from bestweekever.tv
There's no doubt about it: Elisabeth Hasselbeck is scrappy. The "View" co-star (and, lest we forget, former "Survivor" finalist) lashed out at "Law & Order: SVU" this week on the air after SVU ran an episode in which a victim named "Elizabeth Hassenbeck" is raped — twice — and then murdered. Totally creepy, right? You'd think the L&O people would be aghast at the coincidence — if it was a coincidence. However, Hasselbeck does not think it was a coincidence, and anyway, L&O's executive producer was not, according to Hasselbeck, aghast, or contrite, and come to think of it, did not actually apologize.
This, at least, is how Hasselbeck recounts it on "The View" — actually quite reasonably, for those of you who may doubt it. Amidst gentle prompting from Barbara, tart interjections from Rosie and generic filler from Joy (who has ceded serious camera time to Rosie), Hasselbeck told of calling up L&O: SVU exec producer Neal Baer to complain about the use of her almost-name for a horribly violated and victimized woman. Baer's response, when he "eventually" called her back, was to dismiss her concerns, saying she should "chalk that up to coincidence" and she said "Really? That's funny. Because your show is so not based on coincidence, and pulls things from the headlines and is so focused on headlines, so I'm having a hard time chalking this up to coincidence." A fair point, that.
Here's where we sorta wish a desert island and some bug-food on Baer right now: His response was, "I'm sorry we hurt your feelings." WTF? They name a double-rape-and-murder victim after her, trace the graphic crime on the show, and that's the apology? Hasslebeck said as much, and regretfully informed him that his castmembers would not be welcome on "The View" under these circumstances. Some schlep she has, no? Baer, an expert at damage control and knowing when to suck it up, said "You know, I don't have to deal with you... goodbye, lady!" And hung up. (Hasselbeck's dramatic re-enactment of the "Goodbye, lady!" part is above).
It's pretty obvious that the naming was intentional — there's no way a roomful of TV people could be oblivious to the similarity, or a setful of TV people, for that matter. So it's pretty obvious slap at Hasselbeck, who has created good TV but bad will amongst some viewers with her vociferous pro-life stance and general Conservative cheerleaderism (in other words, yes, Barbara, it probably was about her politics). I'm sorry, but that is just not acceptable — it is horribly violent and creepy and, if not directly threatening, is certainly implicitly so (if you don't see why, then you've never been a woman glancing nervously over your shoulder as you walk down a darkened, empty street). May I remind that these shows are called "ripped from the headlines" for a reason? This sort of violence against women happens. You have to wonder at the thought process of the people involved: "Hey! Let's totally name this woman who is raped and murdered after Elisabeth Hasselback! Hm, you think that sends a message? Naaaah." As Tim Goodman says in the SF Chronicle: It's juvenile, yes, but also malicious.
A note: Two years ago, or less, even, this moment may have gone unnoticed beyond "View" viewers; today, it's picked up by by blogs and online video (kudos to Best Week Ever for "Don't Hassel The Beck"). Just another way in which different stories are receiving different emphasis in the Age of YouTube.
