Epic Win

I'm probably not going out on too big of a limb here when I state that American Idol is probably one of the worst things to happen to television other than perhaps the end of The Wire or the existence of CSI: Miami. But what makes American Idol especially heinous (besides releasing Paula Abdul on the world instead of keeping her occupied where her damage was limited) is their effect on music.

American Idol more or less encourages the banal blandness that kills music. Most every time a music genre has taken a dive is due to becoming generic. Edginess is what drives music. If it loses the edge or just gets ruthlessly copied by money-making schemes (like American Idol) then there is a severe problem.

Now this attitude might stem from listening to way too much punk rock, or more specifically, that one time last week where I did nothing but drink coffee and listen to the Dead Kennedys while writing papers. Nonetheless, I can call them like I see them. There's a wide difference between yawn-inspiring bores like Carrie Underwood (who came out of the American Idol cookie-cutter machine) and artists like Lady Gaga who apparently take inspiration from Dr. Seuss, Marvin the Martian, and whatever damage is incurred after a semester at NYU.

Like serious damage incurred at NYU

And so this week I was proud of the Brits for rebelling against the system that continuously feeds them drivel and blandness that would make gruel taste like curry. Through a fairly effective campaign organized through Facebook by Joe and Tracy Morter, the British people managed to get Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name" to the top of the charts to beat Joe McElderry's "The Climb." While I'm not the biggest fan of Rage Against the Machine in the world, I still respect them more than some cheesed up, processed product that is propped up by some blithering American Idol-like show. Facebook is useful after all.

The force of righteousness, powered by Zach de la Rocha's hair.

The force of evil. Trust me, there's evil in there.

Something similar should happen in the United States. There might be arguments for the fact that maybe people actually like Miley Cyrus's "Party in the USA." These are probably the same people who think that Sarah Palin advanced women's rights, so we can pretty much ascertain the weight of their opinion. There are probably hordes of other people like that in Britain; this is the nation that gave the world Oasis. But nonetheless, it would prove a point to the folks in charge of the music industry to find better acts and to perhaps think a bit more about expanding their repertoire.

Also, Paul McCartney thought it was cool, so I guess it's a good idea.

"Yeah, I love Rage Against the Machine as much as this cigar."