Why People Like American Idol | TaraElla & Friends #9

TE: Welcome back to TaraElla and friends. Today, we have my friend The Clarifier again, and we will take a break from talking about LGBT issues. Instead, we will talk about, well, why people like American Idol, seeing that it is in its 19th season. I mean, not many things make it to 19 seasons! So it has to great, right?

TC: So let's start with this. Why do you like American Idol? Why do you still watch it after already having seen it so many times before?

TE: I mean, there's the music, but ultimately I guess it has something to do with the idea of Dreams and Dreaming Big. Idol and similar shows are all about dreaming big, after all. It's about music, personalities and performances, but ultimately it's about dreaming big, and I think that's where the appeal is at. We all need a regular dose of revitalizing that dreaming big part of ourselves, especially since many of us don't get enough of it in real life, after becoming adults. You know the unspoken social expectations, like, dreaming of being president is reasonably acceptable when you're 10, dreaming of being a style icon is sort of realistic when you're 20, but when you're 30, almost any dream is a bridge too far. That's why we keep coming back for things like Idol.

TC: So you think the adult world is lacking in this dreaming spirit then?

TE: Well, yes, I guess. I mean, I think it's sad that dreaming big seems to only feature much in movies set in high school, but unfortunately that's the way it is. From classics like Hairspray, to more recent hits like Ryan Murphy's The Prom from last year, the personal dreams of teenagers can not only be realized, but also help change the world in the process. The sad thing is that, even Hollywood seems to tell us that everything is possible when you are 16, but not when you are 36, for example. That really doesn't make sense, right? Shouldn't you be able to dream twice as big, now that you're twice as experienced?

Anyway, let's talk about two movies from the past few years that had me thinking a lot afterwards: Mistress America starring Greta Gerwig, and Brie Larson's Unicorn Store. I really liked those movies, but not so much their endings. Did Mistress America mean to say that Greta's character was immature for trying to live her dreams, and that she should snap out of it now that she was 30? Because I got that feeling, and it left a bit of a sour taste. And why did Brie Larson's character have to give up on her unicorn in the end? Excuse me if I interpreted those movies wrong, but I felt a bit sad that they couldn't unequivocally celebrate people who want to dream big, and still dream big in their adult lives.

The other thing is, I actually think this cultural separation of dreaming big from adulthood has social implications. And these are not very nice social implications, to put it mildly.

TC: So what are these social implications of dreaming big, or lack thereof?

TE: It basically says that, part of growing up and becoming an adult is that you have to just be okay with the status quo, even if it is objectively bad. I mean, there is a cultural expectation that the mature thing to do is to just suck it up. The world is unfair, and you've just got to suck it up. And sorry, I just don't believe in that. Let me repeat it: I just don't believe in that. I mean, I am not a utopian, but we do need to be able to envision a better way, if anything is to improve.

This is why I believe we should make a point to uphold all those who continue to dream big, despite having grown up. Now, you may ask what do personal dreams, like those portrayed on American Idol, have to do with social or political goals. But the fact is, it's all linked. There's the basic ingredient of being able to dream big, saying 'no' to the skeptics, to begin with. And then, once you starting going for your personal dreams, you start to discover the ways in which the world is flawed, and you start to seek to improve it. This is why, if we want to dream big for the world, we need to dream big for ourselves first.