Television has always been the more popular of the various American pastimes. Baseball has slipped in the polls, apple pie isn’t what it used to be, and I’ll be damned if voting for the presidential elections (not to mention mid-term elections) hasn’t taken second-fiddle to the more popular “voting” for reality television. Yes, television, in all its realistic glory, has succeeded in grasping hold of the American tradition and has refused to let go.
Even more than becoming an American tradition, television has been overwhelmingly successful in holding the short attention span of most Americans — so much so that people will take time out of their days to call in or e-mail their votes on a number of subjects. Commercials, pop stars, movies and daytime television shows have all been the subjects of this mass movement of “voters” nationwide.
Most recently, Super Bowl commercials and the reality television show “American Idol” have taken the main stage in public interest. The Web site Superbowl-ads.com proclaims, “It’s time to express your opinion, vote now! Pick the best ad in the Super Bowl.” Sadly, to Americans, “expressing” an opinion has come down to picking which multi-billion dollar corporation can feed you the better line. In addition, as viewership of the Super Bowl has increased, the price of commercial “spots” have (logically) increased.
Superbowl-ads.com listed that more than 86 million viewers tuned in to watch 30-second commercials costing almost $2 million (and maybe to watch a little football too).
In addition to fun facts, Superbowl-ads.com offers an opportunity for frenzied commercial fans to cool their angst and cast their vote. The site had Reebok’s “Terry Tate — Office Linebacker” in first place with 12 percent of the vote, followed closely by Anheuser-Busch’s “Replay,” with 11.5 percent and FedEx’s “Marooned” at 7.8 percent. While Superbowl-ads.com did not have the number of voters, USA Today (which set up a similar page on their site) listed, as of Thursday, 60,466 as having voted on their favorite ad and 22,228 for their least favorite. Not a bad turnout.
While Super Bowl commercials draw their own fanbase, its voter turnout is nothing compared to that of the now infamous “American dream” show, “American Idol.” In a November 2002 article for Lodging Magazine, it was said that Americans cast more than 100 million votes for their favorite “idol,” beating the turnout for the 2000 presidential election (which only yielded 97 million) and trounced the mid-term elections (only 66 million). Sure, 13-year-olds can vote on “Idol,” but does that indicate that as we age we become disinterested in the happenings of our country lest it be combined with Hollywood hype and 15-minute stardom?
Why do Americans “express their opinion” for multi-million-dollar sales pitches or for the better Whitney Houston/Stevie Wonder impersonator, rather than voting in a presidential election? It seems that the logical answer would be to combine politics and glamour while still maintaining integrity.
To the rescue is major cable network FX, with designs to combine glamour and politics for ratings in a show called “American Candidate.” Sure to draw out all the far-right and far-left disgruntled radicals, the winner of this intensive debate will get the chance to become a presidential candidate for the 2004 elections. Kevin Reilly, FX’s president of entertainment, said that he hoped the show would provide a “power base” for a qualified “civil servant.” True, those who are true civil servants wouldn’t consider battling it out on network cable a real “service” to the people. But then again, true “talent” doesn’t necessarily have a bad bleach job and a navel ring. But hey, speed dialing is easier than punching holes in a ballot.