Activist Faults'Dr. Phil' Disclaimer
I read this article this morning and just had to comment on it. It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!
A mental health activist has filed a complaint with the FCC over the Dr. Phil show, claiming that the disclaimer aired at the end of the show is inadequate.
Here is the disclaimer:
"Opinions expressed during the show are educational and informational in nature and are directed only at the individual show guests based on their specific and unique circumstances.
"The material provides general educational information only to the viewing audience. For advice appropriate to your specific situation, please consult a local health care professional."
The activist is complaining that this disclaimer is not enough and that a statement should be made before each show indicating that the show is for entertainment purposes and not for counseling. As he says, "Isn't the purpose of disclaimers to warn individuals, from children to grandparents, of the content of a proceeding program so that they can make an informed decision on whether or not they wish to watch?"
Ummmm, NO! A disclaimer usually comes at the end of a show for the purpose of protecting the producer's legal butt! It's up to the viewers to figure out for themselves if the program is something they are interested in or not. We can do that by picking up the TV Guide. Or we can watch a few minutes of it and decide "Gee, does this interest me or not?" If making a decision of whether or not to watch something requires a disclaimer, what next? Do we put a disclaimer in front of "Friends" reruns stating "This is a sitcom. These are not real people and the situations are NOT real. This is entertainment." C'mon, it's TV. By definition, it's entertainment. I think a majority of society can figure out that Dr. Phil is a talk show and not intended to be a substitute for real psychological counseling. He even comes on at the beginning of every show and TELLS you what that show is going to be about! It's not like you don't get a warning! For someone who is mentally unstable enough to actually think it's anything other than entertainment, do you really think a little disclaimer is going to make all that much difference?
For one thing, someone who watches the program is more likely to see the disclaimer at the end than they will at the beginning. How many times have you turned on a show after it's already started? If it interests you, you'll keep watching it until the end and then see the disclaimer. At the beginning, even if a person sees it, they may not pay attention to the disclaimer because they haven't gotten interested in the show yet so it has no meaning to them?
The real point in all this is the lack of personal responsibilty in society. What happened to good old-fashioned common sense? What about each person being responsible for their own personal choices, good or bad? Do we really need a warning on the stove to tell us it gets hot? Should we put a warning label on cars that say operating vehicle like an idiot can get you killed? Yes, some products do need warning labels because possible dangers aren't as obvious, but we don't need to go overboard. Let's pretend we all still have some general intelligence, OK?
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