Archive: Opinions

A week or two ago I read an essay by a Time Magazine pundit dissing American Idol because it is too nice this year, and then dissing the American people because a 'nicer' American Idol has resulted in better ratings.  He said that means the fans have no standards and the contestants are not challenged.

Has that guy been watching the same show I've been watching?  Or did he watch it at all or just listen to the gossip about how nice everyone is?  I'm seeing a show about the business , craft, and art of the music business with a panel of performers offering performance advice and a cadre of produces led by one tough one sculpting already talented contestants to see which will become a great sculpture, and which will shatter under the chisel.  It's not about nice.  It's about the actual work.

Frankly that's a lot more interesting than nice versus mean.  Nice versus mean is shallow, and just doing it over and over again gets boring after a while.  The Time writer apparently thought that feeling superior to the unwashed masses was more important than actually focusing on the work that is being done, and how the singers are growing in their art and field.

You can tell this is so, because nobody terrible (but highly televisable) has gotten through to the live competition.  And because it has been almost impossible to predict which contestant will be eliminated next.  This year the cream rose to the top because the focus has been on them with judging by people who have been doing what they aspire to do.  While the celebrity judges and guest 'mentors' are fun to watch, this year's Idol is actually about the music and the business, not about the judges' personalities.  And audiences are responding to that.  (Yeah, Stephen Steven is fun to watch get bleeped, but even he is all about the contestents on this show, not himself.)

I can be as shallow as the next guy, but I think the more interesting something is, the more interested most people will be in it.  Most people are of substance, and even in relaxation, they prefer substance to mind numbing repetition.  That's why most situation comedies are mediocre, and only a few (pick your favorite -- Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, All In The Family, The Big Bang Theory) rise to the top, or are at all memorable.

I see the same thing in local government.  Well, in government in general.  Some people would like to distract us with shallow analysis and ego-feeding building up by putting someone else down.  For example whenever our Republican Congressman does something the Democratic Committee immediately sends a press release to news outlets excoriating him for it.  It has become boring and incredible -- some of the things he does are things Democrats I know would like to have done, while some aren't.  But it doesn't matter to whoever puts out these Democratic slams, so I don't even read them any more.  The Pundits on Fox News do the same thing to the Democrats.

Or take Facebook posts when Osama Bin Laden was killed (I told you I can be shallow).  My liberal friends immediately slammed Bush (I'm not sure why since he wasn't part of that piece of the story) while my conservative friends blamed Obama for taking credit for finally getting rid of Bin Laden (which I also didn't understand because I watched his speech and he didn't hog the credit).  I thought the focus should have been on the fact that he was finally found and killed and on the brave servicemen who executed the operation, and then on the symbolic and real consequences.  Call me crazy, but that's what interested me about the story.

The point is that if you look at the substance of what is going on you can get a pretty good idea of what is really happening.  And you understand and enjoy it better.  If we live life based on predefined points of view it's going to be a pretty boring life.

I guess why that Time article has been sticking in my craw.  I like American Idol, but certainly it is not a Rembrandt, Shakespeare, or a Puccini of the music world.  But listening to professionals give advice to novices in their profession is interesting.  Plus the music is generally terrific.  Wouldn't you rather have Jelly Belly mind candy than generic jelly beans?  I would, and I think all those other American Idol fans think the same way.

Or they just think James and Haley and Scotty and Lauren are hot.

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