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	Vol.7, No 72, February 15, 2000
	How much does a wife cost? Madonna said it best when she sang that this is a material world and she was just a material girl. Now Fox Television Network has taken things to a new level with a show on which 50 women will compete to marry a man they have never met. The hook: he is a multimillionaire. The Fox show cuts straight to the nuptials without  wasted courtship.  He will choose one woman after the contestants perform a la Miss America. However, unlike Dating Game prizes of a free weekend vacation, the prizes here are a lifelong commitment and the guy's ATM pin number. The question is who is more pathetic -  the man who needs to buy a woman, or the woman who is available to be bought? Whoopie Goldberg joked that all women are whores and the only difference between a wife and a street hooker is that the hooker doesn't do it for a microwave oven. Not that the multimillionaire is any better. He is just a few steps above the sad loser that "buys a bride" from another country. I wonder if the couple will have a pre-nuptial signing? What kind of deal would someone make to marry a multimillionaire? Can he ask for at least one child or set a minimum amount of years that they must stay together and how much money she gets if she leaves? How about having a weight clause in the contract? Can he say that if she can't fit into the same swimsuit one year later, the marriage is void? If he's too small, can she request a penile implant? Can she ask that if he looks like super chicken, he must buff up to a Tom Slick? Can she get an extra $5000 for every football game he watches? Audiences should be more mature, cultured, and intellectual in their entertainment choices. While  Jeopardy! slips in the rating, shows like Who Want's To Be A Millionaire with questions like who's not a character on Friends, soar to a number one status. Now we have televised prostitution on Fox. Maybe society should ignore Madonna's song and listen to the Beatles when they sing "Can't buy me Love." -- Mark Blackburn is photography editor of the Daily Forty-Niner.		Sandler film no parking problem   Writer leaves audience rolling with laughter   Conference encourages students   More books available   Workshop saves time for students Tighten the Net   How much does a wife cost?   LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Student dances into show business   Suicide Machines rock fans at the Roxy   Great music saves Yahoo! Tour Gauchos cool 49ers   NBA's most eccentric player returns   Dirtbags not soiled Spring 2000 ISSUES DAILY 49ER HOMEPAGE
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