American Idol and Self-Deception
One of my "guilty pleasures" in the world of TV is American Idol, which last night got off to a funny, if not slightly weird, beginning. The usual cast of players was there--Simon, Paula, Randy, and Ryan--and of course, there were the hopefuls. Set in Chicago, this ongoing comic drama had a cast of thousands...literally. The show offered a few peeks at the cream of the talent, eventually telling us that 34 of the Windy City auditioners were picked to go to the next round. But the main attraction, so often the case, was that crazy, busted dream of the rejected.
Self-deception runs rampant on American Idol, and as I watched, I couldn't help but think that the American love affair with believing in dreams sometimes takes its toll. No question that achievement begins in imagination, that somehow a future yet unmade must captivate our minds and hearts. But I've also been known to say that life is much about learning to deal with setbacks and failures, and in the end, coming to terms with who we are, as opposed to who we wish we were. This, of course, is a hard truth in the cult of celebrity, where (as Hugh Laurie mentioned after winning his Golden Globe award) people who play doctors are lauded in the national press, and most doctors just go about their work unnoticed.
But watching the raging foul mouths of those deceived and tossed aside folk from American Idol, I couldn"t help but wonder if we're watching a pretty good metaphor for so much of life these days. As we watch the singers, quality is pretty stark and evident, which makes the choice of passing the last crazy guy (Mr. Jumpy) all the more egregious--it's not unlike giving the student the "A" on the paper when it's really "C" work, but they have to get the "A" to pass the class. It messes with us because we can plainly see that the poor guy is being sent to Hollywood whimsically, as a piece of amusement and drama. Stayed tuned not for musical quality and the honest human drama of people trying to make it in the business, but for the odd and the weird, sent to us fortuitously by the gods of comedy.
So the notion of artistic "good" is up for grabs again. Here's a question I can't help but ponder on this morning when physician assisted suicide is getting support from the Supreme Court and airplay in the national press: if our personal and/or national notions of moral and/or spiritual good up were displayed before a panel of judges chaired by, say, God, would the results be as stark and obvious? Would "good" or "quality" be as easy to see as it is on American Idol?
As Dr. House might say, "Everybody lies...to themselves..."
7:03:52 AM
