Is American Idol too mean?

"Simon telling that guy he looked like a monkey...that was WHACK!"...a comment by one of my first period students that does not usually condone making fun of others. I love my 1st period, by the way. Anyway, I laughed my butt off when I watched the Seattle auditions for American Idol. I thought Simon's faces were hilarious and I seemed to enjoy the bad performances more than the good ones. But, when I got to school on Thursday and talked with my students, I started thinking about how mean it really is. Are these people mentally unstable? Rosie O'Donnell on The View questioned American Idol, saying that they are openly ridiculing mentally unstable people. Well, here's my question for you readers: why the heck do these people try out for American Idol? Even worse...some of the contestants said things like, "my coworkers encouraged me to try out". THAT IS SO MEAN. Would you in good conscience encourage a really dorky person with no talent to go and sit in line for hours and humiliate his/herself on national television? WELL YOU ARE JUST PLAIN MEAN. I'm thinking that YES, some of these people aren't really as weird as they put on...and that they are doing it to just be funny. Like, "Red", I think that he was on there to be funny. His smug little grin when Simon was bashing him gave it away. But other people like girlfriend in the picture above really are just dorky as they come...and shouldn't be encouraged to try out.

On a happier side, I love seeing people do well. The brother and sister pair were awesome...it was adorable how the brother said that his sister was better than he was. Humble people. I didn't know that they existed anymore. Also, there were 2...yes TWO people from my high school (where I teach) that made it to Hollywood. One is a teacher that I know. He is an AMAZING singer (obviously), but he decided not to go because he would have had to abandon his year long teaching contract. I'm sad because it would have been cool to see his cute self on the show...he is a skinny, young white English teacher and he sings like an older, experienced black man. It cracks me up. Anyway...not sure what the girl student that made it decided to do. I guess we'll see.

So what do y'all think, is American Idol too mean?

FYI: I can't get my picture to post because I'm...well...slow. Help!

--Faris