Simon Cowell: Cruel?

I agree with most of this article but one paragraph jumped off the page at me.

For instance, with each new episode of Survivor they soak up, aren't we teaching kids that duplicity and betrayal are character traits to be rewarded? For every gratuitous tongue-lashing they hear delivered by American Idol judge Simon Cowell, aren't we saying it's OK to be cruel? Doesn't The Apprentice tell them that cutthroat is the only way to go?

Having never watched Survivor I don't feel qualified to offer an opinion, though from what I've heard I tend to agree that the show seemed to play to our base and prurient interests. We did watch one season of 'The Amazing Race'. Mostly enjoyed it with the exception of the contrived back biting.

But Simon Cowell? We watched the first two seasons of the show and mostly enjoyed them and I always found Simon's take very honest. Brutally honest perhaps, but honest.

I think frank honesty makes people uncomfortable these days. Not everybody should be in the band. Not everybody has the talent or drive to make it to the big time. That's okay, to me it's not about failure but reality, and reality is a very good thing.

Was Simon cruel? I never saw it, tough, sure, but not cruel. To me cruelty is a statement designed to hurt or wound the person. When he judged a perfomance I found myself nodding my head, as a former professional musician who has suffered through a couple of hundred auditions I can assure you I've heard a lot worse than anything Simon said.

The truth of the matter is that honesty at that level serves a purpose. It will reveal to you the truth in your heart. For some, it will be the spur they need to take it to the next level. Perhaps they will get more training, they might practice harder, get new teacher, whatever it takes. The other option is others will give up, and I think that can be a very good thing.

The problem with this attitude of never hurting anybody is that at some point we must face reality. Some people really can't sing, others really shouldn't be on stage, yet some misguided soft heads think their doing these poor sods a favor by lying to them about their abilities.

Here's a hint Paula...they're not.

American Idol
Simon Cowell
The Hard truth