Musings from Brian J. Noggle

Common Sense Check

Today, in the Chicago Sun-Times, Richard Roeper takes on the American Idol racism manufactuversy. He sums it up:

That's what happened recently when Chicago's Jennifer Hudson and two other young black women finished in the bottom three in viewer voting, while that Doogie Howser-lookin' 16-year-old, John Stevens, was among the top vote-getters, despite the fact that he CANNOT SING A LICK. (To the shock of the judges and anyone with working ears, Hudson was sent home, which turned out to be a great career break. You don't get to read a Top Ten List on "Late Show With David Letterman" unless you're making real news.)

How could this happen? How could arguably the three most talented performers finish with the three worst vote totals? Hmmm, could it have something to do with the fact that they're black?

A lot of people, including Elton John, seemed to think so.

Roeper's take?

I thought the cries of racism in the wake of Hudson's ouster were emotionally cheap and intellectually lazy. (Personally, I was glad to see Stevens go because I'm a rabid anti-schmaltz-ite.) To slap the "racist" tag on millions of people because they preferred a hokey teen-boy singer to some over-emoting junior divas is quite a leap. Maybe there are just a lot of Nebraska grandmas and New York teenyboppers who voted for Stevens, while fans of the Bottom Three felt so secure about their favorites that they didn't bother to vote. I mean, if the vote two weeks ago is proof that America is racist, then last week's vote means America has learned its lesson, and isn't racist any more. Right?

I agree it's not about race, but for a different reason.

From what I understand, you vote by calling a 900 number for your favorite singer. You can vote as often as you want or your parents can afford. That sort of election process selects a special subset of viewers, a subset that has superfluous money, time, and motivation to call a 900 number.

It's not white versus black. It's idiots versus people with lives apart from the television.

Thank you. Please note, this Internet is not an idiot box because it has more than a box. It is two boxes, a big calculator with letters on it, and a unicycle with two buttons on it. That is all.

- posted by Brian J. @ 8:34 PM