While reviewing movies at Slate, critic David Edelstein writes:

One reason I hate the fact that my just-7-year-old daughter watches American Idol (long story) is that I don’t want her to think about competition yet. I don’t want her to see people being judged–and in some cases, ripped apart. Yes, that sounds odd coming from a critic–but these are people who aren’t rich and famous and in some cases are getting torn apart with a camera in their face.

I don’t have a 7-year-old daughter, but if I did, I think I’d want her to get an early taste for competition, judgment, and the idea that some people do some things better than others.

I’ll confess, I like to watch the early audition episodes of Idol because like a lot of people, the really, really awful attempts are the most fun. Of course, the judges obviously enjoy that part as well, and the show can get really nasty at times, as people who (oh, so very mistkaenly) believe they’re on the cusp of their big break get snickered, sneered, and mocked by the judges (more Abdul and Jackson here than Cowell).

But I like Simon Cowell. There’s something refreshingly meritocratic about Cowell, the most loathed of the judges. Cowell may be direct and brutal, but frankly, it’s nice to see someone dashing the dreams of people whose dreams need to be dashed. It’s a welcome reprieve from the politically correct, everybody’s-a-winner pap our kids get fed. Hey, it’s great to dream. But everybody’s not a winner. And you’re far more likely to do well in life working your ass of than by stumbling onto fame via a popular television show.

Cowell’s only a real bastard when it’s clear to him that a would-be idol is auditioning just to be on television, knowing full-well they don’t have a prayer. That is, they’re wasting his time. With the others — the people who genuinely believe they can sing (when they can’t), likely because their parents, their pastor, or grandma has always said so — Cowell’s usually abrupt, but fair. He’ll occasionally tell someone in no uncertain terms that they’re dreadful, but but many times that’s really the only way to hammer home that it’s time to give up.

Most of us lose lots of times before we find something we’re at least good enough at to make a living. I don’t know why you wouldn’t your child to be exposed to that idea. I think it’s a pretty refreshing and valuable lesson for a kid to learn. Even a young one.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 30th, 2005 at 8:12 am by Radley Balko and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.