I have not been into American Idol for several years. Our family lost much interest in the show after Taylor Hicks, and after I cancelled my AT&T mobile phone service (carrier of choice if you want to vote via text), we had no easy way to vote for our favorites.
So while I know who won (thank you Facebook and Google News), I really had no preference for either contestant, nor did I watch to satisfy any sort of piqued curiosity. (In fact, I made a point of not watching and relaxing with an old episode of Pushing Daisies instead.)
What does rile me (and yes, I say this every year) is when Ryan Seacrest throws out the “here’s how many people voted and look how much more it was than last year!” statistic.
This year surprised me.
Apparently 100 million people voted.
Now, when I see that, I get a hitch in my little idealist activist craw.
What if 100 million people showed the same enthusiasm and stand for our country and for issues of the day? Are they? Are we, as a nation, getting there – or is there still a long way to go?
Now, I know that most who vote are probably under the voting age and can work the technology to vote early and often. (Heck, one of my young neighbors had a cell phone at age eight – and a better cell phone than her former babysitter ever had.)
But, what if that passion for voicing an opinion carried past an opinion for Guy Who Wears Eyeliner versus Guy Who Does Not Wear Eyeliner? Can we engage those young people who vote for their favorites as adults to make educated, informed decisions that affect their way of life and social and cultural enrichment?
What if we had 100 million people care in some way or have some opinion about health care reform – or Middle East policy – or education reform – or balanced state budgets – or funding for libraries? (Stop looking at me that way. You knew the last one was going to be said.)
I have some faith that such desire for participation in citizenry is there. All one has to do is look at the turnout from our last election to see proof of that fact. And I hope it carries on, and past who can sing Elvis songs better than his or her peers.
Now I should add that I do like my celebrity gossip – I have E! Online bookmarked in my cell phone browser, and E! and People’s news feeds on my iGoogle page. One does need a break from the sturm und drang of the rest of the world. But I balance it (a few might say too much) with NPR, CNN, CNBC, The New Yorker, the New York Times and The Washington Post. I try my best to remember the wise words from the the Book of Ecclesiastes (or for those not of serious faith, The Byrds) – to everything there is a season, to everything there is a time. Call me elitist if you will. I think of myself as informed.
So, notwithstanding what side of the ideological spectrum you fall on (and if you are reading this as any sort of liberal v. conservative debate, you are sorely mistaken!), are we still the nation who cares more about who can sing better on a silly little Fox Television show?
Or are we the nation who recognizes that it is just a silly little television show, but will take that passion for the American Idol to the polls and opinion pages of our newspapers?
Based on the statistic I quoted earlier, the former still appears to be sadly true.
And yet, I see – and hope, and pray – that such attitudes, hearts and minds are changing.
And that the change is permanent.
Posted by librariankate7578 
