A different kind of post

Once again I have been disappointed with a new "reality tv" show.

I'll admit it, I'm a bit of a TLC junkie (my favourite tlc life lesson is the one about becoming the crazy cat lady - big surprise). So I've seen the promo ads for their new show, The Messengers. From how it was portrayed, I thought it was supposed to be about following some ordinary people as they went out and experienced the hard lives of others, and candidly related to the rest of us what they had learned. Already over-exposed to this sort of thing by tear-jerking WorldVision ads, I thought I would give this a pass, also becuase I imagined it would not really offer any real solutions, unlike the afore-mentioned tear-jerkers.

But tonight I left the TV on while I went out for some last-minute shopping (got to get those windows clean for the screen-installer-guy tomorrow). When I came home, The Messengers was on, and it turns out to be some American Idol rip-off, a competition for "America's next inspirational speaker". I stood there with my jaw hanging open for at least 10 seconds (quite a long time when there are three flies hovering around the centre of my living room). Is this a new low, or has North American culture so watered down sincere presentations and expressions of truth, that it is now open for competition? Have we stooped so low that we're ready to listen to people, completely irrespective of how true their statements are (never mind whether or not the speaker believes what they're saying), as long as their speaking is impassioned and convincing enough? Is morality so relative that we choose to act on what the best (most convincing) speaker is saying?

What about the people that help the competitors arrive at the insights that they then exploit to win the competition?

I could have expected something like this from some other networks, but TLC? I am more inspired by the life-changing experiences of people on What Not To Wear. At least these life changes are real and not made to be voted on.

To top it all off, the final prize of this moralized "Idol" knock-off? A publishing deal! Words fail me. Look out for a new bookstore shelf category: TV Inspired Inspirational. The content of these books? Doesn't really seem to matter, as long as they look and sound like a successful "inspirational" speaker. Parallel thought: sensational criminals get book deals; this competition could fit with politics - "America's Next Top Politician" or "America's Next President" (now there could be a good show!).

I started this post with a different thought, while listening to one of the speakers (maybe I'll get back to that in another post). This was before I realized that it was a competition. When I still thought that the people were actually speaking because they wanted to get a point across, not to get votes from the audience on their presentation.

Dare I wonder what would happen if someone stood up there and presented Truth?

Not my usual kind of post. A bit more cynical and more tongue-in-cheek than usual. But I had to get it out of my head.