Pop Culture

For those of you who stubble upon or may read this blog with any sort of regularity and are at all connected with the pop culture of our day, this post is for you. These are just a few takes on the happenings of the day's most up-front and current events. First, American Idol. I will admit that I have watched a few seasons of the show, although the first and third seasons are the only two that I watched on a regular basis. Mostly, I watched the auditions to have a good laugh and then didn't really pay attention to the rest of the show because there wasn't much to watch. I find that very few of the contestants are really talented and even fewer have anything that makes them distinctive as a musician or performer. The first season was all about finding someone different, but I guess the show forgot its purpose because it has churned out mediocre pop musicians for the last six years. That's not to say that there is no one talented or musically unique on the show. There have been a handful of promising musicians and singers who have emerged as a result of the show, but the show itself is so overdone and commercialized now that I find it hard to watch. Ranting done, my point of contention for this post is the current group of "idols" who are vying for the crown. I have not heard one of them that is truly amazing to listen to or watch, and, yes, I have watched at least two shows this season. The main person talked about and the one who seems to be the media darling of this season is David Archuleta. I don't see the big deal. He is an alright singer who looks like a boy parading as a man except for when he decides to grow a beard and tousle his hair, per last night's show, in which case he looks like a dejected mountain man who was forced to put on clothes. I'm not seeing the draw to this guy, but if he "speaks" to you, who am I to judge? Then there is the absolutely ridiculous show "Farmer Takes a Wife" in which a young farmer has a group of city girls stay on his farm and perform various tasks while he takes stock of them and decides which one he wants. Silly, I know, but someone thinks it's entertainment. Poor premise for a show aside, the things that are said on this show are unbelievable. This week he apparently asked them to help with the usual farm chores and there was quite the upheaval. From the looks of it, most of the girls didn't perform very well and when one of them was booted off the show her remarks were scathing yet absurd. She was mad that the farmer had picked them flowers rather than buying them flowers, mad that he had asked them to help on the farm, and most of all mad that he expected them to be something more than a trophy wife. She said that he couldn't offer them any sort of real life, only hard work and an unpleasant situation. LOL!!!!!! What planet is this girl living on???? Of course the show is retarded. Aren't all these shows where some poor lonely heart has to sift through a group of desperate would-be spouses to find a mate? But at least the farmer understood that if he was going to marry someone she better be able to handle the kind of life that he lived. He wanted to know if any of these girls could really handle being married to him. Uh oh. Didn't he get the memo that these shows are not about that at all? They're about entertainment, not real life. Someone better pull him aside and inform him quick! He might run off too many girls and then be left on his own to find a worthwhile life-partner. Wonder how that would go. :0 Next on the list - Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon. Who cares if these two got married???? Honestly, what difference does it make? Will it affect her career as a pop star or his as an actor? Doubtful. The only thing it does is create a buzz for about a week and then it dies. Sorry, Mariah, but I think you will have to try harder than that if you want to make a big splash. As for fellow pop diva Britney Spears, all I can say is ENOUGH ALREADY!!!! Can't we leave this girl alone? I'm sure she would appreciate it and I know most of the rest of us would to. Let the girl recover and at least attempt to regain control of her life, and let us move on and focus on something that really deserves attention, like the outrageous photos of Miley Cyrus. Is there no decency left in the entertainment world? What were the photographers thinking? Why would you take such suggestive shots of a 15 year old girl? Are you wanting to market her in the child porn industry? Of course she has apologized profusely for the photos and her parents have declared that they were not aware of them being taken, but, come one! Why weren't you aware? In my opinion, no one should be marketing their body to make their music sell, but certainly no one under the age of 18 should be allowed or encouraged to do so. What makes even less sense is that it was totally unnecessary. The girl is already worth an incredible amount of money and her popularity was a set thing. There was no reason to take these photos, much less publish them. This one definitely left a bad taste in my mouth and hopefully we will not be seeing anything like it too often. Perhaps I should stop there for now. I could go on about bad TV shows and terrible movies, but I will spare you. I think this post holds enough opinions for one day. ;)