Member Since: 1/4/2014
Posts: 6,751
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Raven ate Chick-Fil-A on The View...
http://news.yahoo.com/raven-symon-at...200526000.html
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It's not been half a year since Raven-Symoné*joined*The View, but she's barely managed to make it through a couple of weeks without causing controversy. There was the time she*blamed the student*in the Spring Valley High School police brutalityincident. There was the time she*declared*she wouldn't hire a person named "Watermelondrea." Her streak of saying incredibly*controversial*things even led to apetition*to have her fired that, as of Friday, has over*136,000 signatures.
Then, on Friday, the star of ABC's chat show ate a Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich on-air.
All this @ChickfilA biscuit is missing is a candle for our birthday girl, Whoopi Goldberg! #NYCCFA
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CTtKsamWoAEHtp3.png:large
The chicken sandwich fast-food joint has been a*lightning rod*for controversy over the past few years after its donations to anti-gay groups made news in 2012. Raven-Symoné has said she*dates women, though she has been somewhat notoriouslyresistant*to the term "lesbian" in the past.
Seeing Raven-Symoné eat Chick-fil-A on daytime TV in the same week that she was named to*Out*magazine's*Out 100*didn't sit well with some viewers of*The View.
Let me get this straight: @ravensymone is all about LGBT rights and equality... ...sure was eating the hell out of that Chik-fil-a #TheView
Alleged lesbian Raven-Symone is eating Chick-fil-A live on TV;homegirl has a chicken sandwich in 1 hand & her #Out100 issue in the other;UGH
Alleged lesbian Raven-Symone is eating Chick-fil-A live on TV;homegirl has a chicken sandwich in 1 hand & her #Out100 issue in the other;UGH
Chick-fil-A cows on The View stage with Raven Symone: Bigotry, ******** & Biscuits.
Despite viewer frustrations, ABC has remained*resistant*to calls to fire Raven-Symoné. "We love Raven," the network told the media in a statement in response to the petition. "She is confident, genuine and opinionated, all qualities that make her a great addition to the panel."
The company's actually not wrong. Raven-Symoné shouldn't be fired. Silencing a voice, no matter how controversial it is, isn't the answer. The answer is to add another voice to actually, directly converse with hers — something that*The View*used to do quite well.
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Raven-Symoné has no direct opposing force on*The View. Whoopi Goldberg inconsistently pushes back against her, but is often*just as controversial. Comedian Michelle Collins isn't yet a major presence on the panel. Returning panelist Joy Behar used to be liberal to the point of*polarizing*viewers but has been considerably quieter this season.
The key to making Raven-Symoné a viable*The View*star*is to add someone as "confident, genuine and opinionated" as she is, to quote ABC, but from an opposing point of view. That would give the show a built-in critical voice and would likely even inspire Raven-Symoné to make her arguments stronger. She wouldn't be less controversial, but there would be an actual dialogue.
The View*producers would be wise to look for other black and queer voices to add to the panel for that role. Right now, she represents black and queer people on the panel (with Goldberg as a fellow black panelist).*The View*isn't Congress, but for its viewers, it's fair to want their representative to reflect at least some of their own views.*
In the*petition*to fire Raven-Symoné, creator Che Scott-Heron touched on this need. "African-Americans and black people around the diaspora need a voice representative of their views and not a voice representative of what white people want us to say," he wrote.
To give the show a built-in critical voice would likely even inspire Raven-Symoné to make her arguments stronger. She wouldn't be less controversial, but there would be an actual dialogue.
Agree with her or not, Raven-Symoné is easily the most dynamic presence on*The View's panel. She makes headlines and draws attention to the show. ABC is not going to fire her; keeping her around is smart business.
ABC letting Raven-Symoné say controversial things unchecked, however, is bad business. It's only going to further tarnish*The View's brand. Giving her an adversary would change the game. It could even return the show to its O'Donnell-Hasselbeck glory days. That would be the best result of all.
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Damn 136,000 signatures to get Raven fired over a freakin' chicken biscuit! 
If they want to keep Raven, and keep her in check, they need another outrageous personality a la Miley Cyrus to reign Raven in a bit. It'd be ratings gold! 
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