American Idol

Do you remember the commercial “Is it live or is it Memorex”? Television viewers were challenged to see if they could tell the difference between the actual sounds of a violin as opposed to the recording of the violin on Memorex tape.

The commercial created the illusion that television viewers were listening to the sound of a live instrument when in fact they were listening to a recording. Viewers couldn’t tell the difference because the comparison was being presented via a television set and that made it impossible to listen to the actual instrument!

The commercial was successful because it created an impression that the sound seemed to be authentic.

The idea exemplifies the fact that what “appears” to be real in the media isn't necessarily real. The demarcation line between fantasy and reality have become more and more blurry.  

I watched American Idol on TV last night while I was at the Gym running on the treadmill. I watched it once before many months ago and hearing one of the judges demean and degrade contestants was not easy to tolerate. I had to turn the channel. I just couldn’t let myself be taken in by such abusive and cruel behavior all in the interest of making millions on yet another “reality” program. 

But there I was running on the treadmill again last night and American Idol was on… again. So I watched and this time it was a little different because audition process had been completed and the two finalists Rubin and Clay were competing for the American Idol grand prize. I really “got into it” as I heard the singers offer their wonderful talents to the world. I was impressed by the singers and the way they presented themselves.

When they finally announced the winner…which was Rubin, I couldn’t help but think:  I wonder what all the people that were denigrated by this really harsh process feel like?

We must learn to distinguish between what is real and what is illusion within purely commercial entertainment.  

The motive behind the Memorex commercial was to sell Memorex tape. What do you think are the primary motives of the people producing the American Idol competition? What is “real” and what is unreal about all of it?

The harder it becomes to distinguish reality the more things we accept as real that are pure fantasy. I believe there is a proclivity in all of us to want all of it to be real. It gives us the opportunity to fantasize about being in another person’s shoes, to live vicariously through their lives.

In truth the importance it creates is not real. It is only real for a few people that are actually living through the experience. Now there isn’t anything wrong with watching American Idol but I have questions about the message that it sends to the world.

I would put to you that any entertainment which involves abusive behavior for the sake of “artistic merit” should be questioned. If I were to take my observation one step further I would say that there is a conditioning process going on for those that believe the hype. The messages are subtle and insidious. 

q      Art and competition go hand in hand. (This is definitely not true, and only becomes true when a producer decides to cash in on the talents of others).

q      The competition is more important than the people in the competition.

q      The outer things that are important in life; appearance and image take precedence over a person’s qualities.  

q      You have the right to be cruel to others in the interest of artistic merit.

q      Certain people have the right to sing and others who don’t measure up to professional standards should be silenced.

q      Winning is everything. 

There is value in entertainment. It helps us get our minds off of our troubles and we can enjoy the excitement for a little while but what troubles me is that just like the Memorex commercial it is hard to distinguish between what's real and what's hype. It is certainly real for Rubin and Clay but it is manufactured, manipulated and magnified to make you believe it is real and... very important!

What is the message in all of it for the average person?

 What if you can’t sing like the finalists?

Ask yourself how many people you know that actually sing  for the fun of it?  Have you ever wondered why most people don’t sing anymore?

When I was growing up my family sang on a regular basis.  We would get together and before you know it everybody would be singing.  We sang because it was fun. There wasn’t any pressure to be like the pros. We weren’t trying to impress each other. We thoroughly enjoyed each others musical contributions.

Creativity is natural. The imposed commercial standards applied to creativity are unnatural. Even truly great singers can’t live up to commercial standards today. The industry has digital recorders that allow them to seamlessly “punch in” and splice many different takes of the same song. They put together the best of dozens of “takes” and it sounds like the singer was actually able to sing the entire song with absolute perfection. It may sound perfect but that is not what actually happened.  Is it real or is it Memorex?  I ask you that question seriously. We must begin to take back what in truth belongs to all of us…our creativity and our humanity!  We're all imperfect in our humanity and sooner or later we'll have to come to grips with this fact.

We must become conscious of what is real, authentic and what is not. Perfection is unreal when applied to our humanity. If we do not learn to distinguish fantasy from reality and lower the threshold of expectations we will suffer a tremendous loss. We’ll loose the ability fulfill our deepest desire…the desire to create, the desire to make music.  The desire to create is a desire of the soul that should not be ignored. We must nurture ourselves and the gifts we’ve been given at whatever level of ability and fulfill our deep rooted desires.

Everyone has the right to be creative and to express themselves as only they can.

Rather than spend time buying into the fantasy we should spend time singing...

Sing for the fun of it.

Support and nurture the talents of those who will never be professionals.

Create art for arts sake.

Sing because your soul is prompting you to sing!  

Whenever you take part in anything where one person is being held high above the others always ask: What is real in this and what is unreal?  We’re all partners in this thing called life.  Spiritually we’re all created equal, endowed with certain unalienable rights. Sound familiar?  The right to be creative is one of those equal rights.  Don’t let the hyper perfection of the media pressure you into silence.  The beauty of our humanity is our imperfection!  Life is short. Don’t squelch the deep urgings of your soul.

We have the right to exist because we are. You have the right to sing for the same reason and that is good enough.

Rob Oliver