Posted on 04/10/2005 6:15:01 PM PDT by CHARLITE
I am absolutely captivated by the reality TV series 'The Apprentice'. Not just because of its drama (of which there is much) but because it shows how good old fashioned capitalism – hard work, common sense and entrepreneurship – win out over politically correct ideology. Almost uniquely, the show presents capitalist leaders as the hero, rather than the typical stereotypes such as the evil Mr Burns from the Simpsons. The reality of such men is that while many of them may be cold, or unpleasant, they are the necessary servants of the marketplace. Their bold and forceful careers give the public not only innovative and affordable products and services, but untold jobs.
The American and British series feature two of capitalism's most uncompromising patriarchs: Donald Trump and Alan Sugar. Mr Trump, with his extraordinary hair and bombastic manner has frequently been portrayed by the media in less than flattering ways. But from what I have seen of the American show Mr Trump comes across as intelligent and fair. The same can be said of the boss in the British show: Sir Alan Sugar – the Jewish industrialist who founded and still runs the electronics company Amstrad.
If you haven't seen the show before, the basic premise is that the boss is looking for an apprentice, and 14 young hopefuls are competing for this role. In each week's episode they are split into two groups and given a new business task, such as designing a new product, running a department in a luxury store, or convincing celebrities to part with valuable possessions for a charity auction. By the end of each episode the reckoning arrives: one team will have won, one will have lost. The winners are rewarded with treats such as a luxury dinner with Mr Trump or a weekend in Monaco. The losers are subject to a boardroom meeting where they are required to analyse the reason for failing and plead their individual cases. Finally, at the end of each episode Trump and Sugar fix one of the contenders with their vulturine gaze, jab a finger in their direction and declare "You're fired!"
Sometimes these firings cause you to jump for joy, sometimes they are sad, but they are never cruel. Its nothing personal, it is strictly business. In fact, it is this masculine, detached and logical approach to the firings that stops it from being cruel. In a world full of industrial tribunals, lawsuits and compensation it is almost shocking to hear those two words. It is also refreshingly value-affirming: actions do matter, they do count, and there are winners and losers. Men generally thrive under this kind of competitive regime.
In the British series the conventional 'wisdom' of the management gurus – that women are more effective workers – has been shattered. In all the areas that are now supposed to favour women, the men have shown themselves, as a group, to be far better. This includes communication skills, multi-tasking and acting as a team-player. The women, in contrast, have often become over-emotional (even breaking down in tears), mired in management jargon rather than getting on with the job at hand, and unable to cohere together as a team. Indeed, it was only when the female and male teams were mixed in together in the later episodes that any of the women seemed able to perform. Nor can this be due to biased editing on behalf of the broadcasters: the British version of The Apprentice is shown on the usually misandric BBC.
I haven't seen much of the American series but I managed to watch some extracts from it online. It was interesting to compare the styles of Trump and Sugar. Trump seems to like aggressive energy in the boardroom and (at least in the segments I've seen) has a greater respect for the academic imprimatur of a degree, Sugar seems to prefer a slightly less emotional style, he also pays little respect to those with MBAs, preferring to look for a natural, down-to-earth common sense in his would-be apprentice.
Yet even with these different styles of personality, both Trump and Sugar respect the bottom-line more than the modern creed of diversity, minority quotas, and feminist affirmative action.
In an age of political correctness, quotas, and business-by-committee it is refreshing to observe these iconoclastic titans of commerce in action. The Apprentice is reality TV in the truest sense: it shows how business flourishes by respecting results – the real world – rather than ideology and PC theory.
Darren Blacksmith is the webmaster of www.cooltools4men.com
Feminism and Political Correctness is a cancer to any society.
I didn't realize the show was also on the BBC. If there was a Japanese version of the Apprentice, the fired person would be expected to commit harakiri.
What a hilarious notion!! You're so funny.......and you're right, too. Humiliation at losing is still a part of Japanese culture.
I am beginnign to think some men are threatened by a strong woman.
On the recent Trump-based series, I saw a woman named Angie do her strategizing and politicizing, and how it poisoned the entire team - they kept losing. She did not get away with it, she ended up fired, though.
It's difficult to lead a small group of head-strong people.
and
It's difficult to be in a group which is being led by a less-than-stellar leader.
But in the corporate world, one finds oneself on both ends quite often (at least I have). I think many people just don't grasp the complexities (which is one reason the PC nonsense can creep in). On the show, it's quite easy to see that qualities like stubborness, indecisiveness, poor communication, and childish back-biting are things that kill a project. It's like Betamax vs VHS: having the better idea is a good thing, but better execution usually beats the poorly executed stroke of genius. Sometimes, just knowing how not to self-destruct is the key to success.
We knew that ages ago, didn't we? (Congrats on your practical!)
It would make the taxi ride at the end kind of messy.
I'm still waiting for this Chris guy to totally blow a gasket. I can't tell if it is being edited to make him look bad or if he really is that edgy.
Some of us find strong women e x h i l i r a t i n g.
;O)
"beginning" to think?
I'd say it's really nothing new.
thanks! the job search begins tomorrow :-)
Best of luck!
Yeah, what's up with that? It didn't used to look so lame. Why does he comb it forward? And why did he dye it red?
While I don't disagree that "dynamic men" trump PC feminism (what doesn't, except perhaps in the bedroom, if you can really tell the difference.....) I would point out for objectivity sake that the men's team in the first Apprentice series went down in flames over & over before the teams were mixed out of necessity (too few men left to keep the original format).
You should make a huge banner out of that phrase and have it posted on top of the gates at NEVERLAND!
Cheers
This phrase is inevitably trotted out every time some "strong woman" needs to excuse her failure, which is usually due to pissing off everyone around her, male and female.
When a man is like that, people call him an a$$h*le, and everyone knows what they mean and don't blame the co-workers for their opinion. But when a woman is like that, and is termed a female canine, for some reason her behavior is defended as by some as "strength", and the co-workers are suspected of misogyny.
whatever
The godly woman is the truly strong woman, as always, and there aren't many.
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