Deborah Solomon is harsh, part 5

As I've noted before, Deborah Solomon, who does the "Questions for..." feature in the New York Times Magazine, is an incredibly harsh interviewer (sample question: "You strike me as deeply unanalyzed. Have you ever considered seeing a psychiatrist?"). But as a friend notes, her interview with "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane is especially nasty:

SOLOMON: [T]he show might seem to mock family values by presenting the Griffins as a self-absorbed, unattractive clan. Are you contemptuous of families?

MACFARLANE: No. I’m very much on the fence.

SOLOMON: Which fence is that?

MACFARLANE: There are things about the single lifestyle that are very appealing.

SOLOMON: Are you straight?

MACFARLANE: Yep. I don’t have a steady gal.

SOLOMON: Why is that?

MACFARLANE: Oh, boy, we’re getting deep.

"Are you contemptuous of families?" is one of the great "When did you stop beating your wife?" questions of all time. There's no way to answer that, let alone a question about why someone is single.

The underlying problem is that Solomon's interviews are heavily condensed and edited, which gives her immense power to portray her subjects in whatever fashion she likes. It also allows her, as in the MacFarlane interview, to feature her own voice at the expense of the subject -- the published version of the MacFarlane interview includes more of her words than his. As a result, she gets off her zingers but we learn very little about the subject whose character is supposedly being revealed.

Comments

[Rob]

Actually, "Are you contemptuous of families?" may be harsh, but it's not akin to "When did you you stop beating your wife?" The problem with the latter question is, in courtroom parlance, that it assumes a fact not in evidence: that you were beating your wife. You're right that such a question has no satisfactory answer, other than to give a somewhat non-responsive answer objecting to the underlying assumption.

"Are you contemptuous of families," on the other hand, does permit a responsive answer: yes or no. It would be different if the question assumed a fact not in evidence; examples would be "Why are you contemptuous of families?" and "When did you first become contemptuous of families?"

[David]

In this condensed interview, McFarlane is funny. That's natural and appropriate. He's a funny guy talking about a comedy show. Solomon seems oblivious to fun and humor. She comes across as a stern censor, seeking to ferret out politically incorrect views.

Why does Solomon ignore the humor, and focus on Fox, rape, murder, race, disability, conservative politics, abortion, etc. Maybe she thinks that what her readers care most about. More likley, her political views have become so strong that they obstruct her artistic sensibilities.