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I believe the seating of an "openly" gay judge and the inclusion of this deceptively complex political question are part of a calculated attempt by pageant organizers to remain relevant in an increasingly cluttered and fractured entertainment landscape.
(I'll be generalizing widely here, so please take my opinion for what it is, just an opinion.) Americans have demonstrated that they want their entertainment to be dramatic, "realistic" and most importantly, rife with conflict and issues to which they can relate personally, as evidenced by the explosion of reality shows fighting for mindshare.
Anyone who has watched beauty pageants in the past few years can attest that these events are about as exciting as watching paint dry (sorry ladies, you're beautiful, but the format is dull dull dull!). About the only excitement anyone got from any pageant in the past 10 years has been when certain queens lost their crowns due to a sex scandal, or contestants fumble their QA appearance so badly as to become famous for being fabulously clueless (Katie Rees and Caitlin Upton, respectively).
Without completely up-ending the real reason for the pageant, the only way they can inject drama into this cultural dinosaur is to ensnare the contestants in potentially scandalous/provocative/controversial situations, either on camera or off. In this day and age, for beauty pageants, any publicity, good or bad, means more eyeballs, which equates to more money. Bad for the pageant ideal, but "good" for the organizers' bottom line.
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The question was not, "How do you feel about gay marriage?"
She answered the wrong question, and she did it poorly.
The worst part of the fallout has to be that no one is talking about the actual winner of Miss USA. Who was it again? =p It's a sad state of affairs that someone is getting more press coverage because she answered a question badly and because she's Michael Phelp's sometimes girlfriend than the actual winner.
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But I don't like it when someone is dissed for speaking their mind. I didn't like it when people tried to stop that minister who is opposed to gay marriage from giving a prayer at the inauguration. And I don't like judges making a decision to allow gay marriage.
Younger people will someday be older people, and when they are, this question will be moot, because younger people don't have any problem with gay marriage. Let them change the law. Let them take the step forward. It will be good for their generation, and it will be better for America.
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If however her answer did cost her the crown, then the competition needs to address its goals: if the goal is to have ladies who are articulate and opinionated, then she did great, and people responsible for her not receiving the crown need to be fired. If instead the goal is to have ladies who represent America and its popular values and morals, then she still did fine but is not what they are looking for and should have not received the crown.
From the contestant's point of view, if a girl know that answering what she believes will disqualify her, then one of two things will happen: people will say what they think is popular, or eligible people with different views won't apply. I guess I don't know what Miss USA is trying to accomplish, and maybe they don't either. It's time to address that before people begin lying or dropping their applications.
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Answered Question
M$2
April 21, 2009 03:28 PM
What will be the fallout from the "gay marriage" debate stemming from the Miss USA pageant?
It doesn't matter how you feel about the question itself, pro or con, but how do you feel about the issue raised by someone losing a crown based solely upon the opinions of the contestant or the judge especially since the question was not relevant to the pageant itself? Does this raise further issues in open debate?
For example, should your opinion about an issue unrelated to a position you are seeking be taken into account in the decision process?
What happened to the idea that says "You have a right to your opinion and though I may disagree with you, I will defend your right to that opinion"?
For example, should your opinion about an issue unrelated to a position you are seeking be taken into account in the decision process?
What happened to the idea that says "You have a right to your opinion and though I may disagree with you, I will defend your right to that opinion"?
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Best Answer Decided by Votes
| April 21, 2009 06:15 PM |
(I'll be generalizing widely here, so please take my opinion for what it is, just an opinion.) Americans have demonstrated that they want their entertainment to be dramatic, "realistic" and most importantly, rife with conflict and issues to which they can relate personally, as evidenced by the explosion of reality shows fighting for mindshare.
Anyone who has watched beauty pageants in the past few years can attest that these events are about as exciting as watching paint dry (sorry ladies, you're beautiful, but the format is dull dull dull!). About the only excitement anyone got from any pageant in the past 10 years has been when certain queens lost their crowns due to a sex scandal, or contestants fumble their QA appearance so badly as to become famous for being fabulously clueless (Katie Rees and Caitlin Upton, respectively).
Without completely up-ending the real reason for the pageant, the only way they can inject drama into this cultural dinosaur is to ensnare the contestants in potentially scandalous/provocative/controversial situations, either on camera or off. In this day and age, for beauty pageants, any publicity, good or bad, means more eyeballs, which equates to more money. Bad for the pageant ideal, but "good" for the organizers' bottom line.
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Voted as best: interzone
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Other Answers (4)
April 21, 2009 03:36 PM
Point is, it was a bad answer. The question was, "Do you think other states should follow suit, why or why not?" The question was not, "How do you feel about gay marriage?"
She answered the wrong question, and she did it poorly.
The worst part of the fallout has to be that no one is talking about the actual winner of Miss USA. Who was it again? =p It's a sad state of affairs that someone is getting more press coverage because she answered a question badly and because she's Michael Phelp's sometimes girlfriend than the actual winner.
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April 21, 2009 04:10 PM
Do you think that her opinion regarding gay marriage addressed the "why not" part of the question. Pageants like these are really very public job interviews and she was disqualified because of her opinion.
It is true that she will be representing the pageant organization in a very public way so the pageant does have the right to disqualify based on opinion because she may have to addess issues such as these if she is representing them.
It is a shame that we degenerated to name calling because we disagree with someone.
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It is true that she will be representing the pageant organization in a very public way so the pageant does have the right to disqualify based on opinion because she may have to addess issues such as these if she is representing them.
It is a shame that we degenerated to name calling because we disagree with someone.
April 21, 2009 04:18 PM
How you feel is a relevant why or why not to whether other states should follow suit.
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April 21, 2009 05:43 PM
She didn't hurt her score too much by her answer, considering she was still in second place. =p She probably would've won if she had been a little more politically correct in her answer. She forgot to consider her audience, both the judges and the fact that she was in VEGAS, for pete's sake. That's why she got boo'ed.
As for her "praying that she wouldn't get that question," she should've known better. There was no way she was NOT going to get that question. She's from California, a state that took a massive leap BACKWARDS in its Gay Rights issues and one of the judges was openly gay.
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As for her "praying that she wouldn't get that question," she should've known better. There was no way she was NOT going to get that question. She's from California, a state that took a massive leap BACKWARDS in its Gay Rights issues and one of the judges was openly gay.
April 21, 2009 07:12 PM
EDIT to add to my answer:
From the blog of Shanna Moakler, a former Miss USA herself and one of the heads of the California pageant.
"But I want to explain to the masses, what the TITLE of Miss USA stands for to me, and being a former Miss USA, I feel I have a pretty good sense of it. Miss USA travels the world and she competes at the Miss UNIVERSE pageant as a representation of her country. She is a ambassador, a role model and needs to be able to show diplomacy on all issues. sadly for California THIS is where we lost the crown. Not for her answer or even her beliefs, because again, sadly IN California her beliefs at this point in time are the majority. But she lost the crown because she wasn't able to convey compassion for ALL the people that as MISS USA she would be representing. and if YOU like it or not, gays and lesbians make up this country as well. THIS is why we have judges so they can find the RIGHT woman who obtains these qualities. they are crucial in my eyes when holding a honor and title as big as being Miss USA. The panel of judges was qualified and did their job, they represented all of us, men, woman, black, white, gay and straight. "
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From the blog of Shanna Moakler, a former Miss USA herself and one of the heads of the California pageant.
"But I want to explain to the masses, what the TITLE of Miss USA stands for to me, and being a former Miss USA, I feel I have a pretty good sense of it. Miss USA travels the world and she competes at the Miss UNIVERSE pageant as a representation of her country. She is a ambassador, a role model and needs to be able to show diplomacy on all issues. sadly for California THIS is where we lost the crown. Not for her answer or even her beliefs, because again, sadly IN California her beliefs at this point in time are the majority. But she lost the crown because she wasn't able to convey compassion for ALL the people that as MISS USA she would be representing. and if YOU like it or not, gays and lesbians make up this country as well. THIS is why we have judges so they can find the RIGHT woman who obtains these qualities. they are crucial in my eyes when holding a honor and title as big as being Miss USA. The panel of judges was qualified and did their job, they represented all of us, men, woman, black, white, gay and straight. "
April 21, 2009 05:50 PM
Whatever, dude, when was the last time the pageant got this much publicity that didn't involve naked pictures of a contestant? Controversy sells, and this is going to make people watch the show more.
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April 21, 2009 05:54 PM
If including the question was intentional, primarily to create some publicity for the pageant, then it was a very shrewd, and successful move. I'd have to wonder that the organizers didn't calculate carefully that some drama would arise from a contestant's answer, resulting in exactly the kind of buzz we are seeing right now. Frankly, given how unexciting beauty pageants have become, they absolutely need to do things like this to compete for eyeballs.
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April 21, 2009 06:25 PM
If they wanted publicity and controversy they'd have a topless round. They don't do it because bland is their goal.
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April 21, 2009 07:14 PM
That's what the swimsuit competition is for, silly. It obviously isn't cutting the mustard anymore. The question was preapproved before the show, and all the contestants got copies of the questions. Miss California failed to prepare for what she admitted would be the hardest question for her to answer. If she KNEW she was going to have a hard time with it, she should've practiced answering it MORE.
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April 21, 2009 07:45 PM
I believe that gays and lesbians should not only be allowed to get married, they should be encouraged to get married. But I don't like it when someone is dissed for speaking their mind. I didn't like it when people tried to stop that minister who is opposed to gay marriage from giving a prayer at the inauguration. And I don't like judges making a decision to allow gay marriage.
Younger people will someday be older people, and when they are, this question will be moot, because younger people don't have any problem with gay marriage. Let them change the law. Let them take the step forward. It will be good for their generation, and it will be better for America.
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April 21, 2009 11:35 PM
Do you have any statistics on the younger people vs. older people views on gay marriage? I would be interested to see them.
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April 21, 2009 08:04 PM
Having just watched the answer, I do hope that wasn't what lost her the crown. If it wasn't, then the question and answer don't matter. If however her answer did cost her the crown, then the competition needs to address its goals: if the goal is to have ladies who are articulate and opinionated, then she did great, and people responsible for her not receiving the crown need to be fired. If instead the goal is to have ladies who represent America and its popular values and morals, then she still did fine but is not what they are looking for and should have not received the crown.
From the contestant's point of view, if a girl know that answering what she believes will disqualify her, then one of two things will happen: people will say what they think is popular, or eligible people with different views won't apply. I guess I don't know what Miss USA is trying to accomplish, and maybe they don't either. It's time to address that before people begin lying or dropping their applications.
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April 22, 2009 12:55 PM
Well, she may have been a "top contender" but she lost the swimsuit and the evening gown competition. I HIGHLY doubt she could've given an answer to ANY question that would've been enough to put her ahead of Miss North Carolina. Unless, of course, Miss NC had walked too far and took a stage dive at the beginning of her interview.
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For the record, according to his Larry King interview, Perez Hilton said that he was the one that suggested the question and the panel approved it.