I accidentally caught the last five minutes of American Idol last night and it reminded me of this article that I read in Time Magazine last month distilling what it is about the show that is so appealing to mass America. To quote,
America is a country caught between meritocracy and morality. We are raised on fairy tales and movies that tell us nice guys finish first. Then we grow up and go into a job market that tells us it is not just O.K. but also necessary to richly reward the best and cut the laggards, however kind or hardworking they are...Idol indulges the idea that the nicest people are the most talented...
Despite my general disinterest in AI, I find this aspect of the show (and its reflection of American values) interesting. In theory, one shouldn't have to be nice or have an interesting back story for one's talents to lauded. Furthermore, despite what most of "today's youth" thinks, precious precious few of us are extraordinary. Most of us are perfectly average and that should be perfectly fine, but for some reason it's not. Try giving a hard-working, perfectly nice, perfectly average-skilled student a "C" on an essay and watch the reaction from both him and his parents if you don't believe me.
America is a country caught between meritocracy and morality. We are raised on fairy tales and movies that tell us nice guys finish first. Then we grow up and go into a job market that tells us it is not just O.K. but also necessary to richly reward the best and cut the laggards, however kind or hardworking they are...Idol indulges the idea that the nicest people are the most talented...
Despite my general disinterest in AI, I find this aspect of the show (and its reflection of American values) interesting. In theory, one shouldn't have to be nice or have an interesting back story for one's talents to lauded. Furthermore, despite what most of "today's youth" thinks, precious precious few of us are extraordinary. Most of us are perfectly average and that should be perfectly fine, but for some reason it's not. Try giving a hard-working, perfectly nice, perfectly average-skilled student a "C" on an essay and watch the reaction from both him and his parents if you don't believe me.
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