Even if you’ve never watched the show, you’ve probably heard of The View, the AM ladies-only chatfest led by veteran journalist Barbara Walters. And if you have heard of it, you’ve probably heard about it in the context of one of the catfights or political disagreements on the show. Here’s the thing that bugs me: I don’t care if the hosts like each other or not, I’m tuning in for some interesting (and occasionally thought-provoking) television, I’m not tuning in to hear about how much these five combative coworkers supposedly care about each other (although not about their show’s production assistants).
You are not legally required to love, or be best friends, with your coworkers. All you have to do is work together in a civil and polite fashion. If you happen to really like each other and want to hang out outside of work, that’s cool, but certainly not a must. What bothers me is that Barbara Walters can’t just say that the women of The View come in and do their jobs every day and then go back to their lives, she has to insist as loudly as she can to anyone who will listen that the View cohosts are all BFFs who engage in constant spontaneous group hugs and get each other presents on Valentine’s Day.
Walters wants to have it both ways: she wants to keep the show covered in the press and on gossip blogs by getting the hosts to snipe at each other and attack each others’ viewpoints on air, but she expects us to simultaneously believe that said sniping is all merely an act, a performance by a group of women who adore each other offscreen. Not only is her hypothesis implausible, it’s insulting and sexist. When all the male commentators disagree with each other during Monday Night Football, no one expects them to preface their comments about how wrong so-and-so’s analysis is by reminding the audience the guys are all besties when the cameras are off. Insisting that Whoopi, Joy, Sherri, Elisabeth, and Barbara genuinely adore each other assumes that we, the largely female audience of the show, cannot tell the difference between intelligent discussion and catty bickering.
The bottom line is, whether I like or dislike my coworkers, the important thing is that I come in every day and do my job. That should be as much as we expect from the hosts of The View: no more, no less.