Today I came home to hear my next door neighbors belting out all kinds of horrible acoustic songs. Yes that's right! "Neighbors" as in multiple persons singing. My question is why? Are they just so full of life that they need to expose me to terrible harmonies and bad guitar playing? Are they forming a skiffle band? Or are they attempting to drive the other neighbors away with acoustic versions of Justin Bieber songs? Right again! They were playing Justin Bieber songs.
"Baby baby baby oooohhh like baby baby baby". Imagine hearing that at 2 am in the morning, and you don't live in Calabasas California next to the Biebs.
I tried to figure out why would they be so hard pressed to make themselves heard, and then it dawned upon me that parents today encourage their children to follow their dreams, even when they lack talent. In fact, I think they push their kids to chase dreams, despite the fact that their kids obviously have no ability. Why? Because even if you lack talent, you can still become famous. It's all about confidence. So these young adults, ruining my days and nights with awful crooning, had been the by products of nurturing parents who told them that they should never give up their dreams, regardless of whether they have the ability to make those dreams a reality. I'm not sure whether that is kind, or cruel. Because later on when some not so nice people like Simon Cowell tells them "you suck", their dreams will be smashed. Or will the lessons of myopia learned from their parents convince them to keep pursuing their dreams despite their inability to sing in harmony? I don't really care, I just wished they'd stop singing and ruining my weekend. It sounds like someone is squeezing the air out of a bunch of cats.
Yet America has a history of people who lack talent but have an over abundance of confidence. So let's take a look at some people not so talented who became famous. And please remember we're all special...
#3 William Hung - In Wikipedia William Hung is listed as ""an American singer" which is the first time I ever really questioned the integrity of facts on Wikipedia. Hung did sing, but very, very, badly and in fact so badly, that it made him famous. If you were watching the show "American Idol" in 2004 you may have caught a glimpse of Hung's rendition of the famous Ricky Martin tune, "She Bangs". Click on the link below if you feel the need to relive the experience.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVo0uMqRBQM
As a result of this rather ridiculously poor performance, Hung became famous and even dropped out of school to pursue his "music" career. Why? Who gave this person the idea that he was good? And moreover, why would people encourage him? Well, they did and he was famous for a short period of time, but he is now a crime analyst for the Los Angeles County Sherriff's Department. Interestingly enough, the LA County Sherriff's Department probably should have arrested the producers of "American Idol" right after Hung's performance because allowing that to be aired was a crime.
#2 Kate Gosselin - I first heard of Kate when a few of my friends mentioned that they LOVED the reality show "John and Kate Plus 8". I wasn't sure of the interest I would find in watching two overly self indulgent parents trying to raise eight children. In fact, it wasn't interesting to me, not even remotely. It seems that both of the parents were having a difficult time raising eight children and still feeling affectionate towards each other, but after watching the show I realized why they were having a hard time...their only talent was self interest. They were both obsessed not with their kids but with themselves and unfortunately their kids were after thoughts in a bad marriage. This made for good television because there was constant turmoil on the show.
Another reason they seem to be struggling with raising 8 children is because THEY WERE RAISING 8 CHILDREN! How can anyone, even a selfless martyr raise 8 children and still maintain their sanity. Kate for her part did her best, but apparently her best just wasn't good enough and so her and Jon got a divorce and Kate was supposed to carry the show on her own. Failure!
You see the problem with wanting to be famous for something other than having children is that once the kids start to grow up and once the producers perceive you as boring, than the show is over. Kate was boring, had no talent, and her daily life wasn't even partially interesting. If her kids hadn't been so damn cute the show wouldn't have lasted the 2 years that it did. So "Kate Plus 8" was cancelled in 2009.
Once the show was cancelled, what was a mother of eight with an enlarged uterus supposed to do? Well, what every talent less person does. Find a co-author and write a book. Which she did, and she sold quite a few books. I don't know if anyone read the books but she sold a lot of them. But again her talent waned and her fifteen minutes of fame ended. It was a good run for someone who's only real accomplishment was having a litter of children.
#1 Rudy Ruettiger - I don't know how many of you are familiar with the film "Rudy", but it is truly an inspirational story. It brings grown men to tears, and even some women cry when they watch it, but it's rare. It follows the "true" story of Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger, who's dream was to attend Notre Dame University, and play football for the Fighting Irish. Rudy chases his dream throughout the movie and in the end he gets in for one play during the season. Below is the triumphant scene in the movie when Rudy is finally put into the last game of his senior season for the Irish, after spending years on the practice squad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI63g64kDgY
I almost cry every time I watch that scene knowing the truth about "Rudy".
The real story is that Rudy was an annoying bastard who pushed his story onto Hollywood, and who made up a lot of the stuff that's in the movie. Unfortunately, no one ever sheds light on this fact because the movie is so good, and is truly inspirational. The fans did not chant to put him in the game and the team didn't demand that he play, and he didn't have a bunch of people on the team who even liked him. Why? He was a nobody, and famous players on that Notre Dame team like Joe Montana barely remember his existence. It seems Rudy was a legend in his own mind.
However, do keep in mind Rudy was an overweight loser with very little talent, and a lot of determination which led him to his goal. He graduated from Notre Dame, he got to play football, and he became famous as a result. Not bad for an persistent little son of a bitch from Indiana.
The tragedy is that he parlayed that fame into a money swindling scheme and ended up being indicted for fraud by the SEC. Maybe a little too much confidence and not enough common sense.
All these "success" stories tell us is that despite lacking talent, even the worst of us can realize our dreams. We may end up in jail later, but it's possible that with a lot of confidence and no recognizable talent we can become a celebrity. I still don't know if that's good or bad, considering that people like Kate Gosselin still have paparazzi following them around for no reason. I guess to surmise, if you have talent chase your dream, but if you don't, please give it up so the rest of us can sleep.
Have a great day!
-M
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