2004-05-30 - 11:54 p.m.

Cruelty TV

Someone also please tell me why I sat and watched Superstar USA today? It can't be just that my eyes were numb from the 48-hour Cheers marathon on TV land and anything else was better. No, I did this deliberately. This is the show where they are making the contestants think they're choosing the best singer, and they're really choosing the worst. I had been hearing about it and was compelled to watch. I think I wanted to watch it because I so thoroughly DON'T get the concept.

First of all I never got what was so fun about tricking people. The fun of April Fool's Day is lost on me. I think I may have mentioned this before. Which leads me to another question about memory, which I'll ask later if I remember. There's a conundrum for ya.

Anyway. I don't get what's so fun about saying something believable to someone, having them believe it and get upset, and then you go GOTCHA! I guess in most cases no harm done, but I don't get the funny part. But this show is taking people who have dreams of being professional singers, telling them, "you're good!" and putting them on TV for the sole purpose of laughing at them and saying - look how BAD they are! Look how STUPID they are to believe us telling them how GOOD they are!

I do have to admit I loved the Joe Shmoe show. But to me the funny part wasn't that they were fooling him, but that the whole thing was such a dead on funny parody of reality tv shows. I can't see how "Joe," even if he did believe it was real, didn't think, "Man, I am on the most cliche' reality show ever made." But the point wasn't to humiliate him. I never did get what was going to be so all-fired FUNNY at the end, about telling him the whole thing was fake and he was the only one who didn't know. But he wasn't being set up to be embarrassed about anything other than believing their elaborate lie. I kept thinking, that can't be the whole point - there must be some huge twist coming, like he's an actor too, and he's fooling all of THEM. But no - no twist. And the only entertaining thing about the final reveal was his reaction, because he was such a nice guy and such a good sport. Plus they all said how great he was and how much they liked him, and he got all the prizes anyway. Still though, he was a little hurt at first that he thought he had made true friendships with people who ended up being just characters. And to their credit, some of the actors were starting to feel a bit disturbed about tricking him, because he was so nice.

But they weren't laughing at him behind his back and mocking him to his face the entire time. That's what this superstar show is doing. They're setting someone up to say at the end - every time we told you that you did well - we meant you sucked worse than anyone else. Oh and you people we said sucked - that meant you didn't suck that bad after all. Don't you feel better now? And in the mean time we still got to embarrass you on TV and tell you that you sucked so that all your friends and family could see.

Oh, and not only your friends and family, because in a non-cruel world, at least they will be semi-supportive. But also all your detractors. All the people who delighted over the years in telling you at the time that you sucked and would never make it. We lied to you so that you could feel excited and proud and confident for a moment, and could go tell them, SEE? I'm going to be on TV! Someone thinks I'm good after all! I'll show you! Well guess what? We lied - you suck! Now go home so all those people can laugh harder, insult you with new ammunition, and say, with the backing of the WB - YOU SUCK - I TOLD YOU SO!

So why did I watch it? I think because I just couldn't believe it without seeing it. I feel so sorry for all those people. No, they CAN'T sing well. But you can see in some of them how much they want to be performers and how they feel this is the beginning of a new life for them.

Hey, I have an idea for a new show for next season!! Let's have the cute, popular girls and guys in high schools around the country go up to the shy, overweight, plain guys and girls, and ask them to the prom! Then let's see them go HA - how could you POSSIBLY think I was serious? Doesn't that sound like a HOOT?

I hereby vote that Superstar USA should end with all three of these judges, the sleazy host and everyone responsible for this program ends up with buckets of pig blood dumped on their heads. There's a twist for you.

my mood -

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