Monday 26 February 2018

Anchorman

"It is anchorman, not anchorlady. And that is a scientific fact."
Champ Kind (Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy)

Australian TV anchor Karl Stefanovic saw the sexism his female colleagues had to deal with and decided to start an experiment. He wore the same blue suit for a whole year (2013/14) every morning on Channel Nine's Today programme. There was absolutely no reaction. His female co-host Lisa Wilkinson, however, kept receiving feedback (e.g. "Who the heck is Lisa's stylist?", "Today's outfit is particularly jarring and awful. Get some style.") (via).



"No one has noticed; no one gives a shit. But women, they wear the wrong colour and they get pulled up. They say the wrong thing and there's thousands of tweets written about them.
Women are judged much more harshly and keenly for what they do, what they say and what they wear.
I've worn the same suit on air for a year – except for a couple of times because of circumstance – to make a point. I'm judged on my interviews, my appalling sense of humour – on how I do my job, basically. Whereas women are quite often judged on what they're wearing or how their hair is ... that's [what I wanted to test]."
Karl Stefanovic

"Today’s media landscape, particularly for women, is one now so focused on the glossy and the glamorous, it often eclipses and undermines everything else. When you’re a woman doing breakfast TV, you quickly learn the sad truth that what you wear can sometimes generate a bigger reaction than even any political interview you ever do."
Lisa Wilkinson



Quotes from the movie (via):

Ed Harken: "A lot of you have been hearing the affiliates complaining about a lack of diversity on the news team."
Champ Kind: "What in the hell's diversity?"
Ron Burgundy: "Well, I could be wrong, but I believe diversity is an old, old wooden ship that was used during the Civil War era."
Ed Harken: "Ron, I would be surprised if the affiliates were concerned about the lack of an old, old wooden ship, but nice try."

Ron Burgundy: "Do you know who I am?"
Veronica Corningstone: "No, I can't say that I do."
Ron Burgundy: "I don't know how to put this, but, I'm kind of a big deal."
Veronica Corningstone: "Really?"
Ron Burgundy: "People know me."
Veronica Corningstone: "Well I'm very happy for you."
Ron Burgundy: "I'm very important. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany."

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image of Will Ferrell, "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" via

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