Midler: I need a teenager to turn on my smart TV
BETTE Midler has bemoaned modern technology, claiming she even struggles to switch on her TV.
The US actress and singer, 74, told how she missed the simplicity of the past, adding life is tough for young people today.
Bette admitted turning on the telly has even become a hassle.
She said: “In the old days, you only had one remote control, you pressed a button and watched whatever you wanted.
“Now, there are 15 remotes to wrangle and it’s such a trial to get the TV on and the sound working.
“You need a teenager or a live-in TV wrangler. Sadly, my daughter [33-year-old Sophie] is now grown and gone.”
Bette and her husband, performance artist Martin von Haselberg,
71, both struggle with modern technology, she claimed.
The Wind Beneath My Wings singer said she worries about adjusting settings on her TV in case “the whole thing will go up in smoke”.
She added: “The TV is brand new. We’re old. That’s what the problem is. The TV is new, but we’re too old to use it.
“There’s a lot of, ‘What did he say?’ And, ‘Put the closed captioning on.’”
But when she does manage to get the TV to work, Bette told Radio Times she enjoys indulging in a “marathon session” of The Great British Bake Off, as well as documentaries.
Bette, who currently stars in Netflix comedy The Politician, said that as she has grown older her acting parts have become smaller.
She said: “You’re supposed to go into horror or comedy because your sex appeal is gone.
“But [series creator] Ryan Murphy is going to burst that bubble with The Politician, which is exciting. He’s a smart man.”
Bette stars alongside Gwyneth Paltrow in season two of the series, which will be released this Friday. The legendary star also said she would not want to be a youngster in the modern world, because of the pressures young people face. She said: “I don’t think I could cope. Life is too complicated now, it’s too hard. “When I was growing up, we had the best of it. My generation had peace, contentment, civility. We don’t have those things today. “People are allowed to say the worst things they can think of [on social media], which can injure people to the core of their being. “It destroys lives, which is just not fair.”