Jenny Mollen on “the View”

Jenny Mollen was on “The View” Wednesday to promote her book I Like You Just the Way I Am.  Mollen is known for her racy comments on Twitter and this book doesn’t hold anything back.  Whoopi Goldberg questioned why Mollen seemed subdued considering the subject manner of her book is so titillating.  I have read a section of this book (it was in Cosmo): she discussed trying to a particular scene from 50 Shades of Gray with her husband Jason Biggs and the hilarious outcome from that.

I haven’t read the whole book.  I assume Candace Cameron Bure has, though: she took offence to some of the topics in it.  Particularly buying a hooker for her husband and having a threesome with him.  Bure is known for her conservative and religious views; she asked the audience why should that be celebrated, which garnered applause from the audience.

What I find more interesting are the comments from other people– some called Bure crazy or said that she should leave public life and other things that are much worse than that.  When did expressing your point of view become a horrible thing?  Jenny Mollen certainly is in this book.  Candace Cameron Bure is a celebrity that is known to be religious and to speak out for her beliefs, and I respect her for that, just as much as I respect Jenny Mollen.

I just find that backlash against Bure funny considering that the USA is the place where, not too long ago, the country freaked out over Janet Jackson’s nipple.  Celebrities like Jenny Mollen beg the question that Bure asked, why should we be celebrating people who get book deals for being raunchy and racy and showing the kind of morals that would make my grandmother’s head spin? Does Jenny Mollen getting a book deal mean that the country has lost its puritanical prudishness and is willing to embrace all forms of sexual fun and friskiness?  I would say that recent elections say no.

Mollen is definitely a celebrity that is a product of culture–although being Jason Biggs’ wife doesn’t hurt.  Mollen was able to garner her fame semi-anonymously from her Twitter handle. And, to be honest, her Tweets are funny and seem brutally honest.  Looking at your smartphone or sitting behind a computer screen reading her Tweets is like therapy: living through someone else’s missteps, victories, and funny moments without having to live them yourself. You can laugh at the latest quip made by her without having to, needing to, or wanting to know anything about her, or if any of it is real.

The question is, though, should she be celebrated? Should celebrities like her be given book deals and whatnot for telling the scandalous parts of their lives to the public and making other groups uncomfortable?  You tell me.

Should Bure have been criticized so much for her comments?  Should the Internet have been so hateful to her because she expressed her outraged opinion about the celebration of Mollen’s bedroom activities? You tell me.

Mollen and Bure both have a valid place in this divided. Bure represents a religious culture that, while technically a minority, the majority of that group votes and that make her a member of an important group.  Mollen represents a younger group of people who know very little before Twitter and Facebook before our lives were majorly public.  Mollen’s character doesn’t seem out-of-place to women under 30 because that is our life.  There are people who would Tweet of Facebook parts of their lives that are that public.  That doesn’t make it wrong, it just makes it part of our new culture.