Life Lesson from American Idol and Lady Gaga
Last night, I had a strange feeling: I wanted to watch TV. I don’t think that watching TV is bad; it’s a strange feeling for me because I normally don’t have that desire. I’m more of a movie, book, and computer guy than a TV guy. (If you read “nerd,” you’re probably right, but I don’t like you.)
I caught the last five minutes of an episode of The Big Bang Theory (speaking of nerds), which I think of that show as the current Everybody Loves Raymond: always entertaining and good for a laugh. But after TBBT ended, I looked for another TV show to picque my interest.
Nothing picqued it.
The only thing that made me toy with pressing the change channel button on the remote control was Law and Order, but even that was the original series, AKA not the one with Ice-T and Benson. After a comic amount of stalled deliberation, I decided to leave the TV on its current channel, as an episode of American Idol began.
I’m not a fan of Idol. In typical Internet personality, anything that doesn’t appear edifying to me but embraced by a large population seems below me.
Yet, unlike an Internet personality, I’m always willing to give what I don’t like a shot. This absurd characteristic of mine had me read the first Twilight book because I was so keen on making fun of it, yet I felt like a hypocrite because I’d never read it firsthand. (After I read it, though, I felt more secure in insulting and even obligated to insult it.)
The first act on American Idol was a blonde girl singing that Adele song “Rolling in the Deep.” I concede to living under a rock, because that was the first time I heard that song other than in a ten-second advertisement. Anyway, I thought it was pretty awesome and the girl who sang it really rocked a seemingly tough song to perform.
So, I enjoyed that. Did watching that sell me to the show, or even cause me to commit to watching the rest of that episode? No. But, I let the show continue playing.
The next performance was announced to be a song by Lady Gaga. I groaned a little bit. See, Lady Gaga to me is the epitome of pop culture: flashy, odd, catchy, a little obnoxious, and downright weird. I’ve heard her songs and seen her clothes; I think that gives me ground to not like her.
When Ryan Seacrest, amid his flashy persona, said that a guy would be the one performing the Lady Gaga song, my already low hopes sank to a deeper level. Not only was the person singing the song by a female singer I don’t like a dude, but he looked …odd.
A mix of lethargy and laziness kept me from changing the channel. As this odd guy finished the song by the singer I don’t like, I had a strange realization.
I actually liked the performance.
Don’t get me wrong, it didn’t turn me into an American Idol fan, make me call or text to vote for that guy, finish watching the entire episode, or even remember his name. But that performance made me realize something.
Too often, I pre-judge what my opinion of something will be. I think it’s important to remain true to who I am, but I don’t think that necessarily delineates what kind of entertainment I like. Sometimes, I need to just experience something anew instead of letting my past judgments affect my present opinions.
Maybe I am being too touchy-feely. However, I will always support looking at a situation from an outside perspective, AKA thinking outside of the box. So thanks American Idol, Lady Gaga, and blond dude with a red stripe in your hair: you’ve shown me that sometimes letting go of my prejudices may introduce me to something I can actually enjoy.
So will I tune into the next episode? Probably not. But I might sometime again. If The Big Bang Theory isn’t on.
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Oh yeah, check out that video here. Is it a great performance? Not saying that; just saying I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected.
Politics: Choosing Your Fight
A while back, I was very vocal about supporting one of the nominees for the presidential election, which was uncommon for me, because it is rare that any politician gives me hope. After Kony 2012 was released and I saw the huge backlash from negative people, I decided that it was important for me to choose my battles carefully; I take criticism and negativity to heart (The Internet is no place for me, I guess.), so I decided to only post controversial comments about select issues. For me, being humanitarian is more important than being political, so outwardly supporting my favorite nominee took a backseat.
That attitude still rings true to me, so I won’t support my candidate through this post. Instead, I’ll voice two major concerns I have when going to cast a ballot in this election.
Concern 1: Allowing and Accepting Lies
I’m not a fan of Mitt Romney. If you are, great; this post is not meant to change your political views, but clarify them. However, I doubt that you, reader, are a supporter of Mitt Romney in and of himself.
I greatly enjoy the fact that I have friends with a wide variety of political views. Even judging from Facebook, I’ve seen support of Santorum, Paul, Gingrich, Cain, Huntsman, and Obama. I’ve never seen anyone choosing to support Romney. Not once. It seems that the greatest M.O. for his support is due to the fact that he is not the current president, who many people (where I live especially) dislike.
I’m not a fan of Romney, neither am I a supporter of Obama. I am a Catholic, and his forcing Catholic institutions to violate their conscience and view pregnancy as a decease is a deplorable act in my book. I think that he is taking for granted the freedom of religion in our Constitution and that is, to me, very low.
(Heck, you may not agree with me, and that’s okay. This post is not about the rightness or wrongness of the HHS mandate. I just stated my opinion of it to explain where I am coming from.)
So, Mr. Obama won’t have my vote. Mr. Romney, in a very predictable act, says that he will overturn this mandate and help preserve the freedom of religion. Seems pretty obvious that all faithful Catholics should vote for Romney, right? Before I put on my elephant costume and raise the red GOP banner, I have a point to consider.
Way back in 2008, the Democratic front runners were making their political promises. One huge issue for them was the war in Iraq. No Democratic party member outwardly supported it. Ending the war in Iraq to the Democrats was like ending the HHS mandate to the Republicans. Mr. Obama, amid applause and well-wishers, said this. But then he clarified that statement here. I call a lie a lie. Period.
If Mr. Obama can lie about that – a crucial so important to the Democratic Party, could Romney be lying about overturning the HHS mandate? Well, at least we know that Romney is an honest, consistent character. Oh wait.
My question is this: why should I be okay with politicians lying about big issues? That doesn’t lead me to trust candidates from the Republican nor Democratic Party. If lying is permitted to these people and they are supported despite their lying, I cannot support them. People say that this choice makes me not pragmatic. I think this choice makes me human.
Concern 2: Big Brother and the Two Political Parties
Much like my first concern, but with a broader aspect, is my problem with the political parties. These entities make voters think that politicians are privy to different moral standards than the rest of us.
They allow candidates to flip-flop on issues, go back on their word, and accept much money from big corporations in exchange for political favors. And as a voter, I am expected to allow this as a necessary evil and shrug it off and say, “That’s just the way politics are.”
But, here’s the thing: I cannot and will not believe that.
Maybe this makes me a conspiracy theorist or an idealist with his head in the clouds. I’ll accept either title. However, I won’t abridge my moral standard for politics, or when voting.
Even if everyone else loves Big Brother, I don’t accept it.
(No I don’t really think American politics are described in 1984. It’s a hyperbole.)
As parents, one wouldn’t allow his child to do favors for those who give them money in kindergarten, or allow them to lie without repercussions. If we expect this of our kindergartners, why don’t we allow this from our politicians?
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My purpose is not to tell you, reader, how to vote. I humbly ask of you to vote for the candidate you believe in, whoever that may be. If that is Romney, vote for him. If that is Obama, vote for him. Just I beg that we all vote for someone whose character we can stand by. The lesser of two evils is a depraved way to vote. We need to vote for something good. If more and more people do this, voters will not be slaves under our country’s political party’s umbrellas.
End idealistic rant.
Opelousas
“And He said, ‘Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown.’” That’s from Luke 4:24, if you, reader, are so plebian that you don’t know the reference. (That is heavy sarcasm, by the way.)
Small towns are often seen as embarrassments by those who figure that they are too high and mighty to come from such a place.
To be honest, I believe I fall into this category too often.
On one hand, maybe in some ways it makes sense that I sometimes feel this way: throughout my teens, I lost my ability to walk. Not suddenly, but painfully slowly. At a time when psychologically, a child’s biggest need is to fit in with the crowd, I stood out.
When all I wanted was to gain some acceptance, I felt like no one knew what to do with me. It was easy to blame my small town on not knowing how to treat me. It seemed logical that in a more urban area, I wouldn’t have felt so ostracized.
However, the big realization: I thought my town was so ignorant because they didn’t treat me ideally, when I myself had no idea how to cope with what was happening with me. Rather than look inwardly and look at myself as not coping with my issues, it was easier to blame my hometown.
And that, readers, is the definition of the psychological term projection. I made my hometown the source of ignorance, instead of confronting my own ignorance.
(Speaking of assigning blame, why I fall in the category of being too high and mighty for my hometown may have nothing to do with my disability and may only be a character flaw.)
Looking back on my own life, the mindset I had when I was 15 was very narrow compared to my mindset today. I believe everyone feels this way. Instead of attributing that changing mindset phenomenon as normal psychological development, I tend to geographize it, and blame the atmosphere of the place as being narrow-minded.
(Yeah, I made up the word “geographize.” My blog, my rules.)
I firmly believe that an important part of development is to move away from any area that is familiar (at least temporarily) to experience life in a different, unfamiliar manner.
However, this does not demonize the familiar area. A common mistake of mine is to accept some personal growth and think less of the way I was before. This way of thinking replaces “potential” with “ugly,” and is ultimately a defeatist scenario.
Sometimes though, amid tragedy, we rediscover the goodness of people.
Two eleventh-grade girls from my high school were recently in a terrible car accident. Both lost their lives.
I tend to criticize Facebook often, but to see the prayer, hope, comfort, loss, and helpfulness of my hometown has been illuminating. Above all, these people are genuine. And to me, that is the crux of all noble traits.
From the prayers to the hopes to the pictures of homemade crosses with the girls’ names to a website with a schedule of who is going to prepare the family’s meals when, the outpouring of care from my hometown has awed me.
It’s easy to forget what really matters amid lofty intellects and classy locales. Sometimes, though, it’s important to see beyond that and appreciate what really matters.
RIP Morgan and Sarah. I didn’t know you personally, but you’ve helped me realize what’s important to focus on. I’m proud to be from Opelousas.
verboseguy 