bodad posted: The analogy I was making (which obviously went over your head) was to the fact that some chosen elites sit in judgement of others and wield the power to decide their fates, all for the entertainment and amusement of the masses. The fact that some of the "entertainers" appear to be handicapped serves to provide the judges with an easy target to ridicule, much to the amusement of the audience. IMO this is sick and exploitive but hey, if you get off on this sort of public humiliation, by all means enjoy yourself. Sorry, no. I understood your analogy and recognized it as worthless. In every TV show with a judging panel, you could say that some "chosen elites (sic) sit in judgement," so this is hardly unique or worthy of comment. Dragging in Rome with all its baggage is ridiculous, since we're clearly not (yet) at the point where we will watch people being dismembered for our entertainment. And watching people be humiliated? Well, that's a long-standing American tradition. See virtually every game show that has aired here, from "Street Smarts" to "The Newlywed Game," or if you need more examples, take a look at a few daytime talk shows. It's all geared towards parading morons in front of us for "entertainment" purposes. Besides this, "American Idol" barely fits your model of "chosen elites," considering that the judges have no power over the contestants' fates once they've been reduced to a suitable number, and their power over the candidates is questionable to begin with, considering how thoroughly pre-screened anyone who reaches the judges has already been. Whether someone will get through is a foregone conclusion most, if not all, of the time. Assuming otherwise, given what we've seen over the years about how television works, is unrealistic. So, to make things perfectly clear: Comparing "American Idol" to ancient Roman entertainment is a ridiculous overstatement, and even if you were feebly attempting to make some kind of point about "sitting in judgement" and "exploitation," it's a little late, since this is the product of decades of other television shows. I don't find "Jerry Springer," any of the "Judge (random last name goes here)" shows, a great deal of what I've seen on TLC and numerous other "educational" cable channels, or any game show I've ever watched any less crass or exploitative than "American Idol." That's television for you, and it's continuing a tradition (exploiting private citizens for entertainment) that is hardly unique to Rome. I object to exploitation, but this has been going on for centuries. It's not going to change any time soon. And as I've said before, the "freak show" aspect of the series is the least of its crimes. What I hate about it is what it has to say about music.
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