thoughts on American Idol and diet re-try
I generally don't approve of widescale mockery of autistic people and there's nothing that genuinely makes me more uncomfortable than delusional people (perhaps the better way to put it would be: people who are delusional about pop singing), so its surprising to me that I'm such a fan of American Idol. It's become abundantly clear that the show's strategy these past two seasons has been to pick autistic/low-functioning people out of the crowd, encourage them to "be themselves," so that they will eventually humiliate themselves in front of 11 million viewers. The guy last night in Denver who sang "If I only had a Brain" and had invented the "cosmic coaster" was clearly autistic (did anyone doubt the fact that he hadn't lost a chess match in three years? I didn't...), as was his compatriot in the yellow checked suits. And while I don't have a moral problem with the show's exploitation of what the free world calls mental handicaps, I can't really say that I find it very funny.
I suppose it has everything to do with the spirit of the joke. The Farrelly brothers make fun of retards in every movie, but at the core of the jokes you can detect a lot of affection. Same with South Park. (an example of an overly affectionate comedy about retards is "The Ringer" which is absolutely horrible...) With American Idol, the joke is always the handicap of the auditioner and while it's very funny to watch Ben Stiller get kicked in the balls by a retard, it's not very funny to watch Simon Cowell berate someone who clearly has some problems. And again, none of this is moralizing or even disgust, it's more disappointment that the show's "funny" moments are actually just cruelty.
That said, I watched every minute of the first two episodes. The fat black lady they had on is the best singer they've ever had. I had to rewind her on TIVO and watch it like three times just to get the full effect. I never thought they'd have anyone as good as Fantasia, but this lady has the potential to dethrone the illiterate soul queen from High Point. I also found myself getting unreasonably emotional over the 25 year old from McLeansville, North Kakalaka and the fact that he gave up his rock dreams to take after two ugly fat children....
Oh, and I'll be reinstating my old plan to lose weight by grossing myself out by writing out everything I eat on this blog... So.... Here goes....
3 pieces of crusty, stale blueberry layer cake from the teacher's lounge
2 plates at Indira's 8.99 Indian Lunch Buffet (I mostly ate Okra...)
posted by Jay @ 1:59 PM
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