Parannoyed Delusions

Today I went to the movies to watch Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban with my mother, sister and brother. I'm not a big fan of Harry but the movie was great - the first sucked, the second was good and the third is just great. The director did a great job, in my book. I'm pleasantly suprised to the fact the screenwriter, Steven Kloves is also the writer and director of one of my favourite movies, Flesh and Bone.

After the movie, we went for dinner at a Mamak's and on the TV there, was Akademi Fantasia. My whole family is pratically hooked on this show, not including me though. I don't really enjoy AF as much as I enjoy it's American semi-counterpart, American Idol. I'm not really sure why, which kept me thinking...

Akademi Fantasia, although shares a similar concept with American Idol, is in my opinion the total opposite. American Idol is a celebration of individuality, embracing the American ideal of reaching one's goals and dreams by only the will of oneself - the celebration is shared equally by the contestants and the audience, who vote whomever they view as the perfect encapsulation of this ideal. Whereas AF is propelled totally by some different entity. This entity I am speaking of is the corporate media, Astro et. al. The contenstants are mere puppets, and the audience are being spoonfed a false ideal personified by the false actions of these false idolas.

In American Idol, the contestants choose their own songs, their own image - they themselves create what they want to become, and the verdict of whether that is enough for them to become the chosen idol is carried wholly by the audience.

In AF, the contestants are (supposedly) following the whims and tastes of the masses, they are (supposedly) given songs to sing and clothes to wear that are catered for this new-founded image - which brings me to this question, what about what they want? I see individuality being thrown out into the backburner. And being replaced by the conformity to faux values generated by hollow media hype and light enterainment.

When I see Fantasia Barrino, I see who she is; a small-town girl who was a nobody and now an American star. But when I see Vince all I see is a pretty face with a pretty voice, nothing more, nothing less...