In Mort Crim's opinion, the misogyny and chauvinism that gets lampooned in the "Anchorman" movies is not emblematic of the real culture of newsrooms in the 1970s.
Why does Mort Crim's opinion matter?
The retired news anchor was at WDIV-TV Detroit from 1978 to 1997, and served as Will Ferrell's inspiration for his Ron Burgundy character. When asked about the "Anchorman" movies' humorous depiction of the TV news business on HuffPost Live, Mort Crim said that he considers himself a feminist.
Crim told HuffPost Live's Ricky Camilleri, "It's a misconception to say that we were chauvinistic in the sense of being gender biased. I don't think that was it at all. I've always prided myself in being a feminist and my daughter would tell you that she was raised in a home where we taught her she could be anything, go anywhere, do anything that she wanted to do."
Like the Ron Burgundy character, Crim was joined by a female co-anchor when Carmen Harlan, who happens to be African-American, was hired. But unlike the Ron Burgundy character, Crim was more welcoming.
"I was very pleased that news, like society was moving in the direction of inclusiveness," he said. "And I was really privileged, really blessed to work with an absolutely charming and effective and wonderful co-anchor, Carmen Harlan, a bright, intelligent, good reporter, good interviewer and just an all-around nice person."
There was, however, one scene from the first "Anchorman" that reminded him of his days in the news business. When Christina Applegate's "Veronica Corningstone" character was assigned a "fluff" story about the birth of a baby panda, he recalled another former co-anchor, Jessica Savitch, being pigeonholed due to her gender as well. But he said that Savitch resisted, and ultimately won.
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