Musing on American Idol as Psychic Apparatus

Once again, making a post in the late hours when I am all but assured that I will be about as eloquent and effective a writer as Pauly Shore was an actor. Also, my chances of making bad '90s references goes through the roof. But them's the breaks, and better late than breaking the schedual.

(All worship the schedual)

So, anyway, I get to watching American Idol earlier (and I know I am not the only one) and the thought flickers through my mind that the braintrust of the live show - the judges - operate in a sort of psychological way. That is, there is a representitive of the ego, the super ego, and the id, and the last judge is the conscious mind contantly pinging between them.

Granted, two seasons ago this would have been a much easier case to make. Back then there were only three judges. The only argument for Consciousness we had on the show was Ryan Seacrest, who between jokes at Simon and faint worry for and about the contestants tries to be as professional and cheerful as possible. Which sort of fits the role.

More importantly, though, back then we had Paula Abdul. What an unrestrained Id she was for the program. Paula rarely thought before she spoke - oh, who am I kidding, it is very likely Paula rarely thought at any point during the season. She was such a wonderful creature of instinct. A better writer than me once said that Paula was representitive of all the dreams and well wishing of the audience. All those folks who cheer and clap regardless of what the performers do (and, on American Idol, I assure you someone could gurgle through a song and get a roaring response from that house), they found their avatar in Paula. She dreamt the big dreams, she saw the possibilities and the sparkles and all the great things that all these kids could get if they won. Granted, some of that was probably her altered state of consciousness. Regardless, Paula was the heart, the Id, of American Idol. Even if that heart was bleeding, and the Id was perpetually out looking for a lunch. Wikipedia defines the Id as "The unorganized part of the personality structure that contains the basic drives. The id acts as according to the 'pleasure principle', seeking to avoid pain or unpleasure arosed by increases in instinctual tension. The id is unconscious by definition." What better role than this for Paula, who rarely sounded coherent, who often got up and danced to songs she liked, who never stopped believing. This isn't a slam, mind you. While I don't think Paula was the best judge, someone that doggedly earnest, that purely sentimental was necessary for the show. She had heart, she was heart, and while it is easy (so easy) to mock that, like any good mind the show wouldn't have functioned without her.

Balancing Paula is of course Simon Cowell in for the super ego. The money grubber, the hard nosed realist. The one who doesn't so much care about the dreams so much as wanting proof that a singer has the necessary skill and talent to make it there. Cowell isn't nice. He has, by definition, no heart. He knows, as the super ego does, that heart gets in the way, blocks the road, gives those who don't have the shot false hope. Simon Cowell is the oracle of the rational mind. He's the slap in the face for those singers up there, while Paula is the soft comforting voice in the night. But Simon, for all his hard edges, is far more noticeably important. He may get booed a lot, but when you get down to brass tacks, he is the one that always tells the hard bottom line. Simon won't lie to someone to make them feel better. Like any good perfection seeking mind, he knows that rejection and pain aren't the enemy. Failure is not the end of the world, and Simon is there to tell people that if they'd listen. He tells a simple truth. If you are good enough for that point, you get a pat on the head and a warning not to falter. If you aren't, he'll tell you to worry. Evolve or die. Improve or be eliminated. Simon is only as important as the other judges, in the parts of the show we see, but because his role is so coldly rational it is easy to get him.

Of course, that leaves Randy Jackson. The ego. The part of the mind that handles the drives of the id, and strives for the perfection inheirent in the super ego, and still keeps on functioning. Randy gets the unpleasant job. He has to sound wise, rather than supportive (as Paula used to do) or critical (as Simon ever is). Randy's always had some... trouble with this. It isn't really his fault. Like the ego, he occupies a middle ground between two forces which staked their own territory and then realized they did it just a table away from something very different than themselves. Randy tries - he occasionally offers good critique, such as Simon, or empathizes like Paula. But his job, ultimately, is to look at the contestant not as glorified elements of themselves or a commodity that he has to sell, but as people at whatever stage of the competition they are at. Randy has the burden of trying to relate to a bunch of teens and twenty-somethings under truly crushing pressure like they are just who they are - people who, to some degree, he is responsible for letting into this place, and is watching being transformed by the show. Sometimes that transformation takes the form of crushing them, and sometimes it is molding them, and Randy has to relate to them as if that isn't the most important thing. Because it isn't. The ego acts to the reality principle. Randy tries to get through all the pressure, all the attitude and arrogance and fear and worry, and make things plain. I commend him, though I think he tripped here and there over the years.

So that was the early seasons. Paula talking about the pretty beautiful singers and how they were so bright, Simon finding every flaw and slamming on it because if he didn't then someone who would break would get through or someone who wasn't high enough quality would qualify, and Randy, in his own words, "Keeping it real". Or at least trying in that general direction.

Last season, though, the formula changed. It had been shift awhile. Paula, having embraced her inner child or just getting wonky, had been rumored to be on her way out for awhile, and the consciousness (Ryan) acting more as an objective intermediary. An avatar of the individual viewer, combined with an agent of necessity to move things along. The role fit him better. So they added another judge (as you, whomever has actually read this far probably knows) to fill that void. Kara DioGuardi is meant to be current, to know what is needed in the industry. She fills the holes growing between the three other judges like a good conscious mind is balanced in itself. She lives very much in the present, has a sharp eye and a hard tongue if necessary. She knows how to hold a grudge, that's for sure. She's more forgiving than Simon, and less so than Paula was or Randy is.

This make-up would have worked great, really. The four balanced each other like some psychologist's idea of a musical party game or an ancient philosopher's imagining of four guardians who stand at the foot of the muses keeping their appointment calenders clear. But Paula left, and now Ellen DeGeneres has taken a seat at the judging table and...

That brings me back to my thought on the braintrust, earlier this evening. Because almost as soon as the idea occured, I realized it worked better in the past. I'm not entirely sure of this new dynamic. Randy seems to be sliding into Paula's old place, but as an id he'll be more watchful. A wild bobcat looking for dinner rather than a pampered kitten looking for affection. Kara has seemingly abandoned consciousness - stark evaluation of the present position - for Randy's old place, not far away (Remember, ego and consciousness go hand in hand) of trying to relate to the contestants on an individual human level in relation to how they are doing versus how they should be doing. Its fuzzier, but with Randy now the most idealistic of the three known quantities (take a moment to shudder in fear) its just easier to take that position and let him out in the dark moors that used to be Paula's realm. Ellen is... adapting. I like her on the show, but I still don't know how she fits.

At least Simon is still who he has always been. The critical, viscious, clear eyed lump who will tell you with a level look if you aren't good enough, and do it as a kindness.

Then I realized something. Simon usually looks bored. Which was my other big thought. The super ego is the most stable thing in the place. Simon the most stable part of the show. Until he leaves, of course. His base position has always been bored. That is his resting state, the point to which he always returns. That's his job. He's not comfortable, or particularly enthused. Because the only way he is supposed to be, the only way that his state changes, is if someone on that stage in front of him makes him be not bored. Evoking emotion - forcing the rational to riot, to arose the heart of a indifferent man - is the only way that any contestant gets anything out of Simon. Its why he calls so many songs boring. Because that performance failed the simple litmus test of making him care one way or another. The things that matter, they'll make him feel despite his misgivings, despite the position he holds.

Light save anyone that makes him angry or disappointed, though. I notice those usually leave pretty quick, though.

Anyhow. Just my random musings. I really need to learn how to conclude these better and start on them earlier.