Jay Leno slams nurses!

SmilingBluEyes · Oct 16, 2005

Everyone has the right to disagree or agree with the intentions of the original post. What will not be tolerated however, is blantant attacks and/or inflammatory remarks in the spirit of your debate. Please, kindly remember Terms Of Service regarding friendly debate, when choosing your words to argue a point.

Thanks for understanding.

allnurses Guide · Oct 16, 2005

Jay Leno is starting to get a bit burned out, I believe. He used to be very funny, now he just doesn't seem to be that into it anymore.
I still don't think that crack is anything to get all bent out of shape over.

I love Jay . . . . and the way he interviews his guests . . very down to earth. And I love "JayWalking" . . . what a riot!

steph

fins · Oct 17, 2005

The thing is, he wasn't even slamming nurses. He wasn't saying nurses are making Mediao films, he was saying that a lot of Mediao films have nurses as characters.

Now I, personally, have NEVER seen a Mediao film, but some of my friends have, and they assure me that a lot of times, one (or more) of the characters is a nurse.

So it didn't seem to me like Leno was slamming nurses, he was just making the observation that a lot of Media flicks feature nurses as characters.

He could have made the same observation about pizza delivery boys (another occupation that my friends assure me are featured prominently in the adult movie industry.) It wouldn't have been an insinuation that pizza delivery boys are of low moral character, it would have been an observation about the frequency that they are used as characters in skin flicks.

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Oct 17, 2005

not really, if she refuses to change her attitude about something so trivial she should expect responses like that. Geez lady it was a joke!

It is "trivial" to you. That is your opinion, and your right to express it. The difference is that i'm not shrugging you off because of it.

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Oct 17, 2005

It's about respecting another's right to have a different opinion or point of view.

Exactly. I thought this was common knowledge.

rn/writer, RN · Oct 17, 2005

It is "trivial" to you. That is your opinion, and your right to express it. The difference is that i'm not shrugging you off because of it.

There's a difference between disagreeing with your opinion and saying you shouldn't express it at all.

Having read through this thread, I find myself agreeing with the posters who have suggested that you're giving too much weight to the words of a comedian. If he were a public policy maker and he tried to pass off his comments as fact, I'd say that's worth a challenge or two. But Jay Leno is a man who, by definition, makes jokes at others' expense. If you want to take offense, no one's going to stop you, but in my opinion, you give his comments MORE significance by drawing attention to them rather than simply dismissing them as the silliness they are.

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Oct 17, 2005

There's a difference between disagreeing with your opinion and saying you shouldn't express it at all.

There's also such a thing as respecting an opinion, whether it's agreed with or not, which is what i was addressing in what you quoted.

imenid37 · Oct 17, 2005

Marie,

I love Leno, but I can see why you're offended. Hey differences make the world go around. To me it was like one of those type of jokes where he says "Communication lost w/ police officer...Did they check Dunkin Donuts?" IMHO, shows which are serious like ER or House should be showing nurses in a more realistic light. They certainly have perpetuated that notion that physicians are "all that" over the years. Comedy is what it is..funny to some, not (and even offensive at times) to others. I would love to see a good public campaign to educate about nursing, not just to recruit people, but to build a little more respect and realism in terms of the public's expectations when they are a patient. I don't think comedy aimed at nurses really does too much one way or the other. We have lots of joking around about lawyers, police, and physicians about crooked practices, billing and laziness on the part of these professionals and I don't think (IMHO) it really influences how people view them. I'd like more respect, but I think we should also remember that a recent poll in the U.S.(CNN or TIME, I think) showed that the public views nurses as one of the most honest and trusted group of professionals. :) I hope everyone feels free to express their opinion here, because I know when I hear the other side of an issue it does cause me to examine my position and sometimes even change my viewpoint or at least understand where others are coming from. Lastly, I'd like to say, I think my opinion is influenced by the fact that I like Leno. I remember when Lisa (ding-a) Ling was one the View bashing nurses, I was mad. I think she's superficial and self-absorbed as are all of the ladies on there and I frankly, didn't want her commenting on my profession. (Just food for thought) I know some people here probably LOVE the View. Hey that's your right.

URO-RN · Oct 17, 2005

here is a recent article about how docs feel about medical shows and how they are portrayed on tv....

http://slate.msn.com/id/2126916/?gt1=7125

the american medical association started campaigning in the early 20th century to redefine doctors as scientists and healers, rather than quacks and leech-bearing butchers. when the first medical dramas hit the airwaves in 1951 with the debut of city hospital, the ama demanded from television producers the right to revise scripts in the name of medical accuracy. the association struck deals with nbc and abc that gave it veto rights in exchange for an ama seal of approval to be aired at the end of each vetted show. often the ama wasted its time carping about decorum. on ben casey, male doctors were not allowed to be seen sitting on female patients' beds, driving fancy cars, or discussing dying patients casually over coffee. nor, usually, were they allowed to make mistakes. ama representatives were hawks for medical accuracy, ensuring that surgeons held scalpels properly. they were also careful to protect their own interests, editing out story lines that focused on medical malpractice, according to dr. joseph turow, professor at the university of pennsylvania's annenberg school of communication and author of playing doctor: television, storytelling, and medical power.

rogramjet · Oct 17, 2005

I wasn't that offended by it. It was a part of his monolog ... a context in which he pokes fun at everything. "The Tonight Show" monolog has been a national tradition for over 30 years .... first with Steve Allen, then Jack Parr, then Johnny Carson, now Jay Leno. The monolog pokes fun at national institutions, public figures, etc. -- everybody gets a little teasing equally -- especially the high and mighty.
If we nurses can't take a little gentle ribbing from such a respected and traditional source, then we have a problem. We need to handle such things with grace, dignity, and good humor. Everybody knew it was a joke: there is no chance that anyone in his right mind took it seriously. We need to not take it too seriously, either.
One sign of self-assurance is the ability to make fun of yourself now and then. If we lose that, we will truly make ourselves look silly.
We need to pick our battles carefully.
llg

AMEN!!!!!!

chadash · Oct 17, 2005

There's also such a thing as respecting an opinion, whether it's agreed with or not, which is what i was addressing in what you quoted.

doh! forgot who said this! but disagreement is OK, we are just talking about ideas...

"Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people."

Guess that means we have great minds!

allnurses Guide · Oct 17, 2005

here is a recent article about how docs feel about medicaL shows and how they are portrayed on Tv....
http://slate.msn.com/id/2126916/?GT1=7125

Very interesting.

Thanks!

steph