Dr. Phil sometimes has some good stuff to say, but for the most part I think he's out of context with reality despite being able to simplify what he says. For one thing, he's the wrong generation to really deal with today's world, and especially the plight of Generation X many of which are hitting their mid 30s without having accomplished much, for reasons which have little to do with them.
I don't much care for Farmville, but to be honest even dumb people need escapism, especially in the world as it is now. Whatever works, works. Any form of escapism can go to an unhealthy level, but that can be hard to judge, especially from the outside.
A lot of the advice Dr. Phil gives makes a certain degree of sense when you realize he was born in 1950 (according to Wikipedia) and is pretty much a sheltered academic. Textbook wise things make sense, especially when you look at the world the way it was when he was growing up. Consider I am 34 and was born in 1975, which means he was 25 years old already by the time I was being born. Also, sociology has a lot more to do with today's problems than psychology. Your looking at a lot of problems that can't be adequetly addressed on an individual level, because before you could do so effectively things would have to change in society in general.
To put things into perspective, I live in an okay (but not great) part of the city of New London. Right around some doctor's offices and such, and within walking distance of the beach. Even here we had a rather obvious crack house operating right accross the street which was eventually busted and reported in the papers and everything. People do still jog and such, but when someone like Doctor Phil makes comments like that, you have to go "WTF" since he has no idea what the area someone is from is like. The world wasn't quite like this back then (it wasn't Utopian, but things have gone down hill a bit), and I think he just does not see it at times.
I think Dr. Phil like many older sorts does not really understand the idea of gaming being a hobby as opposed to just something you do for casual entertainment. A lot of people just do not get the appeal of doing something like virtual adventuring, or farming, or even building up a big gamerscore and a bunch of graphical trophies (or whatever). To an older set modeling, or gardening, or whatever with an actual physical (if equally useless) product would be a hobby, but this is no longer the case. It's a shift in perspective that doesn't translate well accross generational lines.
Farmville is sort of like an online hobby game for people too dense or too poor to play World Of Warcraft (despite how often the player base is maligned). It can command a similar amount of involvement to say modeling, fishing, or dozens of other things a "Dr. Phil" would find normal.
At any rate, maybe the lady was taking things too far, but I think he's equally out of line and out of context.
That said, despite everything I've said about him, Dr. Phil is still pretty well educated and has helped a decent number of people. Take him with a grain of salt, but I figure anyone with his backround deserves some degree of respect.
