Critiquing a Media Critic- Assignment 6-MM 3503-Lucas Sharp

 Critiquing a Media Critic 

    Media critics are all around the world, some are very popular and others are not so much. They state their opinions on the news and events happening in our country as well as the ones around the globe. Today, I am going to critique the famous media critic Bill Maher. 

Bill Maher 

    Bill Maher is an American comedian, political commentator, as well as a television host. He is most known for his political talk show, Real Time with Bill Maher, that has been on HBO since 2003. It is very popular, having seven seasons, with over five hundred episodes, and gets around four million views each show. He describes himself as a progressive libertarian, "The difference is that liberals protect people, and P.C. people protect feelings." You see him make fun of liberals, as well as conservatives throughout his shows. 

    Watching some of his shows on, Real Time with Bill Maher, he seems to be very blunt when he makes his points. On one hand yes this can be very effective, but on the other it seems to be just plane rude. He uses comedy in most of his points that he makes, and some are very funny while still be effective, but it seems to me that a lot of the "comedic bits" he uses can be very offensive to others. In one instances he attacked Islamic beliefs, "He has also described Islam as a “cancer,” and told Rep. Keith Ellison, a Muslim, that the Quran is a “hate-filled holy book.” He defended the arrest of 14-year-old Ahmed  Mohammed for bringing a clock into school, comparing him to an ISIS fighter, and expressed alarm over the rising popularity of the name “Mohammed,” worrying that the Western world was being “taken over by Islam.”" 

    Even though Bill claims to be a libertarian, he is constantly bashed for not truly being that. In this video you can see him criticizing libertarians:

    Overall, my opinion on Bill Maher is that he is a funny media critic, but sometimes can take things to far. I think he needs to choose a side that he is on, or just not choose one at all. There are a lot of issues he agrees and disagrees with that are not what he claims to stand for. His show has been successful for many years, but that does not mean he doesn't offend people with the things he says.