Wednesday night, after hours and hours of war coverage, I thought an episode of Bernie Mac was just what I needed. “Provided,” I said to Mr. Rilch, “that it will be on at all.”
Well, I tuned in just before nine to see that American Idol was broadcasting live, but somewhat behind schedule. Stupid me thought I’d have more time than I actually did, so I switched back to CNN, and when I returned to Fox, Bernie Mac was already in progress. :smack: …it’ll be on again, Rilch; it’s not that important; you only missed about three minutes anyway…
Anyway, I was wondering if AmIdol acknowledged the war in any way. Like with a moment of silence, or “We know what’s happening, but this is AMERICAN Idol, so let’s sing it out for our country, and god bless our troops in Iraq!”. They must have at least addressed the fact that they were going on late for a reason.
Nope. Everything went according to plan, with no mention of the U.S. Military’s escapades. Unless you count Simon Cowell doing push-ups with the Marine, I guess…
Not necessarily–it’s taped in L.A., which means to be “live” on the East Coast (and it’s only live on the East Coast, or it starts at 5:00, it’s something you get used to when you live on this side of the country), it’s taped at 5 or 6 Pacific time. The bombing was first reported about 6:45 Pacific time, and Bush spoke at 7:15. It is possible that they did not know that the bombing had started. Of course, on the later re-broadcast, they could have run scroll thing at the bottom, but I admit I didn’t see one, though I do watch and read, so I may have missed it. And because the war was to be started after the 48 hours, but at a time of Bush’s choosing, AmIdol wouldn’t know for sure that the war would start, so why acknowledge it?
Didn’t even mention Josh’s being a Marine - perhaps to forestall questions about why he’s doing a singing contest instead of in the sand getting his ass shot at, or perhaps to forestall criticism that Fox was trying to sway the vote toward a sentimental favorite, or perhaps who knows why.
Josh has already said on several occasions that if his platoon is shipped out, he’s going with them. The fact that he’s still on the show tells me that his platoon has not been deployed. Yet.
Damnit, I’m glad AI didn’t acknowledge the war, and I respect them for it. When I’m watching TV, I don’t want to hear any more updates about the war unless I’m watching the news.
Well, skaterboarder, some people think it would have been tacky to carry on with a singing contest, as if it were still the most important thing in the world, without giving a shout-out to the troops. Not an update, just an acknowledgement that there was something going on that’s even bigger than Simon’s ego.
But it’s moot, since, as was pointed out to me, they started taping before the deadline.
Let me tell you something right now, most people don’t care about the war, they may pretend to, but they really don’t. AI’s target demographic couldn’t care less about the war when it interferes with the shows they’re tuning in to watch. The news is where acknowledgments of the war belong, not shows meant as a form of entertainment.
skaterboarder, I’m not telling you how you should feel.
But.
That attitude you described is gonna cease. People have been hiding their heads in the sand for too long, caring too much about trivial things. (If the war had already been underway, which it wasn’t) it would not have disrupted the show if Ryan Seacrest had said, in the introduction, “All right; welcome to AMERICAN Idol, and this goes out to our troops in Iraq!” I am only talking about an acknowledgement. Not an update.
**
By all means, watch the show; I watched Bernie Mac. But it disturbs me to think that there are people who “couldn’t care less” about the war. If anything, this war should give people a greater appreciation for our society, in which we can broadcast a singing contest, and women can appear in public without veils and without escorts.
Of course, it would strike me as being crass and irrelevant to get into the war every damned Tuesday. It’s nice to watch a show that doesn’t involve shooting and killing every Tuesday at 8.
Caring about the war doesn’t mean you have to watch and hear it 24/7.
Thank you. You worded it better than I did, but this was the point I was trying to convey. When I want to hear about the war, I’ll watch the news at 10, post American Idol.