In Defense of Emma:

Talk Soup goes too far.

When the CBS Early Show aired their October 31^st segment on Witches, I was exited. Not just because I was on the program, but because the piece was clever and tastefully done. I felt as though we had reached out to the public and really got some good, factual information to the masses at a time of the year when green faces and pointed hats prevail. Not only did the Early Show treat us with respect, they helped to show that there were real people behind an oftentimes slandered and mostly misunderstood religion.

Unfortunately, this message was lost on the producers, writers, cast and crew of the “E!” Entertainment Network show “Talk Soup”. On November 6, 2000 the members of the Witches’ League for Public Awareness were alerted to an inflammatory statement made on “Talk Soup”, a program that apparently melds entertainment news with a trash TV mentality, and used part of the footage from CBS to demean and undermine the good works done by CBS’ original broadcast.

The segment starts with Host Rolonda Watts introducing a group of “Bitches, I mean Witches” just before the commercial break. When we return, we are treated to a tongue-in-cheek definition of what Witches aren’t. Mind you up until now nothing done would be worthy of any kind of response on our part; it just wasn’t that serious. Despite the fact that the show was generally insulting it was not too inflammatory and was what one would expect from this type of show. It is what happens at the end that has us up in arms.

Let me give you some background on this next part. The WLPA, its members and their associated covens were asked to do a Halloween segment for The Early Show, a morning program that airs on CBS. The intent was to show real Witches in a positive light by portraying us as real people. To do this, myself and WLPA Chairperson Cheryl Sulyma-Masson were both interviewed and shown outside of craft activities at our “day jobs”; just regular people with a different view on religion. In conjunction with this footage, tape was also shot of a public Samhain ritual that took place during a fund-raiser to help our church, The Circle of Salgion, build a permanent place of worship. As one would expect to find at any church bazaar, families attended with their children. On CBS, this material worked wonders for our image. On “E!”, however, this material became fodder for the lowest common denominators needed for a gag…spite and ridicule.

Like I said before, had the tone of the show stayed at the level of the ridiculous there would have been no problem; we are made of sterner stuff. But what “Talk Soup” did next is reprehensible. A montage of shots of the fund-raiser is shown ending with the shot of a Mother holding her baby. “Talk Soup” ends their piece on this image and returns to the host who is now spewing facetious comments like "What’s the point in being a Witch if you can’t cast spells and chat with Satan?" Like I said, nothing we can’t handle. It is what happens next that should bother any person who possesses a soul. Ms. Watts, in a sincere and demure fashion asks "Hey, can we see that little Witch baby again?" Then, after a still of the image is placed back up on the screen, we hear Ms. Watts say "Aww…BURN IT!" The cast, off camera, joins in with other cries of "Burn It" and a good laugh is had by all.

Like a “Saturday Night Live” skit that ceased being funny long before the audience stopped laughing at it, “Talk Soup” pushed the boundaries of tasteless and forged head long into the realm of obscenity. To think that any group would go so far as to use the image of an innocent baby in the arms of its mother as the crux of a joke so tasteless and mired in the hateful propaganda of anti-witch hysteria makes me want to scream. To attack an adult is one thing. To target children is way out of bounds. If the intent of this “joke” was to dehumanize Witches and associate us with some kind of monster that needed destroying (a popular tactic during the Burning Times), one has to ask what kind of sick mind is required to propagate this kind of hateful attitude towards a child? And for the sole purpose of a cheap laugh? Well, I wonder who the real monsters are in this case?

Reprehensible, irresponsible, unfathomable and unforgivable are just a few of the adjectives I can think of that don’t even begin to describe the level of evil intent needed to air such a piece television tripe. So devoid of human decency was this program and those associated with it, I can only think of one thing to say regarding the November 6^th edition of “Talk Soup”-BURN IT!

Oh, and as for the “Little Witch Baby”? Lest the folks at “E!” forget that there are real people involved here, her name is Emma. She is eight months old, full of smiles and surprises, the center of her mothers universe and totally undeserving of this kind of unthinking, unfeeling ridicule. Take some responsibly for you actions, “E!”. I think some serious apologies are owed to a little girl and her mother.

We’re waiting.
I know your out there. I can here you laughing.

Chad's Note: Talk Soup has an Email address listed on their web site. I strongly encourage people to email them and voice your displeasure over this horriffic issue. Like Joe said - a few jokes are OK, we've gotten used to that, but to promote violence against an 8 month old baby simply because of her mothers' religious beliefs is beyond comprehension.
Email them at talksoup@eentertainment.com