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Jeopardy host Alex Trebek is no more


BacktoCricaddict

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I was and am a fan.  Trebek represents an America of yesteryear, where intellect, politeness and good humor were prized and celebrated tenets of pop culture.  You can still see it, on niche outlets like NPR.  But 'mainstream' America no longer offers up the likes of him.  

 

He will be missed.  RIP.

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1 hour ago, sandeep said:

I was and am a fan.  Trebek represents an America of yesteryear, where intellect, politeness and good humor were prized and celebrated tenets of pop culture.  You can still see it, on niche outlets like NPR.  But 'mainstream' America no longer offers up the likes of him.  

 

He will be missed.  RIP.

With the caveat that there is a flipside:  the America of which you speak mostly applied to either the educated or the wealthy elites.  It was not inclusive.  Some here say that the 50s represented the golden age (post-war prosperity etc.) of this country.   But if you were poor and Black in the 50s, that America did not reach you.  

Edited by BacktoCricaddict
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13 hours ago, BacktoCricaddict said:

With the caveat that there is a flipside:  the America of which you speak mostly applied to either the educated or the wealthy elites.  It was not inclusive.  Some here say that the 50s represented the golden age (post-war prosperity etc.) of this country.   But if you were poor and Black in the 50s, that America did not reach you.  

waitaminit.  How do you get to the 1950s, segregation and class prejudice, from Alex Trebek? Seriously.  Its quite a stretch, and I'm curious how you make that leap.

 

 

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1 hour ago, sandeep said:

waitaminit.  How do you get to the 1950s, segregation and class prejudice, from Alex Trebek? Seriously.  Its quite a stretch, and I'm curious how you make that leap.

 

 

I think a lot about whether "politeness" is truly a virtue, and your post about a "gentler time" in America triggered those thoughts.  The reason I think about the virtue (or lack thereof) of politeness is that, often, it is used to mask devious discriminatory tendencies.  

 

But this thread may not have been the venue to spit this out :-)! 

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17 minutes ago, BacktoCricaddict said:

I think a lot about whether "politeness" is truly a virtue, and your post about a "gentler time" in America triggered those thoughts.  The reason I think about the virtue (or lack thereof) of politeness is that, often, it is used to mask devious discriminatory tendencies.  

 

But this thread may not have been the venue to spit this out :-)! 

Not sure where I used "gentler time".  And I think you have completely misinterpreted what I was trying to say.  My point was about how a show like jeopardy, focused on nerdy 'knowledge', could not only be launched as a prime-time show, but achieve mass appeal.  As opposed to today, where such a show would be extremely unlikely to be found on any 'major network'.  A culture and media environment that is increasingly happy to cater to endorphins and overt sexualization - a culture where a 'song' like "WAP" made by an ex-stripper/ex-prostitute is a smash hit, but a guy winning millions on jeopardy would hardly be recognized walking down the street.  To clarify, I do not include shows such as "crorepati" or its original in this.  

 

This has nothing to do with race, or class - it was a comment on what sort of attributes are seen as "popular" in mainstream 'pop culture'.  The fact that a Paris Hilton or a Kim Kardashian is more famous today than a Ken Jennings or a James Holzhauer, is what I was referring to.  And the fact that simple good-natured pursuit of knowledge is considered a 'niche'.  An Alex Trebek from today's generation would never become what Alex Trebek became.  A mainstream personality.  Because that's not what the current popular culture prioritizes.  

 

Edit: I think your response was triggered by my use of the word 'yesteryear', which in hindsight wasn't a great choice - I was referring to 1980s and 90s, and not the 50s, but the misinterpretation is a bit easier to understand. 

Edited by sandeep
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14 minutes ago, BacktoCricaddict said:

I think a lot about whether "politeness" is truly a virtue, and your post about a "gentler time" in America triggered those thoughts.  The reason I think about the virtue (or lack thereof) of politeness is that, often, it is used to mask devious discriminatory tendencies.  

I think my earlier response was more focused on clarifying/defending my original point, and I'd like to address what you raised here.  Its a fair point, to a degree. But arguably, a generalized one that can apply to any "virtue', taken to an extreme, and/or used to shield mal-intentioned tendencies.  

 

Just because "politeness" can be used as a shield to mask prejudice, does not, and ought not to result in any and all desire for polite discourse into an automatic candidate for suspicion of such masks.  

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1 hour ago, sandeep said:

I think my earlier response was more focused on clarifying/defending my original point, and I'd like to address what you raised here.  Its a fair point, to a degree. But arguably, a generalized one that can apply to any "virtue', taken to an extreme, and/or used to shield mal-intentioned tendencies.  

 

Just because "politeness" can be used as a shield to mask prejudice, does not, and ought not to result in any and all desire for polite discourse into an automatic candidate for suspicion of such masks.  

True.  I was approaching it from the other side.  Just because someone is "nice" or "polite" in their behavior, it does not automatically qualify them to be considered a good person.  

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And within a few months, Jeopardy devolves into this:

 

https://www.thewrap.com/jeopardy-fans-and-some-past-contestants-are-not-happy-that-dr-oz-is-guest-hosting/

Jeopardy’ Fans, and Some Past Contestants, Are Not Happy That Dr Oz Is Guest Hosting. 

“He stands for misinformation: exactly the opposite of what Jeopardy’s supposed to be,” tweeted past champion Dan Pawson

 

Here's the game board for the Dr. Oz episode:

Image

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