Site Presented By
Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
Blacks have a better chance surviving a slasher movie than making it to the end of a reality TV show.
May 14, 2003 | Last year we witnessed the remarkable ouster of Tamyra Gray from "American Idol," which left the far less talented Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini to vie for the show's top prize (and the honor of being financially screwed by the show's producers). Many were stunned when Tamyra, and her multi-octave range and vulnerable delivery, waved a tearful goodbye. Many will be equally devastated tonight if the extravagantly talented Ruben Studdard gets cast off by America, too.
But they shouldn't be surprised.For one thing, anyone stunned by what happens on "American Idol" is measuring idolatry by a fairly irrelevant variable -- talent.
Over the past half century, how many teen idols have really been that talented? Elvis Presley, for all his charisma, never wrote a song and had a vocal range of three notes, at best. The '70s brought us Leif Garrett and a TV show centered on Donny Osmond. The '80s brought us Boston's New Kids on the Block, Caucasian clones of another group with nearly the same name. The '90s? Britney, et al. 'Nuff said.
The commonality between all of those idols is that they were cute and white. That's how teen idols tend to look. Talent? There wasn't a New Kid that could hold a vocal candle to New Edition's Ralph Tresvant, but outside the black community, how many can name four of N.E.'s five black members? But while N.E. came and went, New Kids were a brief, but very bright, pop phenomenon -- one managed by New Edition's old manager, coming from the same city as N.E., and essentially a whiter and less talented version of the original. And people were actually surprised that Tamyra got the boot?
Reality TV is holding a mirror to American attitudes on race, and anyone paying attention has to be a little uneasy about what is reflected. On this year's "Mr. Personality," the mandatory mask could not cover one gentleman's black skin color -- and he was the first to get the gate. No black contestants on "The Bachelor" or its clones have come close to a final round. Yes, Vecepia Towery won "Survivor" last year. But most blacks have been voted off quickly. Let's not mince words: Blacks have a better chance surviving a slasher movie than making it to the end of a reality show.
MTV's reality programming has been particularly painful to watch through the years. The first four seasons of the "The Real World" had clichéd black roommates; each one had aspirations of being an entertainer. More followed with the same goal. But more often than not, they were characterized by disagreeable (to put it mildly) behavior. Writer Kevin Powell became infamous for his aggressive behavior on the show's first season. The second season saw David Edwards tossed out for pulling castmate Tami Akbar's blanket off -- and getting tossed from the show. There have been house meetings called because New Orleans' David was being an "asshole" and because Hawaii's Teck let his cadlike behavior interfere with his duties on the job. Aneesa (Chicago), Arissa (Las Vegas) and Ayanna (Road Rules, "Semester at Sea") all got into fights, with Ayanna getting booted from a show after whacking a Nordic castmate who used a racial epithet without realizing exactly what he was doing. Edwards made a return engagement in this spring's "Real World/Road Rules Battle of the Sexes," only to completely melt down after a fight with another castmate (the notorious Puck) and to leave the show in ignominy.
MTV's latest? Tonight will feature the heavily promoted episode of "Fraternity Life" in which Stephen -- the lone black pledge among the 12 profiled on both "Fraternity Life" and "Sorority Life" --seemingly goes nuts, vandalizing a fellow pledge's room and earning the loathing of his fellow pledges.
Those shows take place in a vacuum-tight fantasy world. ("The Real World" takes place in a world where no one has to pay rent -- as close to heaven as is attainable on earth.) "American Idol," on the other hand, is as real as these shows can get. Studdard, Clay Aiken and Kimberley Locke have not been "cast" as roommates, for example. They're entertainers competing for a greater share of the market, in prime time, with viewers voting in real time. Like any other budding stars, they have been required to jump through hoops. The quest for a record deal is typically a series of performances for people who may love you or hate you, all dependent on their predispositions. And you are required to give a damn about what they think.
No matter what mathematics may say -- that the odds are against one white competitor facing two black competitors -- there is a fantastic likelihood that Clay Aiken, talented but intangibly unimpressive, will be crowned American Idol. And the clearly superior Ruben (and nominally superior Kimberley) will get the shaft.
