Ken Bone’s Real Time with Bill Maher interview: Interesting, or irrelevant?
Remember Ken Bone? We’re sure that many of you do. He’s a random dude in an odd red cardigan who appeared during one of the Presidential “debates,” and through his question became a viral sensation. Since that time the power-plant worker has found himself immersed in some Reddit drama, done countless endorsements (don’t blame him for that), and been pressed time and time again as to who he voted for. He became a bit of a folk hero, but the reality is that were it not for his look and his ridiculous name, we’re not sure anyone would still be talking about him … let alone that he would’ve appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher last night.
While we haven’t been all that interested in covering Maher’s show much the past several months (his controversy speaks for itself), there is something fascinating that came out of what Bone had to say on the show. He was almost the anti-talk show guest, someone not about enforcing an opinion and about telling people to enforce their own. Maher repeatedly pushed Bone to admit who he voted for in the election, but Ken wasn’t willing to bite. Instead, he offered up some words of “wisdom” that you don’t exactly get elsewhere:
“Like it or not, we’re obsessed with celebrities in this country … even an F-list celebrity like me, people put stock in my opinion and it’s not fair to the democratic process if I tell them what to believe. I’m a random dude that works at a power plant [and] people don’t need to be informed by me.”
This was somewhat of a novel sentiment to come out of a TV interview, especially when you consider the timing. Steve Bannon is about to give a TV interview Sunday on CBS, and it’s one where he will try to heavily enforce what people should believe. On the other side, Hillary Clinton is slated to go on a massive book tour. What we’d love to see more people on TV in general do is offer up more suggestions on ways that people can learn information for themselves from reputable sources, and try to come up with solutions to problems rather than just stewing in anger. Trust us — we’ve had plenty of anger the past few months — but often not much in the way of solutions. Ken Bone is completely irrelevant given that he is an ordinary person; yet, he actually may be worth listening to more than most in this instance. That’s what made his Real Time interview interesting, and it really had nothing to do with Maher being there at all.
Do you have any take on the Ken Bone interview or its relevant in any way? Share your thoughts on the matter in the CarterMatt comments below! (Photo: HBO.)