The American Drea.... Idol

Not being an avid watcher of Television, I was at a bit of a loss about how to proceed with this assignment as I am not familiar with the usage of popular bands in advertising and have never seen an episode of a reality television show. However, the way I have decided to proceed is as that of an outsider looking in on the reality TV craze. I will attempt to show that, at first glance, the reality show American Idol seems to propagate the American Dream, but upon closer inspection is actually an exploitation of this dream to create entertainment for the masses and extra zeros in the bank accounts of executives.

In attempting to demonstrate the correlation or lack thereof between American Idol and the American dream, we must first define our terms. The American Dream is the social ideal that a person of humble beginnings is able to raise their economic and social standing through hard work, friendliness, and dedication – an ideal not available in many societies throughout the world.

On the surface, American Idol appears to be a way of attaining this dream because it offers unknown musicians and those holding aspirations of grandeur an opportunity to rise and become a star performer in the mainstream of American culture. This seems to fit the definition of the American Dream because it offers a way to rise from humble beginnings to stardom simply overnight (or over the course of 24 weeks or however long the season runs).

America has been a draw for many people from many parts of the world for over 400 years because of the freedom offered in this land and the ability to rise above humble beginning and “make something of themselves.” And American Idol offers a shortcut to doing just that. The show welcomes many contestants to tryout to see if they have the musical ability to make it on the show. It draws hundreds of thousands of would-be stars to open themselves up to humiliation for the purpose of entertainment. However, the prize is that one lucky (and presumably talented) person will be named the winner, given a record contract, and made a superstar.

I believe this whole process is an exploitation of the American Dream. The television network is pandering to the peoples’ desire to be stars and uses this desire to fill their own pockets with the proceeds of the popularity of this enterprise. There is an empty offer of stardom for all but one person. The American Dream, in my mind, is not to simply go from rags to riches, but to achieve success in life by one’s own effort. In this sense, the one who inherits a large sum of money from the proverbial rich uncle has not achieved the American Dream, but has simply benefited from charity. In the same sense the winner of American Idol does not give someone the fulfillment of the American Dream, but uses their humiliation for the purpose of entertainment and financial gain.

As critical as I have appeared to be in this post, I do fully understand that the people who are being “used” in this process have willingly made themselves available to be so. So, I criticize and speak rather negatively of this program, but realize it is fully accepted as a part of our culture and as a legitimate source of entertainment. ( a source which I have not participated in for some reason). 

Keeping It Real

Eminem is given credit for “keeping it real” by kids from the projects because he is the embodiment of ideals. To them, he is the ideal child of an abusive parent. He speaks against his mother with such rage and brutality that he is praised for fighting against the abuse he endured. He is also praised as the ideal father for pledging his undying love and support to his daughter. These teens can identify with both the rage against an abusive parent and also with him as a father figure that they never had. For these he is praised for “keeping it real.”
However, real as he has kept it, Eminem is also a bit of a paradox. He has sworn to love and support his daughter in all things for as long as he is alive. However, at the same time he is spewing hate, anger, and rage against his mother for the upbringing he endured. These negative emotions coupled with the positive emotions of love will most likely be anything but helpful to his daughter in the future. What would a daughter think when her father is one minute telling her he loves her and the next minute rapping obscenities about his mother. It would be confusing, I’m sure. Aside from the confusion this type of contradiction can bring on a young mind, the kind of negative lyrics being rapped by Eminem are doing nothing but harming the youth of our society. His message is creating a world where it is okay to hate your family members and express intentions of doing them great harm. I wonder: Is this a world where Eminem wants his daughter to live? Would he ever want his daughter to express thoughts toward him similar to those he is expressing about his mother? I think not! If he truly loved his daughter in the way he has expressed it, would he be contributing to the moral degradation of the society in which his daughter will be part one day?
Just as Eminem has been praised for “keeping it real,” many other artists should be as well, or even more so. Reality inlyrics is absolutely essential for the song to have any real relevance to a life. Whether this reality comes in the form of life experience of the artist or simply a true principle being communicated through song lyrics, it must be present for a song to be impactful. For example, Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus is a song not grounded in reality. There is no principle being communicated, but is simply a fluff song. Some might say it’s a fun song and really like it. There is nothing wrong with that at all. They are welcome to like it, but it will not change their life. On the other hand, a song like Leave it Like it Is by David Wilcox carries a principle with it that has the power to change how somebody thinks about the world. It is grounded in the author’s understanding of life principles. He has “kept it real” and written a song that is not only musically entertaining, but lyrically poignant to the lives of his listeners. Eminem’s songs may be grounded in his feelings and life experiences, but I don’t think they offer anything constructive to society at all.

Drugs and Music... Not a Good Combination

Craig Werner has stated in his essay that many Jazz musicians are on the leading edge of musical trends and exploration. For this reason, mainstream media often rejects their music as too abstract. He also states that the reason many of these musicians run to drugs is to deal with the pain of not being accepted by most of the world. In my opinion, there is some weight to this argument. There are many musicians who run to drugs to deal with the pain of rejection, but I would argue that there is an equal or greater amount of jazz musicians who run to drugs for other reasons.
In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories about Sherlock Holmes, the great detective would often use Cocaine when faced with an extremely difficult case that had him baffled. Holmes claimed that the drugs gave him the mental fortitude to address the problem and come up with a solution. In the same fashion, many musicians run to drugs to help them be more creative. They claim that it helps the creative juices flow because it alters their mind so that they are able to get out of mental rut and write. Many artists, not just musicians, have claimed this same thing over the years. However, I would completely disagree with them. I would claim that drugs do nothing but steal their creativity. If a musicians or artist is amazingly creative while on drugs, I can only image how creative they could be in their right mind!