The Pain of Dashed Hopes

Quote of the day:
“If someone named Junior names his child Junior, does the child become Junior Jr.?”
--Unknown

Artist quote of the day:
“I’d asked 10 or 15 people for suggestions. Finally one lady friend asked the right question: 'What do you love most?' That’s how I started painting money.”
--Andy Warhol

Have you had your 15 minutes of fame yet? We are again in "American Idol" land, where thousands of fame-seekers converge in hopes of grabbing a ray of spotlight.

I spent the first three seasons looking down my nose at this show. But then a very talented singer at my church entered the competition, and “went to Hollywood.” In the process of cheering him on, I got hooked on the show. It’s fun and often very entertaining. Yet there are some very emotional and disturbing moments, especially at the beginning of the season.

Think about the name “American Idol.” The show doesn’t really operate in “idol” territory, except for maybe a fleeting instant at or after the end of the season. An idol is defined as “an image or representation of a god used as an object of worship” or “a person or thing that is greatly admired, loved or revered.” The sense of this definition is something beyond singing ability or fame, yet these two things are what the show is about. If you watch the show, you know that precious few contestants have the former, but all want the latter.

This is where the pain comes in. Many, many more people want to be famous than can sing, and a few are wildly mistaken about their ability. There are many, many, many dashed hopes, and we see displays of hurt, pain and anger. Most of the time it’s quite understandable, but sometimes these displays are so intense as to be disturbing.

It makes me wonder how these individuals got to be both so wrongly convinced of their talent, and so in need of fame.