#127 - idol gives back

oh absolutely i meant it and yes it was racist. i don't deny that. c'mon, all those creepy choir children, remember? when they were jumping around the stage with those creepy smiles singing that song? plus it's even creepier when you've got randy jackson with pounds of diamonds around his neck walking around a dirt village passing out schoolbags to some kids who probably just want a cookie or maybe a vaccination. okay sure, how else can that scenario play out? it would be awkward in any situation except if randy stripped down, sold his clothes to buy food and passed bowls of stew out butt-naked to everyone in the village, but then it would be awkward in a different way. they've got to do it somehow, and it's gonna probably come off a little self-righteous and hypocritical, but the end goal is a good one so there's nothing else to do but poke fun at it and then say "good job."

but anyway, why is "racism" a negative word? because it's been given that slant through history and the word "racism" itself has taken on much more meaning than merely the semantics of the word alone. because really, what it boils down to is just xenophobia... fear or contempt of that which is unknown. so why isn't that word so hated? not that it should, it should not be a negative word. evolutionarily speaking, xenophobia kept you alive, if you weren't familiar with something, being cautious kept you from getting into somewhere you shouldn't. Of course, too much of that isn't good either (you'd miss out on new plants to eat or things to learn from new people), but that doesn't mean that initial fear was a bad thing.

likewise, racism is just categorization, if you're a caveman living with your clan and some new tribe comes strolling into your nut and berry patch then you'd better be wary and learn what you can about those guys... and once you have, wouldn't you try to apply what you've learned to each tribemember you see so that you know how to deal with them? a more current example, i work with a large population of people from the marshall islands, i've learned some general traits about their culture and that has helped me to work with them and their families and taught me what to expect and what not to expect from them. Does that apply to every single one of them? Of course not, but it's a good place to start isn't it? c'mon this happens a million times a day, whether it be skin color, nationality, culture, wearing glasses, having a tattoo, smiling without your teeth, or walking an ugly puppy, judgments are made based on certain traits because those traits MAY lead you to some useful generalizations. categorization helps people get through the day... going beyond categorization helps people get from day to day. should you stop at those snap judgments? of course not, but we can't deny that they happen and we shouldn't deny that they're necessarily a bad thing.

my pet peeve is how touchy society has gotten about "racism" and "fighting" racism. my philosophy is don't make it such a huge part of your life. does it exist? absolutely. is it bad? not the point. the point is that it's a part of human society and cannot be extinguished, so just learn to live with it and if you don't like it, then don't let it affect you. make it a neutral word. as harmless as "table" or "walking." people are different, this is true, if not in one way then definately in another.

therefore... i think those african kids are weirdos. are they starving? i guess so, but that doesn't make them any less weird.

that being said... one could argue, well if it was american children would that be different? again, not the point, are there starving people many places in the world? of course, all over the place. american idol chose to give support to africa. if they had chosen the poverty stricken children of papua new guinea i'd probably be saying "now i have to watch those papua new guinean weirdos."

am i unsympathetic? duh, how long have you guys known me? i've got plenty more unsympathetic theories if you'd like to hear them, but why share those? no need to, just my thoughts (probably not very good ones at that, but most of them deal with natural selection and the way nature always finds a way to adapt to maintain homeostatis) and they will stay within my brain, where they belong and where they will stay. but i take offense to being called insensitive and uneducated. then again, those are just words too so why should i get bent out of shape out it? i guess i shouldn't, so i won't. anyway... jason castro!? are you kidding me? ewww... but i did hear those rumors about david's dad, no wonder he looks so scared after he's done singing and stands before the judges, haha, he's scared he's gonna get whipped.

one thing i will say about "idol gives back," it's about time someone in america got all these great music stars and actors, etc to do something together. aside from awards shows (which are huge ego-fests anyway), this is the only media event that can draw so many stars and acts together, and to top that bring them together for a good cause. i've always thought, if america has such great musicians and stuff, then why don't we have things like this more often? like in japan how they have that red & white songfest every year, why can't americans do stuff like that? because we're all too individualistic? so it takes something like this to make it happen, well at least it's happening, right?

ps - i love how they brought on the "so you think you can dance?" contestants too, i like that show too, they have really likable people i think. in general i think i like seeing past contestants of this show and other shows, it shows that getting voted off of these shows doesn't doom them to obscurity for the rest of their lives (although y'know perhaps it really should for some of them...).