The past two weeks have been a triumph for humanity. If I were a washed-up former celebrity and this newspaper were Vh1, I’d be tempted to say they’ve been the best two weeks ever, as normal, everyday people finally got a taste of real power for doing normal, everyday things.
Exhibit A: A frumpy, middle-aged woman named Susan Boyle becomes the biggest Internet star ever after performing on the TV show “Britain’s Got Talent” and “surprising” the judges and audience with her “amazing” voice. Millions of people have spoken out and called the 47-year-old’s story inspiring, and a sad but poignant commentary on a society that expects ugly people to be poor singers.
Boyle has become a phenomenon, and news sources from the Chicago Tribune to the Huffington Post and CNN have covered her in every last detail. Has Susan Boyle ever been kissed? Why doesn’t Susan Boyle pluck her eyebrows? When will Susan Boyle sign a record deal? Apparently, all you have to do is wear a dowdy dress, forget to brush your hair and sing on pitch to become a cultural icon.
Exhibit B: Two poorly behaved pizza-makers film a gross YouTube video and bring an entire corporation to its knees. In case you haven’t heard, a Domino’s Pizza employee in Conover, N.C., shot a video of another employee making a salami sandwich, farting on it, and adding some cheese he had pulled out of his nose. The two apparently thought posting the video on YouTube was a good idea, and soon Internet users everywhere were Twittering and blogging their disgust. The event had such an effect on Domino’s’ business that its president, Patrick Doyle, made his own YouTube appearance defending the company.
So, was posting the video a good idea? Doyle would say no, and the two employees would probably agree, as they’ve been charged with felonies (for farting in food?). However, Average Joe might be inclined to say yes. Why? Because the tales of Susan Boyle and the pizza-makers give him hope that with a little ingenuity and a video camera, plus the help of millions of eager social media-ites, he, too, can make a difference.
But is that a good thing?
The Internet has made it possible for every Joe and Jane Six Pack to not only become famous, but to actually wield some degree of power. As Garrison Keillor put it recently, “This is the world turned upside down, in which satirists finally have some power to step on the big boys’ toes and make them squeal.”
Americans have always lived by the idea that anyone can “make a difference” if they just put in a little elbow grease. But the Internet has removed the need for elbow grease and replaced it with the simple requirement of having an account on Facebook,
Twitter or YouTube. More importantly, and perhaps more alarmingly, it has shown us that while this “can do” sentiment may be nice in theory, in reality, not everyone should have the power to make “change” happen.
As Uncle Ben said to Peter Parker in “Spiderman,” with great power comes great responsibility. Having access to the Internet, however, does not require responsibility beyond paying your Comcast bill on time. Everyone can do anything they want online, and while they may have to suffer consequences later, as the Domino’s Pizza incident shows us, the damage is already done.
Look at George W. Bush. Himself just an Average Joe, he’s a shining example of the harm that can be done by thrusting power into the hands of the incompetent and irresponsible. Perhaps he never meant any harm – tell that to the “suspected terrorists” who were waterboarded 183 times in one month, or slammed against walls, or confined in small boxes for days. Sure, it’s a stretch to compare making Average Joe president to making him a viral video sensation. But at the rate Susan Boyle’s fan site is accruing members, the U.K. may very well soon be ready to elect her prime minister.
The Internet may be the ultimate equalizer that gives everyone a shot at greatness, but when that greatness equals fart jokes and exploiting homely, middle-aged women, one must question whether some people are simply greater than others. True, making a difference doesn’t always have to mean saving the environment or feeding impoverished orphans. But it’s a sad day when people who shove cheese up their noses have more influence than those who actually try to help make the world a better place.
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