Marx, Tocqueville, & American Idol

The premise is remarkably simple: What would Marx and/or Tocqueville have to say about American Idol? There are a number of articles about using specific books and/or films to illustrate specific principles (recently, PS had an article on using Antigone to teach political concepts). This is not one of those. I have no delusion that Idol can teach us anything (OK, maybe a few things) about politics. Instead, this is an opportunity for students to stretch their minds, and ask themselves how Marx (as a materialist/structuralist) & Tocqueville (as a culturalist) would evaluate a contemporary American pop culture phenomenon.

Remarkably, students have always risen to the challenge. They’re required to argue, using specific references from either Marx or Tocqueville to support their case. And every semester, they find reasonable arguments to support their arguments. Marx would view Idol w/ disdain as just more “opium for the masses.” Or Marx would appreciate that Idol put the final decision not in the hands of the “executive committee of the bourgeoisie” (especially scroogy Simon Cowell!) but rather let the masses decide. Tocqueville would applaud Idol for celebrating the idea that everyone has a shot at stardom, emphasizing our “equality of condition.” Or Tocqueville would see Idol as another example of how art & culture declines in the face of too much emphasis on base equality. There are, of course, other arguments that one could make (and my students have presented a number of the them).

I’m very much looking forward to working on this. And I welcome any comments, as I start to formulate my own thoughts.