Pop Culture and $ingapore Idol

-Everything Bad is Good for You-How Pop Culture is making us smarter-by Steven Johnson.
-What Good are the Arts?- by John Carey
-Mutants- by Armand Marie Leroi

3 absolutely excellent books that have occupied both my time and thoughts for quite a while. The first 2 have been associated with concepts of arts and such, and after a visit to the Tate Modern (an art gallery) the day before, I have quite a few extra ideas to pen down.

Let's start with the 1st book. I was interested on what kind of arguement he would come up concerning such mind-numbing reality TV such as Survivor and The Apprentice. It turned out he came up with a very convincing arguement on how watching such shows forces the veiwer to track the many relationships between each character on the show. And to do this, one grows increasingly adept at observing the hidden emotions on people's faces, and extended periods of doing this increases their Emotional Intelligence. A sensible arguement, by and large,and I'm wondering if it's just as valid when it comes to $INGAPOREAN Popular Culture. Does say $ingaore Idol, or any other Singaporean show for that matter, fit this bill in the sense that:-

-The audiences are attracted to the prospect of tracking a changing set of the unwritten rules in the system, eg not just how to sing but maybe how they might form alliances with the judges or other contestants so that their chances of winning are increased?
-Keen and incessant observation of the contestants increase the audience's ability to spot hidden emotions, track many distinct "relationship vectors" so that they can better understand the show, and hence increase their ability to deal with such situations if and when they occur to them in their own real lives?

A lack of exposure to such trash (or not) in recent months would render me ill qualified to answer those questions, but from what I can imagine Singapore Idol to be, the 1st proposition seems highly impropable. What was considered when that was discussed was more "highbrow" reality TV like The Apprentice, where perhaps the audience is trying to discover what kind of alliance A has with B and is it because they want to kick C or D out? A simple talent show like this seems to me to lack such a feature but I may well be wrong.

Much more probable to me is the second option. Now, I am immensely curious as to whether all we've been doing when we slam such things is really just trying to wave some kind of placard that perhaps screams "I AM NOT WITH THOSE WHO ARE ON THE BANDWAGON OF SINGAPOREAN STUPIDITY!!!" Have a look at the following 2 (invented) conversations and try to recall which type you most clearly remember to have heard first-hand...

Ah Lian: Yesterday ar, I think when Mr Cannotsing insulted Judge Dicky Lee on Singapre Idol hor, he was being sooooo retard lah! I mean you insult him until like that, he later where got vote for you? You know hor, I think because of this ar, Mr Cannotsing cannot win anymore-CONFIRM one!
Ah Soh: Yah I think you're right leh...Mr Cannotsing cannot sing also must at least suck up suck up abit right...after all if the Judges vote for you you also get more points right? And some more go and insult the bigshot Dicky Lee...STUPID also cannot stupid like that right!? Mr Cannotsing not only cannot sing, he also cannot use brain!!!
Bo Tau: But he eventually did what, I mean he apologised to the judge a bit later...even got kiss that girl judge...kan*na forgot her name...kiss her hand...so gentleman....and some more SOOOO Shuai!!!
Ah Lian: You GONG TAU lah Bo Tau!!! You cannot see he act ar!? KA PUI ah!? He act also cannot act properly one...that girl judge also much stupider than him to fall for that kind of thing!!!

OR Are they like THIS!??!?!

Ah Lian: You got watch American Idol last night? I think that Simon Cowell SOOOOO SHUAI right!?
Ah Soh: You NO TASTE LAH Ah Lian...this kind of Lau Ah Pek also say shuai. Shuai must say SYLVESTER SIM!!!!
Ah Lian: Ohyahyahyahyahyah!!!!!!
*Screams ensue for the next minute.*

Now put from your mind al that inane Singlish, the stereotype that anything that is from the mouth of such stupidly named prepubescent teenage girls is but hormonal crap. To me the latter seems much exaggerated, and the former, which rather unintentionally turned out to contain some essense of it, seems much more human-and much more probable. But what do you all think? As it is, I shall leave everyone with these thoughts and retire to do some Maths C4 before I go and celebrate my Dad's and brother's birthdays. Will be continuing with more when the exam finishes!

Growing Up

RIGHT, I'm back again after yet another record-breakingly long absence. Apologies for the horrible infrequency in updates. There seems to be quite a pattern emerging in the recent posts regarding how they begins isn't there? Perhaps I should examine my blogging style today. The way we write is a reflection of our inner heart, which somehow manages to worm its way into everything we do. Indeed blogs are windows to the soul, and I am not much of an exception. Pseudo-intellectual stuff that when prepared are extensively rehearsed operas of the mind, yet never seeming quite as good when put down onscreen. Most of all, there seems to be an inherent habit in me to be unnaturally forced into writing things that are "politically correct"-ie, that do not convey the "wrong" idea. It seems to have happened to the extent that it has made me feel the need to watch myself in everything that I do, so that I don't accidentally "offend" someone. Such a mindset seems to have progressed to the extent that I feel like I've forgotten the "me" behind the mask that I feel compelled to put on everyday. Bah...annoying world it is sometimes. At this point in time the average blogger would then launch into a very draggy rant about how meaningless his/her existence is, all leading up to a climax that discusses how nice it feels when they slash their wrists. Ugh-how pathetic...not contemptibly pathetic, just pitifully pathetic that the search for one of life's basic philosophical questions-"who am I?"- can drive one such heights. There IS actually such a thing as thinking too much you know, considering that the answer isn't as essential to our existences as something like oxygen is. I'm past that stage already though. What remains for me is passive acceptance-it is pretty trivial stuff, by and large. Regardless, however, while it is probably true that knowledge is power, after one already actually KNOWS, it becomes impossible for him or her to slink back into that blissful state of ignorance before they didn't actually know. And we all know that there are many facts of this world that never seem to be as they should be.

It's this mindset which is behind the age restrictions on say pornographic things even though it's readily available on the net. Like people complained why there was all that fuss on censorship of the actress in Titanic-because they don't want kids to be privy of the knowledge of such malpractices. Similar reason why school is structured in such a way that everyone thinks that life is like a fairytale here everything is fair and nice and just and if you do good a fairy comes and blesses you with a happy ending with infinite riches or perhaps some form of significant other. Then hopefully people who come out will be like those fairies, and not like some horrible manic-psychotic who turns a gun on every one who offends him/her. Not an unreasonable assumption, considering how influential kids are-or even people at ages like this.

Indeed, grow up if you wish, but do so at your own peril, in the knowledge that you can never look back.

And yet after all this, "With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Strive to be happy." Why? Because amidst a field of endless white, the black spots always seem to have an annoying habit of being more prominent.

Probably the most incoherent post I've ever written when not under external influences. Apologies for producing such crap even after such a long time. Darn it, am going to blog more soon-considering that there isn't much revision to do nowadays, there isn't much else to do. Till then!