Journal Entry #26
March 18th, 2010
Idolatry is usually defined as worship of any cult image, idea, or object, as opposed to the worship of a monotheistic God.
I must admit I am a closet fan of this show and Parking wars. It amazes me the lengths people will go to get what they perceive is their dream. Now I am mostly interested in the initial stage of the show and not the fanfare that happens latter on. I guess I like to watch people completely try and fulfill their fantasy world. The opposite to that is that it disgusts me to watch these hopefuls being used and spit out by The Machine. That is what I call the part of the music business that basically uses these artists for their personal gain. This is what the buying public seems to want so I assume there will always be someone there to fill the need.
Why do I call this American Idolatry? When anything is worshiped to the point American Idol is it shows me that society is out of balance. It is just a show. The basic idea of the show is to make a profit. It is a great idea as far as a business is concerned. This is the same old pop music business that has been around for awhile. For some of the contestants it is a blessing if they are looking for fame, but not for most. If you want to be a pop star then this is the way to go. I really don’t think that most people auditioning for the show truly have the dream of being a singer it is the dream of being famous that draws them in.
First we have to understand how the show works. Now usually at each audition there will be approx 10,000 people showing up all with their hopes and dreams of being a star in tow. The celebrity judges are not going to see each and every person so there is a filtering process. The judges don’t come until the later stages of the process when the rest of the staff has filtered it down to 100 people or so. Now most of the people who audition are just average neither great nor terrible singers. What the show wants is a mix of above average and really bad singers. Now do you think that the really bad singers think their bad? I would imagine that most really think there good and of course the lie or delusion is that they are not. Then when they are insulted at the auditions they are heartbroken. I would also imagine that the 1,000’s of others who did not make it through the process really thought they could be a star as well.
I just love it at the beginning of the show when Ryan Seacrest says These are your American idols. What a sickening thing. Admire someone for what they are trying to do, have a doctor as an idol not an aspiring pop star who is being moulded by The Machine. There are literally thousands of bands and hopefuls trying to get there music heard. I just signed up for a band profile on CBC Radio 3 and it stated that there were 21,000 bands on this site. Maybe some of them want to be worshipped maybe some just want to be professional at what they love to do.
I love the fact they there is a music industry that can produce great music and art but what to me American idol and similar shows represent is that desire to be a star, a celebrity. I think this is a sad state. Be an artist because you love it. If you ever have the opportunity to get paid for what you love to do then you truly have reached a great place in your life. Worshipping people because they are pop stars is really not cool in my opinion.
Don’t let someone else determine if you are going to be successful in life. If you do make it as a star that star does not shine for very long. There is the odd exception but the odds are incredibly high. At the end of the day do music or whatever it is you want to do because you love it. At least you won’t end up on celebrity rehab.
Seek the truth always
Gary David Currie
