Timothy Burke, a professor at Swarthmore, has an interesting post about American Idol in which he describes a strange idea in American culture: that everyone is equally entitled to success. He writes:
I understand most of the rejects to be saying, “Success is my birthright…everyone should be a success”. There’s a sort of weirdly egalitarian howl of rage coming from the disappointed contestants. How dare Simon turn me away? He has no right. Who chose him? Americans all have the right to be American Idols! Everyone deserves to have their desire, that's the American Dream!
I was chewing on this idea when I came across (on cruel.com, of all places) an article by Bruce Jackson, who apparently cannot stand Wolf Blitzer's voice. Jackson's dislike of Blitzer has spurred him to write a really excellent article on the state of the TV news program, which incidentally sheds light on the "weird egalitarianism" mentioned above:
This is war as entertainment, as titillation. It's war as computer game, only it's more passive because you don't even get to fondle the joystick. Facts don't matter except as things with which to fill space between commercials. One fact is exactly as good as another, one bit of videotape exactly as important as another. CNN is a medium in which there is no difference between noise and information.
Two instances of a single cultural tendency, I suppose.