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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | bob <segarini@rogers.com> |
| Subject | Re: As sad as this is... |
| Date | Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:32:22 -0800 (PST) |
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Clearly this poor woman had a serious problem to begin with...but this window of opportunity for people that think fame and fortune are important, yet want to fast-track to it without the years of experience and dedication, growth, and hard work that it takes to truly rise to your full potential, don't have any stop-gaps to inform them of their flat out inability to make the leap from basement/family room to stardom.
At least when your friends tell you you suck, it's a little more personal and less humiliating, and is usually delivered with compassion and understanding. These TV shows use the moment to create a laugh for it's audience of looky-loos, and a horrific, potentially devasting moment for the target of their little written by committee quips.
...no matter how well intentioned they are, encouraging words to people with little or no chance of successfully acheiving their dream can turn cruel in the wrong hands or environment. Cowell needs to be reigned in. He humiliates people for show, and like you say, the victims of his smug sarcasm should be gently turned down from participating. I still believe that without the trainwreck footage and the audience that loves to see someone humiliated because it's 'humourous' or empowering to them, these shows would dry up and blow away.
We live in a world that embraces Punk'd and Jackass as high entertainment...and would rather see a bank teller from Des Moines wearing a mud caked bikini eat a worm to win a Twinkie from the other wanna-be's desperate for celebrity, regardless of how fleeting.
bob
--- On Sat, 11/15/08, Will Harris <NonStopPop@cox.net> wrote:
From: Will Harris <NonStopPop@cox.net>
Subject: Re: As sad as this is...
To: segarini@rogers.com, audities@smoe.org, canadianclassicrock@yahoogroups.com, "'Warren Cosford'" <warrenslist@yahoo.com>, "'Bob Lefsetz'" <bob@lefsetz.com>, canuckblues@yahoogroups.com
Received: Saturday, November 15, 2008, 12:17 AM
>...I think the reality show, ESPECIALLY Cowell, should be held partly
responsible for this, in fact, I'm surprised there haven't been more.
>I HATE these fucking shows that point and laugh at others, (a tragically
huge segment of the population LOVES this kind of 'humour'), as
>'entertainment', smirking all the way to the bank at the cost of
someone
else's pain.
>I'd love to see how far the numbers would drop if these shows
were't
allowed to air the trainwrecks.
>They'd probably all disappear in a year.
I'm not a huge "American Idol" fan, but I think it's pretty
hypocritical for
the entertainment media to spend volumes and volumes of type on the
phenomenon of the show, only to suddenly turn now and say, "This woman
killed herself, and 'American Idol' is to blame." I'm as
sympathetic as
they come, but when I read this story, my instinct is NOT to blame
"American
Idol" but, rather, to wonder where this poor woman's support system
was.
There's no mention of her friends or family, nor is there any suggestion
that anyone stepped in to say, "Uh, sweetie, you're a little too
delicate,
maybe you shouldn't try out," when clearly someone should have done
so,
given her history of mental illness.
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