Crusty, wild eyebrowed, outspoken, 60 Minutes anchor, writer Andy Rooney is really a person to admire. His brief segment concluding the program is not fascinating, but it sure is entertaining.
He’s found slouched over his desk (what happened to broadcaster posture?) in his messy office, papers piled up and inadequate light. That is really an eyesore. I guess that’s character. That kind of character is a bit out-dated.
We want our broadcasters to be clean-cut, young, intelligent folks with good eyebrow hygiene. But producers still want some old-time bowtie character.
Mr. (Andy) Rooney, he’s vintage. A collectible war correspondent. A living price guide who alludes to a time when news personalities wore hats and overcoats and suspenders with patterned bowties. When typewriters were steel and ran out of ink and were clumsy.
The New York Times will always have character and the Washington Post too. News icon Bob Woodward still writes for the Post. That’s vintage.
Mr. Woodward is the Mr. Rooney figure in the newspaper industry.
It’s just another example of the public’s silent yearning for a well-tied bowtie in polka-dots. In a solid, tacky silk tie age, there is room for some pattern and some plaid.
So Mr. Rooney’s ill-kept office is hinting at something. That’s why it’s a mess. He wants viewers to imagine that’s how it used to be. When character was in and organization out. I wonder how much a messy office is worth today?
Oh, there are messy offices today, but those are just from a lack of structure and lethargy. There’s no character in them. No sea-foam green steel desk.
And Mr. Rooney’s eyebrows. What is he hinting with that? Maybe something you would find in an antique store becoming musty? It is possible, but how would you attach a price tag to eyebrows? It would be difficult.
By not trimming his eyebrows, he is saying something, indeed.
They are really an eyesore. But, then again, it is character.