American Idol's Guilty Pleasure

Is Cruelty Part Of The Show's Appeal?

by Roland Kriewaldt

American Idol markets itself as being a show that will discover the next musical superstar. But is that the whole story, or does it offer a guilty little pleasure that no one dares admit?

At face value, the show seems innocent enough. Contestants must sing famous songs for a mom, pop and sis viewing audience while three "expert" judges tell them, according to their own personal biases, how good or bad they are. Ultimately, one singer wins and gets to make a record which the viewers can buy. And then, a few months later, a new season begins.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, gifted musicians must perform in dingy old nightclubs, mostly for drunken regulars. This is how they learn their craft and perfect it; not by singing into a camera for three minutes on a Tuesday afternoon.

American Idol sells itself as a star making machine, yet the true star is the show itself since "idol" worship rarely endures once viewers have tuned out. But that's television. It's an industry for keeping our attention for which advertisers pay. Once they have what they want from us (profits) it's over. Creating stars is a premise to keep the American Idol show alive. Ultimately, it's just entertainment, which leads to my point.

Although viewers enjoy watching a talented singer perform, there seems an even greater appeal for witnessing failure. "Losers" who lack talent yet remain delusional about winning are the show's intended prey. Therein lies the cruelty. After all, why would we enjoy a bad performance? To judge ourselves superior.

Gloating is addictive. Seeing others fail makes us feel better about our own failures. "America's Funniest Videos" taps into this mindset with videos of people falling, being hit or suffering in some other way. Despite the church-going attire, its audience laughs at the misfortune of others. Few can resist slowing at the scene of an accident to look for someone else's blood...but is that funny?

The cruelty aspect of the show is embodied by "evil villain" judge, Simon Cowel. He portrays the all too familiar schoolyard bully type who taunts and ridicules the weaker kid to make sure he or she doesn't dilute the essence of the "winning" crowd. We recognize him in our own lives and that's why we love to hate him so much. Yet secretly, many of us enjoy his corrosive commentary, awaiting with glee those exceptionally terrible performances that will make us break out in cruel judgmental laughter.

That the show is rigged for cruelty can be proven. As a musician and professional performer of many years, I've auditioned many musicians. Fame or no fame, my choices are still important since I have to live, travel and play with those I choose, often for years.

A poor singer is easily recognized and would never get air time in a professional setting. What makes American Idol's cruelty ploy so obvious is that it features these rejects more than it does truly gifted singers. Why spotlight the weakest contestants who were rejected? With thousands at each audition, an hour of air time is easily filled with great singers — so why showcase the bad ones?

Yet somehow its the worst of the performers who manage to wind up on your television screen, despite their obvious lack of talent and skill. How and why? Because it's a set up. Someone has to cut and paste all that film footage together and create a show. And sometimes it's a freak show.

To enhance this dark, cruel undercurrent, victims are bullied and ridiculed by Simon Cowel in a manner that keeps those with similar competitive apathy in the viewing audience satisfied. Just like people still do today, whether in high school, or at the mall.

And so, in closing, at least for some viewers, witnessing cruelty towards others is half the appeal of watching American Idol. And this is also true for most "elimination" type reality shows which pool a collection of unlikely contestants together (Tammy Faye Baker?) in an effort to weed out the weakest until the "strongest" contender is found. It's how we pay tribute to our animal nature. That's all...

Ultimately, seeing others lose makes us feel, in some strange, incomprehensible way, like winners. Imagine that.

Need a reality check? Check this out.