that drew me, and how firmly she held ground that is not in keeping with “the right thing to say” in an age in which conformity to what some consider the only stance takes precedence over what might be legitimately and defensibly believed by those who differ.
My goodness, justifiable diversity of opinion. What a concept.
What I liked even better than Charles’s presentation, so flawless Jerrick suggested she seek work in broadcasting and implied she’d be a great addition for Channel 29, is she basically said two things that have become my frequent answer to uninvited comments and positions people of our time feel entitled to freely spout.
“Who asked you?” and “Mind your own business.”
As a commentator, I have been on panels on which I said those exact words to critics of the Miss America Pageant, who want it to reflect their image instead of what it is. I’ve used the same lines to challenge people about changes in Major League Baseball and Oscar ceremonies.
Modern history tells us that unlike past eras when folks could arrive at a conclusion by compromise, the Founding Fathers for example, everyone today thinks his or her opinion counts. Media reinforces this by giving every griper a Warhol quotient of fame, even when a point of view is ludicrous and outside the sphere of influence of the advocate who insists things be his or her way.
In Major League Baseball, I don’t want the game made easier. I want classic baseball, pure and simple. Sometimes, in that spirit of compromise I don’t get what I want, but nothing so radical has happened that it spoils baseball for me.
The Oscar ceremony, or Tony Award show, is a celebration of an industry and the people whose work excelled in a given year. People watching it should tolerate recipients’ speeches because it is their night, and we’re interlopers. Yes, award shows should have elements of entertaining television, but they should first serve their original purpose. That purpose is tainted when a lame production number consigns the bestowing of a lifetime achievement award to a truly deserving powerhouse and mentor like Chita Rivera to a five-second view of this major star walking up to accept her accolade at an earlier, off-camera moment.
The Miss America Pageant is admittedly more controversial. It came under early fire as feminism confronted aspects of the pageant that underscore images of womanhood that tells a small part of the story and could even negatively affect people who don’t fit the Miss America idea of womanhood.
They may have a point, but again the question is, “Who asked you?”
Another question is “And why does your stance matter?”
What happened to “and‘s” instead of “or’s?”
It doesn’t matter whether one agree with Suzette Charles and a traditional view of the Miss America program. And it doesn’t matter what critics say.
There is a potential audience for the Miss American Pageant as it’s stood, swimsuit category and all. And there are people who say they regard such things as demeaning and harmful to young women struggling with identity and working to become “our ideal.”
Since there’s room for both, why knuckle to critics? I ask this about everything from the pageant to whether or not actors like Kevin Spacey and Roseanne Barr should have a chance to stay on the air and see how the general audience reacts instead of worrying about a possibly loud but just as possibly small group of detractors.
Television is a democracy. Numbers of viewers are tallied as ratings, and the popular gets audience and advertisers while the less watched, even if superior, goes by the way.
The Miss America Pageant, at one time looked forward to as a post-Labor Day treat and a high ratings-getter, is an example of this democracy.
I mentioned it was once a highlight of a television season. Then it diminished in viewership. Part of the reason for this were financial strains and internal battles within the Miss America Organization that mitigated the quality of the pageant.
Protests against it didn’t help. Nor did losing a major place on the national TV schedule, a move from Atlantic City, and less than stellar performances in the talent contest, always my favorite.
The democratic television may have already rendered judgment on Miss America.
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