Critics may complain that the show does little more than manufacture mass-market mediocrity. Who cares? It’s wildly entertaining, maybe the last bit of our culture that requires us to sit in the same room at the same time and stare at the same shared screen. Best of all, “American Idol” provides an antidote to the idea that anyone can be a star. The truth is, you probably can’t be a star, which is bracing to hear. Further, you can’t reach the top without an enormous amount of hard work and, possibly, being willing to sing an entire song in falsetto.
This is not always the message my generation sends its kids. The show counteracts the stance that the world owes you whatever you want, even a living as a rock star, just because you happen to want it.
'The Bumble Bee Girl'. Illustration by Karen Santry, oil on rosewood, mounted on rice paper, 2007. Image from here.
1 comment:
I wandered into your site and then saw your paintings. Great portraits and equally great abstract work. Form and content complimenting each other thus elevating the visual experience into a heightened state of perception, which is my definition for art.
Congratulations. Keep up the good work.
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