We have already discussed the Fox vs. Franken lawsuit. And you probably know that the inside scuttle is that Bill O'Reilly put Fox News up to it. O'Reilly, Fox's most popular on-air personality, was upset with Al Franken for humiliating him at a Los Angeles book expo in June by presenting documentary evidence of O'Reilly's frequent misrepresentations about his resume. He fantasized on his radio show about how, had their dustup taken place 150 years ago, he would have put a bullet between Franken’s ears.
The court, as we all know, declared the suit “wholly without merit,” and its assumed goal of hobbling the release of Franken’s book backfired when the book shot to Number One on the charts for multiple weeks. There is, though, a residual effect of this lawsuit. And that is, if you do not have the resources of Penguin Group, you may not want to mess with Bill O'Reilly and Fox News, because they will take you to court. This is the message behind many lawsuits that attempt to stifle criticism by invoking trademark and copyright law. Many of these suits are also wholly without merit, but the purpose is not to win by winning--it's to win by intimidating.
The next critic of Bill O'Reilly may look at what happened to Franken and Penguin Group and say, not, "Great! The path is clear" but rather, "Why bother?" Especially if that critic stands alone and would not be able to muster the resources to counter a lawsuit even at the preliminary level.
Enter playwright Brian Flemming, author of the award-winning off-Broadway hit “Bat Boy.” As Flemming notes:
”It was vital that I write and market a play in which Bill O'Reilly is tortured, raped and killed. A play that I feel captures the essence of Bill O'Reilly. A play that I will endeavor to see outlive Bill O'Reilly, so that O'Reilly's legacy is not his own forgettable works, but rather this one, in which I attempt to create a comic villain who achieves iconic status.”
Flemming’s somewhat morbid and bizarre goal is to stage one thousand performances of this play before Bill O'Reilly's death, and an infinite number of performances thereafter. He says “I want the real Bill O'Reilly to become a mere footnote that people mention as they leave the theater one hundred years from now. ‘Did you know that 'Bill O'Reilly' was a real person? And he was just like that, apparently.’”
It’s interesting to note here that all the involved parties—O’Reilly, Franken, even Flemming—have taken pains to decry a noted lack civility in public political discourse, and yet they have all sunk to the levels they claim to abhor. Are there any good guys left? Is there anyone left to root for?
Perhaps more importantly, is Flemming’s play a valid artistic commentary on a man he perceives as “potentially had one of the great antagonists of modern drama,” or just petulant sniping? When faced with vituperative personal attacks, are we really faced with a Hobson’s Choice?
