Judge for Yourself

Recently I was turning the pages of a thought provoking journal known as the "mx", when I stumbled upon a minefield of debate about whether the judges on Australian Idol have every right to bag the crap out of every contestant that goes on. I had been previously a little surprised at the way the judges seemed to be getting stuck into the contestants when I last watched. One bit in particular went a bit like this:

Confident, Smiling, Cheery Girl (speaking with people before going in) : I think you just need to know how to handle the criticism, and I'm confident I can do this.

And after...

Teary, Humiliated, Distraught Girl: I think they should be f***ing ashamed...they are bullies, and...I mean...they didn't have to tear into me like that....now everyone I know is going to see that, my friends, my family, just see me be humiliated by those dickheads on national TV.

Seems pretty awful, if you ask me. And then I saw what went on inside. And I have to say that "Dicko" (well he deserves that name) is one of the most irritating shock jocks I have seen in a good while. He has always tried to be controversial, or the "mean judge". But I watched Idol on Thursday, and realised he was so much less than that. Sitting in his comfy judges' chair, he personally insulted everyone that came before him, sometimes even venturing so far as to say things such as "I could do better than that", though he never actually did. So I did a little research into his musical qualifications. Naturally, as such a harsh critic, he must be musically trained to some extent. Nope. Just a music journalism degree.

Of course, he wants us to talk about him like this, he wants us to hate him, despise him, and hope that some of the shit he talks gets stuck halfway down on the way out and he has to spend the rest of his days shuffling around with a colostomy bag. He wants us to be shocked that he makes comments about womens' weight and "wobbly bits". Because of course he's not being a complete arsehole, he's just being "real". He's fighting against the stifling political correctness that is suffocating us all.

No, he's not.

We are always told that the people that go on Australian Idol are "putting themselves out there" for criticism, that they should be expecting it. Of course, they can expect criticism. And of course, they may have waived all human rights to be a part of the cesspool of mediocrity that is Australian reality television. But that doesn't mean that we should find it ok for these people to be personally insulted, on national television. There are often people with fragile self esteem, which judges like Dicko smash apart without a second thought, leaving them behind to feel confused, hurt and bewildered. He'll probably tell himself that he's "giving them a dose of reality", and doing them a favour in the long run. He isn't. It's wrong, its callous, and its become normal viewing faire on Australian telelvision. I suppose the next step is TV shows such as "Guess What? You've Got Cancer!" where a camera crew springs an unsuspecting patient awaiting cancer test results, and tells them they have a terminal disease.
Or maybe "Tubby Lard Guts Busted!!", a hilarious reality TV show where obese people are targeted and bullied on the street by a roving team of wonderfully "politically incorrect" comedians.

I'm sure ratings will soar.

Can't wait.