A Secret of Success

I watched the debut of American Idol last night. Not the entire two hours, a little over half actually. At that point it starts getting tedious to me. I'll probably watch the 2nd "debut" tonight as well, or at least part of it.

I think I have figured out its popularity.

We live in a time where egalitarianism has replaced diplomacy. There are public schools that don't give grades any more because they don't want to traumatize children by giving them what they earn through work and diligence, or lack thereof. I heard a news report not too long ago where a community was considering not keeping score in its school athletics so as to avoid having a winner and a loser. WINNER & LOSER. Those two words are really offensive to many people, especially those in the administration of public education for reasons I have difficulty fathoming.

I have been involved with poetry review websites. These sites allow you to post your poems and receive reviews from other members.. You also read and review poems as well. Egalitarianism reigns on those sites, generally speaking. It would seem that the quality of the writing doesn't matter to many as they effusively praise the ostensible poets' tortured efforts. God forbid you say anything negative about their work. You may then become a target of anger and harassment for telling the truth.

The truth.

Therein lies the conundrum. There is truth. There is absolute truth. Unfortunately it is tossed aside on a regular basis to prevent the denigration of "self-image". I'm not talking about little lies, such as when a wife asks a husband how she looks in a dress and he does his best to let her know that to him she is lovely.

I'm talking about a culturewide phenomenon that puts the feelings of the individual above truth, beyond reality.

I frankly think its all merely projection from those who are establishing the mindset. They project how they would feel if they were told their efforts or abilities are not up to par with accepted levels of performance.

Yet the real world states differently. And that is where American Idol comes in.

Take away the glamour, the hype and American Idol is about weeding through thousands of people with varying abilities to sing in order to find the next marketable star. Yes, it's about money. But it's also about talent, work and ability. Those three qualities are rewarded regularly. If you have the ability to be a good mechanic and you work hard at it, you can make a decent living. Someone will hire you. If you have the skill and talent to be a good artist, people will buy your work. The marketplace is a strong filter that ultimately weeds out mediocrity.

When we don't allow our children to learn how to deal with defeat, we do them a grave disservice. There was a sixteen year old auditioner on the show last night who was a horrible singer and was pretty much told that. He came out of the audition swearing and crying saying that the judges were wrong, they never gave him a chance, he's in actuality a great singer. It was a pathetic response to the criticism he received. But I imagine that through his life he was told that he was great and had a future in entertainment. Perhaps his family and friends are all tone deaf. Maybe nervousness really kept him from performing at his peak. But he was unable to pull it off when he needed to and the show weeded him out.

I have read the blistering commentaries on Simon Cowell's bluntness. There are times when I think he does it as much for effect as anything else. Even so, he has to move the process along efficiently, and that doesn't allow for handholding, reasoning, assuaging feelings, edifying. Why have we become a people that need all that on a seeming hourly basis? Why can't we accept our limitations and either try to improve on them or find something else we are strong at? Is our collective ego so fragile that nothing but praise will suffice?

American Idol takes us back to reality. Because of this, I see it as the ultimate reality show. As long as people hunger for reality, American Idol will be popular.