Bill Maher bent minds Friday night … with the premise companies and organizations have hidden behind old images of who they once were … changing everything but their name.
The “Real Time” host ticked off some pretty undeniable examples … TLC used to be about learning … now, “My Teen Is Pregnant and So Am I.” Yet it’s still called TLC.
A&E used to be about arts — now, “Psychic Kids.”
The History Channel offers nothing historic anymore, and MTV has nothing to do with music.
As Bill says, “You can have a petting zoo and turn it into a bondage dungeon, but you gotta change the sign!”
And, then there’s Playboy, and Bill harkens back to the ‘ol days when it was a “whack-off mag” for straight guys. Now, the woman are gone and the mags gone in every which direction.
And, then there’s the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue … and here he drops a line you’ll just have to listen to yourselves.
Two more. Weight Watchers, which he says used to be a club for people to lose weight. Now, he says, despite the fact obesity is linked to a slew of serious diseases, it’s recast as body positivity. The company’s now ashamed of its name, he says, so it’s now just WW and people who talk about weight loss are slammed.
And, finally — and maybe most ominous — the ACLU. The “L” stands for liberty, and the old ACLU used to be about protecting free speech, no matter how offensive. Now the ACLU has turned its back on its calling, and cautions it will NOT fight for speech that is offensive to marginalized groups or speech “contrary to its values.” As Bill says, “Free speech is a more important value than never being offended.”