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American Morning
90-Second Pop, Culture Watch
Aired November 17, 2003 - 07:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: It's time for "90-Second Pop," and our fast-talking panel is ready to tackle three of today's hottest pop culture topics in just a minute and a half each.
With us this morning, Andy Borowitz, humorist and author of "Who Moved my Soap: the CEO's Guide to Surviving in Prison." Jodi Kantor is arts and leisure editor of "The New York Times." And B.J. Sigesmund is a staff editor for "US Weekly."
Nice to have you all. Thanks for joining us.
ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: Good to be here.
O'BRIEN: And let's get right into it. Rush Limbaugh, after five weeks of rehab, coming back to his show. Give me a sense of what you think his listeners, how they're going to respond.
BOROWITZ: Well, I think they'll respond well. I mean, I think they're very loyal. I mean, I think some people will accuse Rush of hypocrisy, because he came out against drug addicts and drug abuse.
O'BRIEN: Funny you should mention that. I have a quote. He said this: "Too many whites" -- meaning white people -- "are getting away with drug use. The answer is to go out and find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them and send them up the river." That was back in '95. Who knew he'd be talking about himself a few years later?
BOROWITZ: Well, the good news is that he has found one white drug addict. So, he's well on the way to that campaign. But I don't know. I actually have some compassion for Rush, because if you think about it, if you had to listen to Rush Limbaugh's voice everyday, you might take painkillers, too. I mean, it's really something, you know, to be concerned about.
B.J. SIGESMUND, "US WEEKLY": I think the number is 94 percent of his regular listeners plan to come back today and listen again. And most experts are saying that they're likening his addiction to more like Robert Downey, Jr.'s addiction rather than Jimmy Swaggart's; that he's more of an entertainer rather than a preacher. And those core people, those ditto heads, are going to feel for him and come back and be loyal.
JODI KANTOR, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Well, he may attract new listeners, because...
O'BRIEN: I was going to ask that, yes. KANTOR: ... the event today has become this incredible piece of theater in which everybody is waiting to see what piece of rhetoric he will come up with to explain himself.
O'BRIEN: Well, I guess we all will...
SIGESMUND: Mark your calendars for noon.
O'BRIEN: Absolutely. Yes, we'll just have to wait and see.
All right, let's talk, B.J., about the 31st annual American Music Awards. Let's start with what Jimmy Kimmel had to say, because I thought this was kind of weird. He did this right at the top of the show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY KIMMEL, ENTERTAINER: No thanking God. God does not watch television. And if he did, he would not be watching this show.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Huh. Do you want to start off that way?
(CROSSTALK)
SIGESMUND: Go ahead and thank God in the end. You know, this show, like most award shows, the first 20 minutes is the best part. You had Britney Spears opening it, doing what she does best: taking off her clothes and lip-synching.
O'BRIEN: She's gotten really good at that.
SIGESMUND: Yes. The transition to Kidd Rock, who I think really became something last night in a lot of people's eyes. He sang beautifully. He sang, "It Feels Like Making Love," which was great. And he won an award, and he looked much more accessible than he ever has. And he had Pamela Anderson on his arm again, which...
O'BRIEN: Who apparently was not wearing a whole heck of a lot himself last night.
SIGESMUND: That always helps. You know, the show -- the performances were the best parts. I thought that the speeches weren't very good.
(CROSSTALK)
KANTOR: But doesn't it all just feel imitative of the MTV Music Video Awards? I mean, can anything really match that Britney-Madonna kiss...
SIGESMUND: No.
KANTOR: ... as an attention-getting device?
O'BRIEN: We did (UNINTELLIGIBLE) over 750,000 times on AMERICAN MORNING that one morning.
KANTOR: Exactly.
SIGESMUND: Yes, there was really no iconic moment like that.
BOROWITZ: The AMA is so important to the music industry, though, because when an artist wins the AMA award, the next day millions of fans download that music for free.
O'BRIEN: Right.
BOROWITZ: So, it's very important.
O'BRIEN: And I do have to send a shout out to Luther, who took away two awards.
BOROWITZ: Yes, two.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
BOROWITZ: That was kind a nice moment.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
SIGESMUND: Right. That was (UNINTELLIGIBLE) moment, and his mom was great.
O'BRIEN: I thought that was nice.
All right, Jodi, let's talk a little bit about these alpha male movies that have come out. We've got Russell Crowe in a movie. We've got Tom Cruise coming up in his movie, "The Last Samurai." It looks like "Elf" with Will Ferrell trounced Russell Crowe anyway.
KANTOR: Well, it didn't quite trounce them. It only won by a hair, but this really did feel like the start of the holiday movie season, A, because of "Elf," which is, of course, about an elf. But also because "Master and Commander" is typical of these very brawny, epic, old style.
O'BRIEN: Manly men.
KANTOR: There is barely a woman in that entire movie. But all season we're going to be seeing movie-making on that scale -- the kind of movie that demands, you know, 500 extras with 500 handmade silver swords that they can brandish.
O'BRIEN: Do viewers love that? Or do you think that they do these big extravaganzas and they always sort of...
KANTOR: I have to say...
SIGESMUND: It's really the time of year.
O'BRIEN: No offense to Russell Crowe.
(CROSSTALK)
SIGESMUND: It's really the time of year for big spectacles like this. This is where studios put their big ticket items, spend the most money. I think "Master and Commander" cost $130 million that the A-ticket stars like Russell Crowe who appeal -- yes, it's a very male movie, but he also appeals to woman. And this movie -- he has a soft center in this movie like he did in "Gladiator" that I think it will appeal to women.
BOROWITZ: I think for those of us who had to go see "Under the Tuscany Sun" (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
O'BRIEN: Hey, I liked that movie.
BOROWITZ: I know you did.
O'BRIEN: Oh. All right, as always, you guys, nice to have you. Thanks so much for your insights, and we'll check back in with you next week. Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired November 17, 2003 - 07:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: It's time for "90-Second Pop," and our fast-talking panel is ready to tackle three of today's hottest pop culture topics in just a minute and a half each.
With us this morning, Andy Borowitz, humorist and author of "Who Moved my Soap: the CEO's Guide to Surviving in Prison." Jodi Kantor is arts and leisure editor of "The New York Times." And B.J. Sigesmund is a staff editor for "US Weekly."
Nice to have you all. Thanks for joining us.
ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: Good to be here.
O'BRIEN: And let's get right into it. Rush Limbaugh, after five weeks of rehab, coming back to his show. Give me a sense of what you think his listeners, how they're going to respond.
BOROWITZ: Well, I think they'll respond well. I mean, I think they're very loyal. I mean, I think some people will accuse Rush of hypocrisy, because he came out against drug addicts and drug abuse.
O'BRIEN: Funny you should mention that. I have a quote. He said this: "Too many whites" -- meaning white people -- "are getting away with drug use. The answer is to go out and find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them and send them up the river." That was back in '95. Who knew he'd be talking about himself a few years later?
BOROWITZ: Well, the good news is that he has found one white drug addict. So, he's well on the way to that campaign. But I don't know. I actually have some compassion for Rush, because if you think about it, if you had to listen to Rush Limbaugh's voice everyday, you might take painkillers, too. I mean, it's really something, you know, to be concerned about.
B.J. SIGESMUND, "US WEEKLY": I think the number is 94 percent of his regular listeners plan to come back today and listen again. And most experts are saying that they're likening his addiction to more like Robert Downey, Jr.'s addiction rather than Jimmy Swaggart's; that he's more of an entertainer rather than a preacher. And those core people, those ditto heads, are going to feel for him and come back and be loyal.
JODI KANTOR, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Well, he may attract new listeners, because...
O'BRIEN: I was going to ask that, yes. KANTOR: ... the event today has become this incredible piece of theater in which everybody is waiting to see what piece of rhetoric he will come up with to explain himself.
O'BRIEN: Well, I guess we all will...
SIGESMUND: Mark your calendars for noon.
O'BRIEN: Absolutely. Yes, we'll just have to wait and see.
All right, let's talk, B.J., about the 31st annual American Music Awards. Let's start with what Jimmy Kimmel had to say, because I thought this was kind of weird. He did this right at the top of the show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY KIMMEL, ENTERTAINER: No thanking God. God does not watch television. And if he did, he would not be watching this show.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Huh. Do you want to start off that way?
(CROSSTALK)
SIGESMUND: Go ahead and thank God in the end. You know, this show, like most award shows, the first 20 minutes is the best part. You had Britney Spears opening it, doing what she does best: taking off her clothes and lip-synching.
O'BRIEN: She's gotten really good at that.
SIGESMUND: Yes. The transition to Kidd Rock, who I think really became something last night in a lot of people's eyes. He sang beautifully. He sang, "It Feels Like Making Love," which was great. And he won an award, and he looked much more accessible than he ever has. And he had Pamela Anderson on his arm again, which...
O'BRIEN: Who apparently was not wearing a whole heck of a lot himself last night.
SIGESMUND: That always helps. You know, the show -- the performances were the best parts. I thought that the speeches weren't very good.
(CROSSTALK)
KANTOR: But doesn't it all just feel imitative of the MTV Music Video Awards? I mean, can anything really match that Britney-Madonna kiss...
SIGESMUND: No.
KANTOR: ... as an attention-getting device?
O'BRIEN: We did (UNINTELLIGIBLE) over 750,000 times on AMERICAN MORNING that one morning.
KANTOR: Exactly.
SIGESMUND: Yes, there was really no iconic moment like that.
BOROWITZ: The AMA is so important to the music industry, though, because when an artist wins the AMA award, the next day millions of fans download that music for free.
O'BRIEN: Right.
BOROWITZ: So, it's very important.
O'BRIEN: And I do have to send a shout out to Luther, who took away two awards.
BOROWITZ: Yes, two.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
BOROWITZ: That was kind a nice moment.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
SIGESMUND: Right. That was (UNINTELLIGIBLE) moment, and his mom was great.
O'BRIEN: I thought that was nice.
All right, Jodi, let's talk a little bit about these alpha male movies that have come out. We've got Russell Crowe in a movie. We've got Tom Cruise coming up in his movie, "The Last Samurai." It looks like "Elf" with Will Ferrell trounced Russell Crowe anyway.
KANTOR: Well, it didn't quite trounce them. It only won by a hair, but this really did feel like the start of the holiday movie season, A, because of "Elf," which is, of course, about an elf. But also because "Master and Commander" is typical of these very brawny, epic, old style.
O'BRIEN: Manly men.
KANTOR: There is barely a woman in that entire movie. But all season we're going to be seeing movie-making on that scale -- the kind of movie that demands, you know, 500 extras with 500 handmade silver swords that they can brandish.
O'BRIEN: Do viewers love that? Or do you think that they do these big extravaganzas and they always sort of...
KANTOR: I have to say...
SIGESMUND: It's really the time of year.
O'BRIEN: No offense to Russell Crowe.
(CROSSTALK)
SIGESMUND: It's really the time of year for big spectacles like this. This is where studios put their big ticket items, spend the most money. I think "Master and Commander" cost $130 million that the A-ticket stars like Russell Crowe who appeal -- yes, it's a very male movie, but he also appeals to woman. And this movie -- he has a soft center in this movie like he did in "Gladiator" that I think it will appeal to women.
BOROWITZ: I think for those of us who had to go see "Under the Tuscany Sun" (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
O'BRIEN: Hey, I liked that movie.
BOROWITZ: I know you did.
O'BRIEN: Oh. All right, as always, you guys, nice to have you. Thanks so much for your insights, and we'll check back in with you next week. Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
