I just read a Slate article about how “emotionally violent” American Idol is this season. Apparently AI promoted that they were going to focus more on contestants’ back stories. After watching the premiere this week, it’s clear that AI is pandering like never before to those in search of a laugh at someone else’s expense. They’re giving even more airtime to the pathetic, this time with added emotionally-charged back stories of why these poor souls want to be pop stars.
Now, this type of thing is certainly no surprise on a show like American Idol. After 6 seasons we’ve come to expect the freaks, and many people only tune in for the audition phase for just this reason. What really appalled me, though, is the portion of American Idol’s website that features videos of “bad auditions” by city. You can watch every excrutiatingly humiliating moment over and over again. Pause it and take a screen shot for your new signature banner. Rip it and re-cut it with more “bad auditions” and funny music, then post it on YouTube.
Exploiting hopeful, tin-eared “freaks” on television is one thing, but making the footage available online is something else. Even if those auditioning did so just to look silly and get on TV, I doubt they comprehended how much of their dignity they signed away when they agreed to let FOX do just about anything with the footage.
Television on the the Internet doesn’t just need to be examined in terms of writers’ rights. Ease of duplication/manipulation vastly increases when content is posted online, and the ethical consequences need to be examined by media professionals as well.
