Students react to "The O'Reilly Factor" video
On the morning of September 21st, Vice President Joe Biden’s appearance andrally, of course, attracted a swarm of media to Dartmouth’s campus. JesseWatters, featured frequently on "The O’Reilly Factor", was among them.“[Biden] has been very elusive sitting for an interview,” so instead, BillO’Reilly sent “Jesse Watters to see the VP,” said O'Reilly in a resulting video.
However, the video clip, where Watters interviews a number of Dartmouthcommunity members, seemed less about “seeing the VP,” and more about a poordepiction of Dartmouth and its students, say several interviewed.
(Watch here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfjWAEVirEg)
The video, with edited clips from other media, “set out to portray thecampus as a liberal or politically apathetic Sodom of debauchery and sin,”said Matt Garczynski ’14 who appeared in the clip. “I think it was ahumorous attempt at being a "youthful" MTV-esque segment that washilariously decades behind. It seemed to have been edited by someone whohasn't seen a film since 1993.”
“It definitely seemed to me as if Watters was more interested in making afunny, condescending segment than getting Dartmouth students' seriousopinions. Quite honestly, we looked pretty uninformed,” said Alexis Savini’14 whose interview opened the clip.
Much more happened off camera than the average viewer might realize.
Gabriel Rosenstein ’13, possibly one of the more memorable students shownin the clip, weighed in on the interviewing tactics and editing. “I neversaid I was a socialist. He said that after I explained to him why I thoughtsome of Obama's politics were actually fairly right-leaning, but the videodoesn't make that clear and makes it look like I described it.”
Rosenstein went further to describe a somewhat bizarre comment made byWatters that was edited out. “The video does show how obnoxious he was,telling [Garczynski and me] he felt sorry for us out of the blue," Watters said. "At onepoint I was describing my views on religion and how they differ from O'Reilly's, and after I said I was an atheist he asked me, ‘How does it feelto be an atheist…empty?’”
“I thought the interview was really funny in the moment, but it was kind oftroubling to meet a person in the real world who subscribed 100% to such alimiting ideology,” Garczynski said about Watters.
Savini described Watters as “very aggressive. He seemed intent on trippingme up, trying to get me to say something overly liberal or outrageous thathe could then edit and use to make Dartmouth students look dumb.”
Other students interviewed got off easy.
“Since I lean left and O'Reilly is very conservative, I was afraid thatthey would use some of what I said and make it sound bad on air,” saidEmily Bao ’16. Most of her portion was cut. “I do know someone in the videowho had a lot of good things to say, but they chose to use a portion of herinterview in which she sounded like she didn't know what to say,” Baocomments about another student.
The picture that Watters was trying to paint about Dartmouth was prettyclear. “Perpetuating the whole hard-partying liberal cesspool stereotype ofcollege campuses was so forced at so many moments,” said Garczynski.
The clip was sending the message that “our opinion doesn't matter becausewe were partying or 'stoned' the night before,” said Daniela Pelaez ’16,
who also appeared in the video.