I feel like I am the last person on this blog who should be talking about American Idol, but since it’s all that seems to be on TV when I’m home from school (my mom watches it live and DVRs it), I’ve been begrudgingly paying attention. A HuffPo blog by comedian Jim David has been getting lots of attention (and by attention, I mean that from the five places on the Internet that I read/watch) because David asserts that the runner-up, San Diegan Adam Lambert, lost to inferior singer Kris Allen because America is afraid of a gay singer being their American Idol. Although it was never explicitly mentioned on the show, Lambert, who was indeed the better singer, is gay; he’s also the most flamboyant and theatrical performer in the show’s history. Here’s the link to Jim David’s blog post, as well as an excellent response from John Nolte at Big Hollywood, but I think this discussion from Red Eye is a bit more entertaining and less vitriolic:
Not mentioned in this clip, but later during Andy Levy’s Halftime Report, is that what probably put Kris Allen over the top were his younger, more text message-savvy fan base.
I think there’s something else important here that no one I’ve seen has mentioned yet. This is a prime example of the Left bringing the political into the clearly non-political. We’ve been watching liberals politicize national security lately, but popular culture really gets the full brunt of this effect. The politicization, of course, never favors conservatives.
Imagine if Adam Lambert had won this contest. Is it possible there would have been an outcry from conservatives (social conservatives, that is) about this flamboyant male who wears eyeliner won an entertainment competition? Perhaps, but not bloody likely. Adam, from what I understand, was the odds-on favorite pretty much the entire competition. If America is appalled by this behavior, where was the outcry? Jim David cites Bill O’Reilly (less a conservative stalwart than an opportunistic rabble-rouser) as part of the problem. O’Reilly’s “coverage” of Lambert’s homosexuality amounted to asking two conservative women a month and a half ago if this would negatively affect the contestant. Both women answered “No.” As the folks in the Red Eye clip sort of all agree on, conservatives aren’t out there making political calculations with their American Idol votes.
Why does Jim David make the claim, then? Because that’s exactly what he and his fellow liberals are prone to do. If Lambert had won, the liberal reaction would have been just as insufferable as this homophobia tripe. We would have been hearing about how America has come so far, so accepting of others. Lambert would have been held up as some sort of hero to gay advocacy causes. We would have heard the wonders of living in Obama’s America, where even a bunch of yokels who watch American Idol have turned from their bigoted ways. The GOP has to embrace gay marriage and all sorts of issues now if they want to be on the right side of history, blah blah blah.
How healthy is this obsession with politics? I’m sure if Lambert had won, he would have wanted to be, I don’t know, a pop singer rather than some tool to be used for a political agenda. The actual winner, Kris Allen, certainly didn’t make himself out to be some sort of Christian Idol representation, even if that is a part of his life.
For a final thought on this overall ridiculous assertion about America (“oh, why can’t we just progress already?”), Idol season 2 runner-up (and recently outed gay — not that is should matter) Clay Aiken thinks Allen was the right winner. Go figure.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Mike, I agree with you 100%. I didn’t really watch much of this season of Idol, but I was a hardcore for the previous 7 and I still kept tabs on what was going on. Adam’s homosexuality was not a topic of watercooler conversation. It wasn’t anything. If it was such a big deal, what with him being the heavy favorite for months, then people would have been talking about it. He’s on the cover of magazines, daily articles were being written about him. If there was some “homophobic backlash” it would have been apparent. But there was nothing. And there’s still nothing.
And you’re right that the left had their story either way. They were going to run with the “homophobe” story if he lost, and they were going to go with “America has become more liberal, ha ha Christians” if he won. But they just don’t get America at all. Adam, as flamboyant and outlandish as he can be, never flaunted his sexuality on the show. Though by all indications he is involved in a same sex relationship, he never made anything of it. He was notorious for being private about his personal affairs and sticking to the music and entertaining the public. And because of his talent he received millions of votes and made it to the finale.
If you haven’t seen it, you should check out this unrighteous rant at lefty blog Shakesville. http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2009/05/on-american-idol-finale-or-your.html
Here’s just a taste:
“We got the White House; they got American Idol. And that STILL brings me no solace, because ADAM SHOULD HAVE WON!!!”
LOL
I am so sick of homosexuality being shoved down every bodies throat! (no pun intended!) How about christian phobia? Seems to me that is the one group of people it is OK to bash. My children have to grow up with a media who at every chance is promoting a “Gay” lifestyle as Normal. Never before has any generation been bombarded by TV and the media to promote an abnormal lifestyle. I am not responsible for other peoples preferences or lifestyle and my husband and I have worked all our lives paying taxes, being drafted raising law abiding citizens. We should not be bashed nor should our children be viewed as “consumers” to be programmed by the liberal, against God limits, left wing dominated media.
No homophobia. When the third contestant fell, there was speculation that his fans would go to Allen vs Lambert. And if these fans did, Allen would win. And that is what happened. End of story.
For what it’s worth, several of the gay bloggers I read (hardly representative of the gay population as a whole) were rooting for Kris Allen: Low Res and Luis Tovar of Pretty Much Amazing. Chris Rovzar at New York Mag, who also voted for Kris, actually wrote that he sort resents the attitude that gays needed to vote for Adam Lambert, just because he’s gay.
American Princess has an interesting post up about this as well.