Attitude towards successful men: Part 3

It is difficult to convincingly label Judge Philpot as either misogynist or anti-male through his public actions because there are more subtle layers of bias underlying his decisions in individual cases. His dichotomous attitude towards women has already been explored from the Madonna/Whore complex perspective in this blog: (http://judgephilpot.blogspot.com/2017/01/dichotomy-in-judge-philpots-attitude.html).

Judge Philpot’s conscious and subconscious attitudes are not doubt shaped by his own conflicted upbringing, which he freely discusses in nearly every public speech. 

His latest book (Judge Z) provides glaring and inescapable truths about his attitude to other men, particularly in the context of their ethnicity and his perception of their material success or achievement. Almost every male character who is not firmly on the judge’s team ideologically speaking, is portrayed negatively and only one achieves any kind of redemption. The males who are not White, Anglo-Saxon Protestants are especially demonized. Disparaging characterization is particularly blatant when the author describes a male who is more materially successful than he is. These characters are depicted as moral defectives who have acquired their success through lying, cheating or blind luck.  In addition to a host of personal flaws, each of these male characters is shown to have a broken relationship with his children. Judge Philpot appears to be channeling the angst of his own childhood, and however valid that may be as therapy or an art form, the fact that he is so oblivious of the problems as to document them in print, raises serious doubts about his objectiveness and impartiality as a judge in family court.

Listed below is a synopsis of the barely disguised male characters excoriated by Judge Philpot:

9. Rabbi Levi Koffler

Levi Koffler is the sole non-Christian “cultural expert” called to testify in the book’s climactic show trial. The Rabbi is an ex-stockbroker, professor of theology at NYU and author of numerous books. He had achieved fame as “The Romance Rabbi” because of his many articles in the popular press about love and marriage. In the book, he testifies on the meaning of love or “Hesed” in the Old Testament. His moment on the pedestal is short lived however, as he is dramatically exposed as a former divorcee who regrets ending his marriage. He had never been forgiven by his children for divorcing his first wife.

10. Eddie

Judge Philpot pads out the closing pages of the memoir by describing his visit to a neighborhood café run by a couple named Natasha and Eddie. In the story, the author has given informal legal advice to Natasha who was considering divorcing her husband because of his addictions. Although their business was successful, “Natasha’s husband, Eddie, was an addict. First alcohol, then pain pills, then when the pain pills dried up his friendly neighborhood pusher gave him a free trial on black tar heroin.”

11. Henry ‘Hank’ Clay Alexander

Judge Philpot describes attending the funeral of his maternal cousin, Henry ‘Hank’ Clay Alexander a very wealthy businessman who recently succumbed to cancer.

“  He came from nothing, never graduated high school and proved that education was overrated—that you can be successful with hard work and a little bit of luck. He believed that paying all your taxes was for fools.

            The “dearly departed” had lots of mourners. He had been married three times, all ending in divorce. He had no children by his wives, but had a couple by other ladies. One of those sons, who would have been mocked as a “bastard” in the bad old days but was now a trust-fund millionaire, stood and said a few kind words about his dad.

            “He taught us to work hard,” he said—causing a few raised eyebrows because nobody could remember this twenty-something kid ever working a day in his life.

            Judge Z could read between the lines. The kid didn’t like Hank. Not really. He didn’t like the way his mom had been treated and the way his father was never there.

            The funeral ended with a short sermon by the pastor of a Scott County mini-megachurch. Hank was never seen there on Sundays, but he had donated two-million dollars to build a gym “for the kids,” just in case St. Peter asked, “What have you done for me lately?” at the Pearly Gates.

           

12. other Family Characters

There is not space here for a proper analysis of Judge Philpot’s complex relationship with his father as depicted through his writings and only two male relatives are mentioned here:

 “Cousin Mike” and “Uncle Bill” both attorneys.

            "Uncle Bill missed a statute of limitations, then lied about it to his client for two years."

“Cousin Mike “forgot” that a fat escrow account did not belong to him."

In the book, the judge’s father has taken on Greek ethnicity and resides above a Greek restaurant with his family in Winchester, Kentucky.