Key to American Idol's Success
Hey, I realized the other day that a big reason for American Idol's popularity probably has to do because it is a hip show...not just style and marketing-wize, but it's on the cutting edge of postmodern philosophy.
Postmoderns like information overload...an American Idol has tons of fastpaced cuts, edits, and segments.
Postmoderns like narratives...and Idol gives us personal profiles give you narratives for each contestant. Plus, the audience gets to play an important role in the developing narrative, "if your favorite was in the bottom three, you need to remember that you have to vote!"
Postmoderns claim to like objectivity, but are comfortable with subjectivity...and Idols is supposedly a talent contest, but style, story, and talent are all major factors. Judges' differing opinions prove how subjective everything is.
Finally, in today's world it's all about being true to yourself...and Taylor Hicks won because he was most clearly always true to himself.
posted by Eric at Friday, September 22, 2006
1 Comments:
We postmoderns like anything that is postmodern. If it is cutting edge then it's going to sell. That's what I'm sure Survivor is trying to do this year with its clans seperated by race. They are trying to do something new and exciting that hasn't been done before.
I think everyone wants things to be objective. They want the truth. They want to know what stars are like inside as a real person. That's why gossip magazines are so popular. People get to find out what popular people are like when they're not on the screen.
Idol is not the truth, but it tries to give you some of it (or at least act like it does) when it goes behind the scenes and tells you the top Idol's backstories. It shows how most of these people are normal, just like you and me, but they can sing and have been exposed to Hollywood's best fashion and make up. "Wow they look so cool now! When I first saw them they looked dorky!" It's amazing to see how a person can go through such a transformation in front of your eyes. That's a big appeal right there.
As far as the voting, yes, it's a great idea to give America the ability to participate in their "Idol's" careers/lives. It is working really well right now for American Idol, but like you said, American's like postmodernism and so American Idol will have to keep doing things to make it cutting edge.
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