Last week, on the hit reality show "American Idol," some rather surprising results ensued. Of the eight contestants featured, the two chosen to move on, Ruben Studdard and Kimberley Locke, were both black, overweight individuals.
The anomaly was not in their skin color, but in the other aspects of their physical appearance. In a society that consistently obsesses over race as a barrier to entry, the entertainment business has long presented appearance as the requirement. It's entirely good to see people breaking down the aesthetic barrier, as long as it isn't a spin on affirmative action that helped them do it.
The entertainment industry, and its many facets, have long constituted one of the most liberal sectors of American society. Hollywood has at various times been a refuge for women, homosexuals, Communists and other socially marginalized groups. Think how many celebrities flood the Democratic National Convention, while Charlton Heston perhaps is somewhat lonely at the GOPs. In the 21st century, racism is perhaps most diminished in this field as well. Minorities make up a huge part of the music industry with the rise of rap and hip-hop music. Further, 2002 saw the most prestigious acting awards go to a black man and a black woman, Denzel Washington and Halle Berry.
Indeed, it seems that entertainment is close to sports in breaking down racial barriers.
Let's reconsider though. Washington and Berry may be proof of a broken race barrier, but they have another commonality besides skin tone. They're both gorgeous. The bigger breakthrough in discrimination on this front was probably when Camryn Manheim won the 1998 Best Supporting Actress in a drama Emmy, where she announced, "This is for all the fat girls!" Yet Manheim was the anomaly. The plain, the overweight, and the unattractive rarely make it behind the podium or even on to a recording label. Right now, America's idol is Britney Spears, whose singing ability is questionable but whose midriff looks undeniably hot in a pair of hiphuggers.
It's granted that appearance is a factor in any public business. A black actor would hardly sue a production company for discrimination if he didn't get the part of Abe Lincoln in a Civil War drama. But "American Idol" is neither a casting call nor a modeling search. "Idol," whose results are determined democratically, is about a much more general public appeal. The audience votes on who they like, and what they seem to like is the anti- Britney.
After a bevy of attractive, or at least well-shaped, contestants had their turns, audiences just tuning in this week must have at least raised an eyebrow when the 200+ pound Ruben Stuttered took the floor. After his performance, the judges unanimously lauded him over the previous five singers.
Even notoriously harsh judge Simon Cowell noted that only now had the competition begun. In a clip of the next contestant, Kimberley Locke, choosing her outfit for the show, she admits to the camera that she is in the "fat girl" category. Yet, the judges for her endorsement was equally glowing, who followed Studdard with her rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." The judges made clear their choices for the night and the public obeyed their recommendation.
The question lingers, though: did Kimberley and Ruben advance because they were overweight, or in spite of it? It would be lovely if the music industry did not discriminate on a basis of appearance.After all, the majority of music is heard through a CD player without the benefit (or detraction) of a face to go with the voice.But it's hard not to wonder whether our beloved "American Idol" judges were purposely trying to put a certain number of unattractive people into the music industry, or even just through the competition. The word "quota" comes to mind.
If that's the case, then send Kimberely and Ruben back home where they belong. Sure, they're lives on some level may be harder than the chick in the knee-high boots and the washboard abs. But I want my "American Idol" to be the one who sang the best, not the one who will make the music industry more egalitarian.
The good news is that Ruben and Kimberley can sing. Fat people and thin people do seem to be innately capable of performing the same task. With that established, let's hope their talent leads them to victory, without giving them a leg up because America has only recently taken down the "You Must Be This Pretty To Ride this Ride" sign.
It's great to see Ruben and Kimberley on "American Idol, but it would be greater if we were certain they got there because they could sing. Talent should stand independent of looks in every form of American competition.
(Kimberly Liu's column appears Fridays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at kliu@cavalierdaily.com.)
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