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Author Topic: American Idol's Simon Cowell = A**hole Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 01-27-2003 05:22 PM                     The smarmy judge from American Idol, Simon Cowell, loves to dish out personal insults and sound off hateful comments against just about anything. But he doesn't deliver anything resembling artistic criticism. Why in the hell is the press so in love with this asshole? Really that's the deserving term for this fellow. He clearly transcends the simple title of "jerk." I see him as the most negative shithead in popular culture today. On top of that, he has NOTHING to offer other than his verbal outbursts. At least people like Eminem can put their heated comments to a tune of some sorts. Simon can only look smug and insult people. He's not even funny like sarcastic comics such as Dennis Miller. Here's another thing. I'm 100% certain Fox is paying actors to get up before Cowell and sing more badly than any karaoke amateur I've ever heard just so the guy can be hateful. I'd like to see what happens if the guy acts like that in a normal face to face conversation with people in a social setting away from video cameras. Here in Lawton, his bad manners would leave him missing some teeth and trying to dig a giant boot out of his ass. Well, sorry for the rant. I just don't like our culture championing gratuitous cruelty. A backlash against Cowell would seem to be in the works. The novelty of his gimmick will wear off faster than Andrew Dice Clay's masogynistic one-trick-pony.  |  IP: Logged Paul Linfesty Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1383 From: Bakersfield, CA, USA Registered: Nov 1999 posted 01-27-2003 05:50 PM                     Unfortunately, this kind of behavior is what the public (at least a significant portion) wants to see. Its the Jerry Springer mentality. People who like to feel oh so superior to those they consider inferior. Whether actors or not, these people seem to represent the dregs of society to the intended audience. It helps foster the "some people just don't deserve to live" mentality of the us vs them society we have become. I wonder how many of these people consider themselves Christian.  |  IP: Logged Mike Heenan Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1896 From: Scottsdale, AZ, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 01-27-2003 06:01 PM                     My mom saw an interview with a local person who got to be on the show, and she said in the interview, the person said that there is a pre screening session that people go through before they get to the 3 judges, in the prescreening, the people get like 15 seconds to sing. So obviously, they are letting bad singers get through on purpose, to make the show more interesting.  |  IP: Logged David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 01-27-2003 06:13 PM                        I watched American Idol for the first time last week (Weds). First off, I have to say that *most* -- nearly all -- of the contestants undoubtedly know exactly what they're getting into. They have to sign waivers to get on camera, and you can bet that the waiver says the AI show reserves the right to say anything about you, no matter how insulting you may find it, and/or depict you in any light, favorable or unfavorable, and you waive your rights to claim you've been insulted or slandered (or is it libeled?). You take your chances. I didn't find Simon to be nearly as obnoxious as I was expecting. All 3 of the judges had plenty of harsh criticism for some contestants. Simon may occasionally be a little more pointed with his barbs, but that's what the show's about and that's why people watch it. Simon is doing what he's paid to do. And as someone else said, the producers are deliberately picking a cross-section of good and bad (and REALLY bad) singers. There's NOTHING random about who gets chosen to be on camera. I happened to watch a show on MTV last night called "Made". It was about a high school geek who wanted to make the varsity basketball team. They hired a professional basketball coach to coach the kid for 6 weeks. Well the kid had ZERO natural talent for basketball, and the coach was pretty blunt about some of his comments. But there was nothing "personal" about it. And even with a pro coach, although the kid's basketball skills did improve a lot, it was clear he would never be really good. So it is with some wannabe singers. Trying to make it in show business (or sports, or writing, or whatever you want to name) is often about rejection. American Idol is really not very different from The Gong Show in some ways.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 01-27-2003 07:15 PM                     I like to watch Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," and this past week Cowell was a guest. He came off as a more-superior-than-thou jerk. I often pull up CNN's website. Lo and behold, they're hyping a Cowell interview on CNN's People Magazine sister site where he tees off on actors like Ben Affleck. It seems like the guy is everywhere. American Idol is not a legitimate talent show. The fact that they let really bad singers on the show (or people who are just acting like they sing badly), gives it away. I mean, who in their right mind enters a contest they have no chance at all of winning? I wouldn't enter if I couldn't contend. It would be a humiliating waste of time otherwise. That's partly why I am suspicious the show hires actors to sing badly. A similar analogy to American Idol would be an Olympics skating competition where only a couple of the skaters were fantastic and many others in the competition feebly skated like it was their first time. With a real screening process, only singers with a modicum of talent would apply to American Idol. That would just turn "AI" into a "Star Search" copycat. In the end, the only gimmick American Idol has going for it is cruelty for laughs. That's just deplorable. I doubt if the show will last another season or two. Even those with the Jerry Springer mentality get bored of the same gimmick after awhile.  |  IP: Logged David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 01-27-2003 07:57 PM                        The ratings for American Idol last week were the highest in its [brief] history. As far as Simon Cowell, I never heard of him until this show came along. Does he own a piece of AI? If he does, he's going to go out there and hype the hell out of it. That's show biz. Last week they were auditioning in LA (Rose Bowl?) and they said there were over 10,000 people lined up for a chance to be on the show. With that many applicants, and with everyone now knowing exactly what AI is all about, I doubt they have to hire any actors to purposely be bad or good. They have plenty of everything they want. Anything is possible though. Either way, whether or not there are "plants" among the early contestants for the sake of entertainment (good ones or bad ones), the process of elimination will leave only the ones with talent. If the eventual winner is someone who was an unknown and this winds up being their big break into show business, the show has fulfilled its obligation to viewers (more or less). Have you ever watched the Anna Nicole show on E!? Now THERE'S a setup. Reality show? Give me a break! It's mostly carefully orchestrated to be a spectacle and a freak show. Even so it's still fun to watch. Why is it that as I get older, I find myself being more tolerant of this kind of stuff.  |  IP: Logged Jim Casterioto Film Handler Posts: 32 From: Wilmington, DE, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 01-27-2003 08:04 PM                        No offense or anything, but if you don't like Simon Cowell, simply don't watch American Idol. Thats what makes this country great, we are given choices.  |  IP: Logged John Lasher Master Film Handler Posts: 493 From: Newark, DE Registered: Aug 2001 posted 01-27-2003 11:19 PM                        I read (I don't remember where) an interview with Simon where he said something to the effect that he would rather step on the toes/ruffle the feathers of someone who is not talented than have them waste their lives trying to do something they are really not cut out for. Just my $.02  |  IP: Logged Aldo Baez Master Film Handler Posts: 266 From: USA Registered: Mar 2001 posted 01-28-2003 12:21 AM                    If anyone watched Conan O'Brien Triumph the insult comic dog was at an awards ceremony (mtv?) and when Simon was coming up he was like "hey look theres the a**hole... HEY a**hole! HEY a**hole!" trying to call him and Simon just ignored him I thought it was funny that he can dish out remarks but can't take them.  |  IP: Logged Paul G. Thompson The Weenie Man Posts: 4718 From: Mount Vernon WA USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 01-28-2003 01:34 AM                     It sells newspapers. Also, from another standpoint, the best way to improve ratings in the broadcasting world is to put more ******** on the air. People will listen....maybe they relate to them.  |  IP: Logged Dennis Atkinson Expert Film Handler Posts: 129 From: Birch Run Michigan Registered: Feb 2000 posted 01-28-2003 07:08 AM                        Years ago, Simon would have been known as a no nonsense, straight shooter type of guy. His point blank remarks are generally correct. As a record producer, he knows what it takes to make himself money off others and he is far from broke knowing his craft. Dennis  |  IP: Logged Tim Reed Better Projection Pays Posts: 5246 From: Northampton, PA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 01-28-2003 08:07 AM                       quote: I thought it was funny that he can dish out remarks but can't take them. I've noticed a lot of those types are like that. Rosanne Barr and David Letterman come to mind. Something in their psyches, I guess.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 01-28-2003 05:41 PM                     quote: I read (I don't remember where) an interview with Simon where he said something to the effect that he would rather step on the toes/ruffle the feathers of someone who is not talented than have them waste their lives trying to do something they are really not cut out for. Simon Cowell doesn't do that. He's not a straight-shooter type of a guy either. He insults contestants on camera to generate ratings. A real talent scout can deliver criticism off camera and come up with more tactful ways to tell a person, "sorry, but you're not a good singer." Perhaps one could make a point that Cowell isn't doing anything different from the ribbing and wisecracks many friends will level at each other. The trouble with what he is doing is one: he's leveling the wisecracks at a complete stranger and two: he's doing it on national TV. On top of that, his cracks are not very funny at all. They just come off as mean-spirited. Anybody can watch "American Idol" if they like. I choose not to. My point of starting this thread is I don't like the press turning Cowell into some kind of a media darling. It comes off as an endorsement for publicly hateful behavior. God knows, we have way too much of that already.  |  IP: Logged David Favel Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 764 From: Ashburton, New Zealand Registered: Feb 2002 posted 01-28-2003 06:03 PM                     Then again, the reason people who liked Howard Stern tuned in was to see what he was going to do next. The reason people who disliked Howard Stern tuned in was to see what he was going to do next. "Pvivate Parts"  |  IP: Logged Tim Reed Better Projection Pays Posts: 5246 From: Northampton, PA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 01-28-2003 08:58 PM                       quote: It comes off as an endorsement for publicly hateful behavior. Amen, Bobby. I agree, this is reflected in many walks of life today.  |  IP: Logged

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