Unnerving To Watch

Dorothy Rabinowitz explain the appeal of "The View" in today's Wall Street Journal:

Ms. Shepherd's answer -- not in my house -- remained firm, but the tone was now more agitated. The best thing now, clearly, would be a change of subject -- something that never comes easily. Once these conversations start on their inexorable drive toward hell, the only way out is the commercial break, which finally arrived -- though evidently not soon enough for Ms. Goldberg, the show's otherwise unflinching new moderator. It had been an exchange both riveting and unnerving to watch -- the kind that gives the show, now in its 11th season, its life force and also its notoriety.

The show's strength owes something to the length of its colloquies, the argumentation that can run on and on, exposing raw nerves and deeply held attitudes. Which isn't to underestimate its celebrity obsession and show-business side, its parade of famous or famous-enough guest stars, its gossip mode. Wednesday's "View" began with a story about a McDonald's in London that required customers to depart the premises as soon as they finished eating, then moved on to the matter of George Bush's decision to quit drinking years ago and Ms. Behar's confident assertion that the president was once an alcoholic and must still consider himself one. A view that unmistakably irritated the rest of the panel, as well as the guest star, country singer Sara Evans. On from there to Britney Spears, who, they alleged, was addicted to Frappuccinos. "If you drank five Frappuccinos a day, you'd drop your baby, too," Ms. Shepherd opined.

I still don't get it. Maybe it's a chromosome issue.