IDOL-Ness - March 6, 2007
A new season of American Idol is upon us. As I watch yet another season I wonder what makes shows like Idol so appealing. I think I have it figured out. We live in a productivity-oriented culture. For the most part, we believe that if you want to get ahead, you will. And, if you work hard enough, you will succeed. So, these shows connect on that basic emotional level. And, they also appeal to our desire for good to triumph over evil and for crime to merit punishment. Taking that emotional sense of justification to the limits I thought, what if we IDOL-ized America?
At work, at the end of each week you could vote for the person with whom you worked that had been the best performer that week or you could vote “off the company island” the person who was the worst. The next time you were in the grocery store you could rate the checkout clerk. The clerk with the worst score, at week’s end, would be sent home. If someone cut you off in traffic, you could punch in their license tag number, with your rating, and the worst drivers might have their driver’s license suspended for a month or two. You get the point.
It seems a little absurd, but when you think about it we already do this. When we’re watching television and a show or commercial comes on that we do not like we change or mute the channel. We vote for who we want to be President and we vote with our wallets every time we buy something we want or we need. Products that do well get to go on while those that do poorly are sent packing. Maybe there is something to that whole “wisdom of crowds” thing.