The myth of unchanging human behavior and American Idol
As Schiller stated in the myth of unchanging human behavior that we are trained to behave on what we see and imitate those who’s behavior is socially acceptable and desired. We as a society watch a substantial amount of television and naturally copy what we see, this is not more prevalent in the way we all interact with one another. If you were to see a stranger singing to themself in the car next to you, there is no doubt that you would probably start to laugh thinking that this person is out of their mind. But why? we all sing along to our favorite song that we hear on the radio, another example of laughing at another’s inability to sing would be the hit show American Idol.
The judges on American Idol are a combination of well known producers and a well known singer, but they are probably more known by the things that they say on American Idol. Simon Cowell is probably the most known and hated judge on the entire panel. Simon makes these comments that are just so harsh and mean that we have no other option but to hate him, but he is the exact reason why we watch the show. I mean we watch the show to see all the singers in the pursuit of a dream, becoming the next big star. But we wait for those singers that think they have talent but really don’t. We don’t know what is better the faces that the judges make or the mean comments coming out of Simon’s mouth.
Not all the judges are hated as much as Simon, there is one judge that is reared as “American Idols sweetheart. Paula Abdul , was a choreographer and cheerleader for the L.A. Lackers and also a singer that has numerous amounts of awards. But when she became a judge on American Idol she also became a house hold name among all ages. Paula adds a kind heart to the show, while Simon verbally harasses the contestants Paula simply tells them things like “maybe singing isn’t your thing.” When a contestant leaves the room almost in tears Paula is the first to tell Simon that he was out of line and defends the “singer” that just left. Paula standing up to Simon with the compassion that she does is the exact reason why she is the “American idol sweetheart.”
The third judge is the balance of the panel, Randy Jackson , like Simon is a well known producer and a judge on the show. Randy is well know in the record industry because of his work with artists like Mariah Carey, Madonna, Journey and many more. But his role on American idol is to balance out both Paula and Simon, sometimes Randy falls on the same harshness factor as Simon but then he will really be kind hearted like Paula. But Randy is the bridge that brings both Paula and Simon together and makes the show the hit that is has become.
Not all the contestants on the show are deferred by the comments that the judges shell out at them, some do actually make a debut because of the fact that they were slammed on American Idol. William Hung made his career by being humiliated on national television, but his singing career began and ended with that same reason. Despite the lack of his singing talent William Hung did achieve his dream of becoming a singer if only for fifteen minutes. William Hung only had a career because he was made fun of, through television and radio, this shows the way that our behavior really works, we laugh and get pleasure out of others failure. But why? Is it what we learn from society, and the comments that Simon says is that socially acceptable? From what Schiller stated it is no that we act not that we must act that way , but because we are expected to act that way.