Dreams Shmeams
I have an issue with these American Idol auditions. These people are truly awful. Like, sometimes, I wonder, who told these people that they are going to make it? I was thinking about this, and you know who I bet said something? Parents.
My sister took violin lessons for a few years, and I think my dad was convinced that she was the next violin prodigy or something, the way he had people listen to her pick that thing. The truth was, the kid was better at picking her nose. She was plain awful. She could probably play two notes, but we had to listen to them. The worst part? My parents really made my sister think she had some talent there.
The catch, though, was that eventually, my parents stopped telling her she was great at the violin, and they stopped having her take lessons when - and here's the big thing - it would have cost money to give her the private lessons. That's a good sign: if money's being shelled out, you're good to go. If you're stopping something because it costs money, you just aren't that good. Years after this whole debacle, if you ask my sister, she'll tell you: she sucked at the violin. If there were some Violin Idol, she wouldn't try out. She's normal. My parents were realistic. At age twelve, she stopped with the show. Everyone thanked them.
Clearly, I'm not into giving people false hope. Or false egos. I don't think it's good for anybody to tell them that they're good at something when they're obviously horrible. People would be saved a lot of humiliation if someone had just shot them, if they were afraid to offend them. And that's just it: in this society, everyone is so afraid of telling anybody the truth. It's all about sidestepping the truth because it's too harsh. Well, I'm tired of it. If you suck, you suck. If you need to be put in your place, someone ought to put you there. Everyone complains about everyone, and yet when it comes down to it, no one's willing to do anything real about it.
We're creating a society of American Idol wannabes, because everyone thinks they have star ability. Everybody has been told how talented they are, even when not a shred of anything resembling talent exists. You're not Whitney Houston simply because you like The Bodyguard and do drugs once in a while. You're not Faith Hill because you're blonde. It doesn't work like that, but for some reason, every person is convinced that if they have a dream, they can make it happen. Here's a cinder block to the head: you can't.
I remember watching Hilary Swank accept her Oscar last year. She said that when she was little and living in a trailer park, she would dream about being an actress. And then she did it: she told everyone who had a dream not to give up. Way to go, Hil. Are you going to be supporting all of the trailer park actresses out there now? Now Wanda who was going to work at Wal Mart thinks that she's destined to be next Hilary Swank, and she'll stop going to work and now she'll move out to Los Angeles and try to make it big while working part time at the local restaurant chain that hires wannabe actresses. Just what the world needs. If I ever meet Ms. Swank, I'm going to have words with her. She really did a disservice to her fellow trailer parkees, who should have been told, "Work at Wal Mart, Wanda. Go out there, work hard every day, it's respectable,pay $7.50 to see my movies, move out of the park, be well." Collect the Oscar, move on.
Just as I go to close this, case in point on American Idol appears. This guy sings horribly, absolutely no ability to carry the tune, and the judges tell him that. On the way out, he tells Ryan Seacrest that the judges are insane, and that he was on pitch. Ten bucks his parents told him every day growing up that he could sing. If Hilary Swank told him he could act, he would have shown up on Al Pacino's door step.
Don't get me wrong - I'm all for having "dreams" and trying to be successful in life, but delusion is an entirely different story. I'm not against dream squashing if it's necessary. My kids aren't going to be dreamers. I'll make sure of it.
My sister took violin lessons for a few years, and I think my dad was convinced that she was the next violin prodigy or something, the way he had people listen to her pick that thing. The truth was, the kid was better at picking her nose. She was plain awful. She could probably play two notes, but we had to listen to them. The worst part? My parents really made my sister think she had some talent there.
The catch, though, was that eventually, my parents stopped telling her she was great at the violin, and they stopped having her take lessons when - and here's the big thing - it would have cost money to give her the private lessons. That's a good sign: if money's being shelled out, you're good to go. If you're stopping something because it costs money, you just aren't that good. Years after this whole debacle, if you ask my sister, she'll tell you: she sucked at the violin. If there were some Violin Idol, she wouldn't try out. She's normal. My parents were realistic. At age twelve, she stopped with the show. Everyone thanked them.
Clearly, I'm not into giving people false hope. Or false egos. I don't think it's good for anybody to tell them that they're good at something when they're obviously horrible. People would be saved a lot of humiliation if someone had just shot them, if they were afraid to offend them. And that's just it: in this society, everyone is so afraid of telling anybody the truth. It's all about sidestepping the truth because it's too harsh. Well, I'm tired of it. If you suck, you suck. If you need to be put in your place, someone ought to put you there. Everyone complains about everyone, and yet when it comes down to it, no one's willing to do anything real about it.
We're creating a society of American Idol wannabes, because everyone thinks they have star ability. Everybody has been told how talented they are, even when not a shred of anything resembling talent exists. You're not Whitney Houston simply because you like The Bodyguard and do drugs once in a while. You're not Faith Hill because you're blonde. It doesn't work like that, but for some reason, every person is convinced that if they have a dream, they can make it happen. Here's a cinder block to the head: you can't.
I remember watching Hilary Swank accept her Oscar last year. She said that when she was little and living in a trailer park, she would dream about being an actress. And then she did it: she told everyone who had a dream not to give up. Way to go, Hil. Are you going to be supporting all of the trailer park actresses out there now? Now Wanda who was going to work at Wal Mart thinks that she's destined to be next Hilary Swank, and she'll stop going to work and now she'll move out to Los Angeles and try to make it big while working part time at the local restaurant chain that hires wannabe actresses. Just what the world needs. If I ever meet Ms. Swank, I'm going to have words with her. She really did a disservice to her fellow trailer parkees, who should have been told, "Work at Wal Mart, Wanda. Go out there, work hard every day, it's respectable,pay $7.50 to see my movies, move out of the park, be well." Collect the Oscar, move on.
Just as I go to close this, case in point on American Idol appears. This guy sings horribly, absolutely no ability to carry the tune, and the judges tell him that. On the way out, he tells Ryan Seacrest that the judges are insane, and that he was on pitch. Ten bucks his parents told him every day growing up that he could sing. If Hilary Swank told him he could act, he would have shown up on Al Pacino's door step.
Don't get me wrong - I'm all for having "dreams" and trying to be successful in life, but delusion is an entirely different story. I'm not against dream squashing if it's necessary. My kids aren't going to be dreamers. I'll make sure of it.
<< Home