Rosey Goes After 'Idol'

Rosey O'Donnell, who's been picking fights with everything that moves these days, decided to take on America's number one show - "American Idol":

O'Donnell and her The View co-hosts have joined the growing chorus of critics upset about the cruel comments and open ridicule that American Idol's judges and producers heaped on many of the show's contestants during this week's season-opening broadcasts of the sixth season's Minneapolis and Seattle open auditions.

"It's terribly sad to me," O'Donnell said during a harsh six-plus minute Idol attack broadcast on this morning's The View. "I don't think America likes to watch people be ridiculed, made fun of, and called ugly monkeys, or that they're too fat or they're a degenerate... it's an absurd concept that this is what's tolerable now as consumption in America for mass media."

Rosey's attitude toward the show is correct (I can't believe I agree with her on something), but her facts are wrong. America clearly does enjoy watching people being ridiculed or else the show wouldn't have the huge ratings it has. Everybody knows that the early shows in the season include the worst of the bad auditions, and like lookey-loos drawn to a car wreck, they flock to watch people be humiliated on national TV. I had some previous thoughts on 'Idol' here.

You can't put all the blame on the show for the treatment some contestants get. It's been on the air long enough that anybody trying out knows how it works. They may be blind to their own lack of talent, but they know there's a chance that the judges won't like them.

There seems to be more than the usual amount of blowback this year. Perhaps people will start tuning out. We'll see.