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Monday, Nov 9, 2009
The latest product from O'Reilly's factory is, God help us, a self-help book.
Oct 17, 2003 | At first glimpse, Bill O'Reilly's new book, "Who's Looking Out for You?" seems like another cynical attempt sell a few million copies of an overstuffed pamphlet. But there's something different about the latest volume from the unofficial Fox News mascot: It's his first foray into the world of self-help publishing.
It may sound odd to be getting advice from the bombastic talk-show host best known for shouting down his guests, calling them "pinheads" and, when civility fails, telling them to shut up. In fact, O'Reilly's fairly unbalanced behavior often suggests that he should be on the receiving end of some professional advice. Perhaps O'Reilly -- or at least his publishers -- sense this. Witness the front cover of "Who's Looking Out for You?": O'Reilly sits by a computer monitor, wearing a casual button-down and an uncharacteristically avuncular expression. He looks relaxed, even approachable, as if you had just brought him a mug of tea while he was helping you out with your taxes. "Come closer," he seems to be saying. "I won't bite."
Is it possible that we're seeing the softer side of the "no-spin zone"? O'Reilly 's image certainly could use a good airbrushing. And now that Bush's numbers are sinking and Rush is an admitted doper, conservatives could use a P.R. boost. Could a kindler, gentler Bill O'Reilly be the ticket? With "Who's Looking Out for You?" O'Reilly has ventured out of the echo chamber that is "The O'Reilly Factor" to try out a new role. He wants to be your father figure. Though he already has his hands full with his own pair of rarely mentioned offspring, he apparently has plenty of parental attention to go around. He's even engraved his own "Ten Commandments of Effective Parenting," condensed thusly: "The primary duty of a parent is to give his or her children the tools to build a happy and successful life." If your folks didn't do the job right, he's happy to give it a try.
In his introduction, O'Reilly explains that he is so grateful to his millions of loyal fans that he wants to give them a "big thank-you" by sharing his secrets for how to make their lives "much happier and probably much longer." "Your humble correspondent," as he likes to call himself, wants to help you become a better person: an honest and caring individual who respectfully listens to others' opinions and doesn't go around filing frivolous lawsuits. By the time you're done reading his book, you'll be a "kick-butt problem solver" who can face your problems and "knee them in the groin." Don't let the $25 price tag fool you -- this book is a gift to you, the reader.
But don't cozy up with Papa Bill quite so quickly. His father fixation explains a lot of his overbearing, melodramatic behavior of late. It also makes his attempt to portray himself as a purveyor of homey advice all the more creepy. With its vaguely Ashcroftian title, "Who's Looking Out for You?" conjures the image of O'Reilly as a paternalistic panopticon keeper, monitoring Americans' political beliefs and personal lives whether we like it or not. Maybe he should have called it "Who's Your Daddy?"
As the wannabe father of us all, he's a scowling, scolding presence, dishing out tough love and poking his nose into our affairs. This is the O'Reilly who, as proudly recounted in his book, filed a complaint with child-protection officials on behalf of the 9-year-old daughter of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown. It's the same O'Reilly who famously went ballistic on "Factor" guest Jeremy Glick, whose father was killed in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11. After Glick criticized Bush and the war on terrorism, O'Reilly lectured, "I don't think your father would be approving of this." Displeased with Glick's perceived lack of filial piety, O'Reilly ordered him to shut up and then demanded that his microphone be cut.
O'Reilly recites the well-worn tale of his "rough-hewn" upbringing in an Irish Catholic family in blue-collar Levittown, Long Island (actually, he grew up in its tonier neighbor, Westbury, according to his mother). O'Reilly again tries to spin his middle-class childhood as a suburban version of "Angela's Ashes." This romanticizing might be excused if he weren't so quick to slap down anyone he perceives as a class traitor. Jennifer Lopez is slammed for trying to keep her street cred as "Jenny from the block." Meanwhile, Billy from Levittown, who reportedly hauls in $4.5 million a year, self-consciously insists that he'd rather be eating Whoppers than hanging out at swanky Manhattan parties. Later, he gripes how, when he was host of "Inside Edition" ("one of those tabloid infotainment shows, but a good one") he was denied "perks" such as first-class air travel. You would think he wouldn't mind sitting with the salt of the earth back in coach, munching on peanuts.
