About us Login Get email updates
Research
Print

"Feminist" Marc Rudov believes "most American women are as shallow" as Sex in the City characters

June 02, 2008 6:35 pm ET

Please upgrade your flash player. The video for this item requires a newer version of Flash Player. If you are unable to install flash you can download a QuickTime version of the video.

EMBED

SUMMARY: On The O'Reilly Factor, Marc Rudov said men should boycott the Sex and the City movie and would not see it because "paying to hear women whine is as stupid as paying for cobwebs, because you can get them both at home for free." When Bill O'Reilly asked Margaret Hoover whether she believed "that most American women are as shallow as" the four main characters in the movie, Rudov interrupted: "I do."

40 Comments

On the May 30 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, while discussing the new Sex and the City movie, author and self-described "feminist" Marc Rudov said men should boycott the movie and would not see it because "paying to hear women whine is as stupid as paying for cobwebs, because you can get them both at home for free." When host Bill O'Reilly challenged Rudov's assertion that the movie was "Woodstock for entitled princesses" and asked Fox News analyst Margaret Hoover whether she believed "that most American women are as shallow as" the four main characters in the movie, Rudov interrupted: "I do."

Rudov's criticisms of the movie echoed comments he made earlier that day on Your World with Neil Cavuto, on which he sparred with Fox News legal analyst Lis Wiehl over whether the women in the movie were "whining." The segment was accompanied by on-screen text reading "Rudov: Men Hear Enough Whining at Home." Rudov said that "this movie shows women at their worst. They're conniving, they're manipulative, they're miserable, they're complaining all the time; who wants to pay to see that?" He later said, "[A]ll the women recognize themselves on the screen, and that's why they want to go."

As Media Matters for America noted, on the April 10 edition of Your World, Rudov referred to this country as a "gynocracy" and said of Sen. Hillary Clinton: "The woman is not called a B-word because she's assertive and aggressive; she's called a B-word because she acts like one." On the April 10 edition of The O'Reilly Factor, Rudov stated that one reason "the beauty pageant industry is failing" is because "the contestants are supposed to be good girls, and there aren't good girls," later adding: "Girls just love to expose themselves." On the March 26 edition of The O'Reilly Factor, Rudov stated: "You know, you started talking about female happiness before, would women be happier and why our men are depressed. Men are depressed, and it's their own fault, because men are allowing women to take over the world. You know, female happiness is an oxymoron." During the March 10 edition of The O'Reilly Factor, when O'Reilly asked about the "downside" of a woman president, Rudov responded: "You mean besides the PMS and the mood swings, right?" On the January 4 edition of Your World, Rudov said: "When Barack Obama speaks, men hear, 'Take off for the future.' And when Hillary Clinton speaks, men hear, 'Take out the garbage.' "

From the May 30 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:

HOOVER: I was forced, kicking and screaming. I got to tell you, the movie really redeemed itself from the series. I find the series to be sort of shallow and superficial, sort of women who really can't fill the holes in their soul with the materialistic items they buy every day and the new brands they wear. But the movie really redeemed itself. Suddenly, it's not about all the hoopla and the marriage and materialistic items. It's actually about, well, the marriage, rather than all the show.

O'REILLY: OK.

HOOVER: So, the movie really redeems itself -- not as superficial as the series.

O'REILLY: Now, you just convinced me even more not to go to see it. I have no interest. If it were shallow, I definitely would have gone.

HOOVER: But there's plenty of --

O'REILLY: But if there is a social redeeming part of that film, Margaret, I want no part of it.

Now, Rudov, I just heard you with Cavuto a few hours ago say that the reason women go to see this movie is because they see themselves on the screen. I disagree.

RUDOV: Right.

O'REILLY: I believe the reason women go to see this movie -- and I'm not kidding around now -- are because of the clothes, the shoes, the gossiping about men and the overall tone of dish, D-I-S-H. That's why they go. I don't think very many American women identify with these four.

RUDOV: Oh, come on, Bill. You have to be kidding. That's exactly what women do, and that's why they would see themselves in this movie. And that's exactly why men would not go see it, because paying to hear women whine is as stupid as paying for cobwebs, because you can get them both at home for free. This movie to men --

O'REILLY: Depends where you live, Marc. Maybe in your house, but there's -- my house is a no-whining zone.

RUDOV: This is -- no, no, no. I don't tolerate this. This movie is the cinematic equivalent to ipecac. It's Woodstock for entitled princesses.

O'REILLY: But Marc, come on. You've got --

RUDOV: But instead of being about the blues, it's about the shoes. Come on.

O'REILLY: Look, most American women are not entitled princesses. They're not.

RUDOV: Oh, yes they are, Bill.

O'REILLY: This is -- no, no, no. This is an ur--

RUDOV: Oh, yes they are.

O'REILLY: Look -- where you live in San Francisco, that might be the case.

RUDOV: I don't live in San Francisco.

O'REILLY: Here in Manhattan where I am, there is a bi-- you get out with the real folks. These people are aliens, and that's another attraction for women. They see this kind of behavior that they never see, Margaret. They never see these crazy people --

RUDOV: Margaret, Margaret.

O'REILLY: -- in Jefferson, Missouri.

RUDOV: Margaret, how often -- Margaret -- when you go out a date with a man, Margaret, do you expect him to pay?

HOOVER: You know what, Marc? It goes both ways. Here's the catch. I unfortunately wish --

RUDOV: Do you expect him to pay, Margaret? I know you do.

O'REILLY: All right, Marc, she just asked -- she just answered it.

HOOVER: Sometimes I do. Sometimes I do. Sometimes I pay. Here's the bottom line, Marc. Women, unfortunately -- and Marc's right here, Bill -- a lot of women go to see this movie because they identify with these women, and that's unfortunate. Because these women in this series and in the movie to a certain extent are really sort of -- have low self-confidence, are looking to really fill their emotional lacking with materialistic items, and that's really unfortunate.

O'REILLY: OK.

HOOVER: I wish these women were --

O'REILLY: If that were the case, then this on television -- this HBO series would have gotten 10 times as many viewers as it got. This is a niche --

HOOVER: But it got a lot of viewers. And there are a lot of women --

O'REILLY: No, it didn't get a lot of viewers.

HOOVER: -- that really like this movie. I'm with you. I don't like it.

O'REILLY: In the big scheme of things it did not. It did not.

RUDOV: Bill, that's not the reason.

HOOVER: The reason -- the reason --

RUDOV: The reason is because not all of Americans get HBO. But if you don't think that this movie accurately reflects the way most women behave, then your, you know, Long Island, there's something funny going on there because --

[crosstalk]

HOOVER: Most women don't go out and sleep around every night. This is not how women act.

O'REILLY: It's a certain urban segment of our society. It does not reflect the mainstream women in America. It doesn't.

HOOVER: And it's -- and Bill, even more than that, it's a glorification of a certain urban segment of American society, which is not how most Americans live and not how most women live. Look --

O'REILLY: Are you agreeing or disagreeing with me, Hoover? I can't tell what you're doing tonight.

HOOVER: I'm disagreeing with you, Bill. I'm disagreeing with you.

O'REILLY: You're disagreeing with me. All right.

HOOVER: I'm disagreeing with you.

O'REILLY: You believe that most American women are as shallow as those four?

HOOVER: No, no, no.

RUDOV: I do.

From the May 30 edition of Fox News' Your World with Neil Cavuto:

CAVUTO: Boycott Sex and the City? My next guest telling men to stay far away from what he calls the "chick flick." Marc Rudov says he hears whining at home for free, so why pay for it at the theater? Lis Wiehl says she can't wait to see the movie and is delighted that Marc won't be there.

WIEHL: Yes.

CAVUTO: All right, so, Marc, that's a little cruel, don't you think?

RUDOV: Oh, gee, Neil. Paying to hear women whine is as dumb as paying for cobwebs -- if you just sit at home you can get both for free. This movie is the cinematic equivalent to ipecac. It's Woodstock for entitled princesses. But instead of being about the blues, it's about the shoes.

[...]

CAVUTO: Now, Marc, explain your position.

RUDOV: Well, look, this movie shows women at their worst. They're conniving, they're manipulative, they're miserable, they're complaining all the time; who wants to pay to see that? I mean, come on, and any man who allows himself to get dragged to this movie, the title of his life should be "sex out of pity."

WIEHL: Oh, sorry. First of all.

CAVUTO: That's not necessary. That's not necessary.

WIEHL: First off all, some men are going to want to go, you know, just because -- you know, Marc, maybe you're shocked that no one's asking you to go to it. But a lot of women are gonna say the guys are going to want to go with the women just to be with the women.

[crosstalk]

CAVUTO: But, Lis, why do women like this so much?

[crosstalk]

RUDOV: Neil, do you want to go?

CAVUTO: No, I don't. But, it has nothing to do whether they're whining or not, it's stupid.

RUDOV: It does, it does. It's all about whining.

[crosstalk]

CAVUTO: All right, all right. But, Lis, why do you go? Lis, you're one of the smartest -- Lis, you're one of the smartest people I know. Wicked smart. Wicked smart.

WIEHL: Wicked smart.

CAVUTO: And yet you're going to this thing that -- it just seems stupid to me. So, what's the draw?

RUDOV: Thank you, Neil.

WIEHL: It's fun, you've got strong women who are --

RUDOV: They're not strong.

WIEHL: -- the guys are kind of just boy toys; they're really not the big part of the whole thing. It's these women, their friendships, one of them gets cancer. I mean, there are so many different issues going on that you can't say that this is about whining. It's about female bonding.

CAVUTO: Oh, there's depth. So, Marc there's depth there. There's depth, and you're missing that.

RUDOV: Oh yeah, there's depth and the depth goes underground. Shoes and hats is not depth. I'm sorry -- whining, complaining --

[crosstalk]

CAVUTO: Well, Marc, what movie are you watching this weekend?

RUDOV: I don't know, I haven't figured it out yet.

[...]

CAVUTO: All right, well, you know, Marc, it's going to make a lot of money this weekend probably.

RUDOV: Right. Of course.

CAVUTO: It can't be all women seeing it.

WIEHL: That's right.

RUDOV: Well, all the women recognize themselves on the screen, and that's why they want to go.

Expand All Expand 1st Level Collapse All Add Comment
    • Author by tommy (June 02, 2008 6:41 pm ET)
         

      Whew, I missed both of these Fox News segments so I am forever grateful to have the opportunity to read each one, word for word, here.  

      Now I am finally able to return to my life. 

      Report Abuse
      • Author by snoopy (June 02, 2008 7:30 pm ET)
           
        ... which consists of coming to this website and saying WITH? ;)
        Report Abuse
        • Author by pete592 (June 02, 2008 7:44 pm ET)
             
          Now, now, go easy.  I'm quite sure he's being sincere, not patronizing.
          Report Abuse
      • Author by pete592 (June 02, 2008 7:40 pm ET)
           
        I'm confused.  Is this another one of those 'dissenting opinions'?
        Report Abuse
      • Author by captfoster2 (June 03, 2008 8:47 am ET)
           

        Careful there Marc, people might figure out that the title of your life to be "sex out of pity."

        You slimy piece of dog poop! 

        I'm guessing your mom spanked your bottom one too many times and so you are projecting your hatred of women....... only of FOX!

        Report Abuse
    • Author by wzwriter (June 02, 2008 6:47 pm ET)
         
      How many rocks did they have to look under to find Marc Rudov, the only "human" lower on the evolution scale than Bill O'Reilly?
      Report Abuse
      • Author by pete592 (June 02, 2008 7:43 pm ET)
           

        Not many at all, unless we're experiencing a shortage of misogynistic ****wads in this country.

        Report Abuse
    • Author by sportsguydave (June 02, 2008 6:49 pm ET)
         

      Every time this boob Rudov appears on Faux he loses more brain cells.

      And he didn't start with that many.

      But hey, at least he makes some money to pay for all those 900 calls.

      Report Abuse
    • Author by pithaughn (June 02, 2008 6:51 pm ET)
         
      Rudov - proof that Andrew Dice Clay and Ann Coulter had a child.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by wesley (June 02, 2008 9:04 pm ET)
           
        Pit...good show...I laughed out loud.
        Report Abuse
      • Author by NiceguyEddie (June 03, 2008 8:35 am ET)
           

        ROTFLMAO!!!  OMG Pit, brilliant!  This guy [Rudov] is such an idiot.  Does he ever get laid?  Would any woman in the entire world sleep with this already fairly unattravtive [hairy, goofy-looking] man after he goes on national television and spews all this mysoginistic filth?!  Natural Selection would seem to suggest that his bloodline's generations are numbered.  (But then, con's don't believe in natural selection, so maybe that's why they never learn.) 

        Report Abuse
    • Author by MickD (June 02, 2008 6:58 pm ET)
         
      I'm a professional film critic, and nothing tears me up more than people who comment on a film without seeing it. Rudov didn't see it. His description is nothing like the film I saw. Look, nobody would ever mistake the film for Orson Welles, but the women are good actors, the plot is satisfying for the television views and dang it made a lot of cash (shouldn't that count for something with the Foxites?). It got 4-1/2 out of five from me on the [URL]HollywoodChicago.com[/URL] scale. And I'm a straight (as opposed to crooked) male.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by fawltylogic (June 03, 2008 2:39 am ET)
           

        Yeah, the funny thing is that there is nothing particularly shallow about these women, except that they don't like to talk about beer, NASCAR and guns.

        But I don't expect these doofuses to know anything about women OR movies. 

        Report Abuse
        • Author by Missouri Democrat (June 03, 2008 11:05 am ET)
             

          Fawlty I like to talk about beer and NASCAR does that put me one up on Rudov since apparently he know little to nothing about anything of substance. Granted I left out guns but I can converse about them to a point having spent the better part of 10 yrs in the military.

          By the way if you say it doesn't put me one up on him I'm throwing my Manolo's and Ferragamo's at you. Be warned the Ferragamo's I've got to throw are the bondage boots that Condi wore in Germany I believe it was.  ;)

          Report Abuse
    • Author by juliajayne (June 02, 2008 7:37 pm ET)
         

      Rudov's contempt for women is worn on his sleeve. Do any of the Fox viewers buy that he is a feminist? This is a one man woman hating machine. He's obviously been burned too many times probably because he attracts his own water level.

      That said, The Sex and the City dames never attracted me.

      Hey, I did pay every other date if the guy would let me. If he didn't, I wouldn't go out with him again. I don't like the idea of anybody trying to control me with money - not that they would consciously do that. But just the same, I did pay a lot and many men who weren't hung up about it actually appreciated it and we could have twice as many dates. It was an egalitarian thing for me and it worked. I have a very egalitarian marriage. It's not about the money, but the attitude.

      Report Abuse
    • Author by worrierking (June 02, 2008 7:38 pm ET)
         
      Wow!

      O'Reilly, Cavuto and Rudov on the same thread.

      I'm waiting for that fourth horseman and then we'll have The Four Nitwits of the Apocalypse.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by snoopy (June 02, 2008 8:06 pm ET)
           

        O'Reilly, Cavuto and Romov! Oh my!

        100 Snoopy snacks if you guess the film...

        Report Abuse
        • Author by Easy to refute wingnuts (June 02, 2008 8:57 pm ET)
             
          The Whizzer of Fox?
          Report Abuse
        • Author by skipp2989 (June 02, 2008 8:59 pm ET)
             
          Is that the film in which a young girl is transported to a mysterious land where she kills the first person with whom she comes in contact.  Then she teams up with three strangers to kill again.
          Report Abuse
          • Author by snoopy (June 02, 2008 9:07 pm ET)
               

            You left out the part where he pretends to be what he isn't, but through that lie he controls the beings of OZ! Sean Hannity, today's wizard!

            Report Abuse
        • Author by worrierking (June 02, 2008 9:07 pm ET)
             

          I was thinking of "The Wizard of OZ" but that was about a girl who found three friends and the girl wanted to go home while one friend wanted a brain, one a heart and one wanted courage.

          These 3 couldn't get a girl if their lives depended on it and each one is missing all three of the things the girl's friends wanted.

          Report Abuse
          • Author by Easy to refute wingnuts (June 03, 2008 8:17 am ET)
               

            one friend wanted a brain, one a heart and one wanted courage

            Sounds like Bush, Cheney, and Limbaugh. Except the original moral of the story was that they already had what they were looking for. In the real version, they all walk away empty-headed.

            Report Abuse
    • Author by eweston8542983 (June 02, 2008 8:12 pm ET)
         
      Revenge of The Fluffy Bunnies?
      Report Abuse
    • Author by archfiend (June 02, 2008 8:23 pm ET)
         
      I don't understand why a single, fairly vapid, female-centered movie should engender such hostility, even from a misogynist.

      I mean, is he upset that "Sex and the City" bumped yet another fairly vapid, male-centered movie from the theaters? That would be a shame. We might have had twelve to choose from this weekend instead of only eleven.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by wesley (June 02, 2008 9:09 pm ET)
         

      If FOX thinks this type of programming is worthwhile...so be it.

      But, when I run across this type of programming...I do what I'm going to do with this thread...move on, nothing to see here. 

      Report Abuse
      • Author by Easy to refute wingnuts (June 03, 2008 8:18 am ET)
           

        nothing to see here.

        That's true about everything you post. 

        Report Abuse
    • Author by skipp2989 (June 02, 2008 9:13 pm ET)
         

      Mr Rudov has a suprising resemblance to the cavemen in the Geico comercials.  No offense meant to cavemen. 

      This breed of pundits seem like a new version of the minstrel show but instead of putting on blackface and behaving like a sick stereotype of African Americans they put on bulging browridges and perform a sick stereotype of men. 

      Report Abuse
    • Author by worrierking (June 02, 2008 10:37 pm ET)
         
      "This is a niche"?

      So HBO has, what for them is, a popular series and Mr. O'Reilly thinks it a niche. He'd be right if you compared 'Sex in the City's" ratings with a popular network show.

      Just like "The O'Reilly Factor" is a niche compared to "The NBC Nightly News".

      The difference between SITC and The Factor, is that viewers of SITC were willing to pay to watch. I wonder how Bill's rating would be if viewers had to pay to view him?
      Report Abuse
      • Author by Col. Harlan Sanders (June 03, 2008 12:44 am ET)
           

        I'd pay to view BilldO, but only if it was open casket.

        I kid, I wish him a long and miserable life.May he live to be 100, so he can attend Obama's inauguration.

        Report Abuse
    • Author by wizbor4654 (June 03, 2008 7:37 am ET)
         

      Two Bullet Headlines on my RSS feed this morning:

      1. NBC Nightly News Spikes News About Fewest Troop Deaths of War

      2. "Feminist" Marc Rudov believes "most American women are as shallow" as Sex in the City characters

       

      Guess which one is NewsBusters.org?  MediaMatters? I think not.

       

      Cheers 

      Report Abuse
      • Author by Easy to refute wingnuts (June 03, 2008 8:28 am ET)
           
        NewsBusters has never had an inkling of where a clue may be found.
        Report Abuse
      • Author by fawltylogic (June 03, 2008 12:05 pm ET)
           

        The funny thing is that Newsbusters is not out to show any disinformation. They are out to make sure there IS disinformation to advance their cause.

        For example, in the article mentioned above, do you see any misinformation mentioned? 

        Report Abuse
        • Author by fawltylogic (June 03, 2008 12:07 pm ET)
             
          I meant misinformation, not "disinformation", although that might be a fitting description too. :)
          Report Abuse
    • Author by Jurgan (June 03, 2008 8:13 am ET)
         

      "O'REILLY: Depends where you live, Marc. Maybe in your house, but there's -- my house is a no-whining zone."

      Does that not sound just like something an abuser would say?  Can't you just imagine the 6'5" Bill smacking his wife in the face every time she complains about something?

      Wife: Bill, I'm tired.  Do I have to cook tonight?

      Bill: You'll cook when I tell you to cook.

      Wife: I'll bet you'd never make Andrea Macklin cook-

      Bill: YOU LEAVE HER OUT OF THIS!  *smack*  Now get down on your knees, woman!  Olbermann thinks he can call me Bill Orally; I'll show him "Orally."

       

      And yet, he comes off as a feminist next to Rudov.

      Report Abuse
    • Author by worrierking (June 03, 2008 9:53 am ET)
         
      "My house is a no-whining zone."

      He's right.

      I'm sure if Bill whined as much at home as he does on his show his wife would castrate him with a steel wool loofa.

      Talk about a fate worse than death, could you imagine living in the same house as this blowhard?
      Report Abuse

my.MediaMatters.org

Login  Sign Up

Push Back

Phone calls, emails and letters from the public do make a difference. Remember that to be effective you must be polite, and professional. Express your specific concerns regarding that particular news report or commentary, and indicate what you would like the media outlet to do differently in the future.