to be amazed that something as psychologically manipulative as X Factor is allowed on air?

[moondog]

I've been watcihng it for the 1st time.
I can't beleive they are allowed to toy with people's lives like this, building them up, playing with them and then casting them aside.

What an unbelievably unpleasant concept.
I feel tainted for having watched it.

What amazes me is that it´s watched at all.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. after all, you watch X Factor and the ilk.

Quite right. Thick peasants.

But we can't win Ralph, if we wave our qualifications and IQ scores about, people will just say we should know better then.

I find I can watch XF and Newsnight without causing Tellybox Confusion in my tiny mind.

Duhh..... How do you spell XF??

Sue

I must say, it does mar my viewing pleasure when I have to keep stopping it to ask DP what all the big words mean.

why do you guys always compare this to a victorian mental hospital. No one on the show looks even slightly like they have mental problems.

it is a competition. Some people are just clueless as to how bad they sound when they sing, probably from family members who never tell them they are bad. Then after the bad ones are weeded out they start removing the ok ones until they have great ones.

i fail to see what the problem is

Because the bad ones are allowed to go through so they can be weeded out on tv after people have laughed at them enough. Thousands of people audition. There can be no reason at all for the dire ones to be selected except for the amusement value. They are given false hope, then publically rejected and humiliated for our entertainment. Enjoy that if you like, but I have no respect for people who do.

You do seem to have some very strong opinions on something you don't have to watch seeker.
Leave us thickos to it, please.

Not liking people with SN being laughed at or exploited does not equate being snobbish about TV.

Otherwise my encyclopaedic knowledge of eastenders would seriously stuff me wouldn't it?

Seeker good post.

minimiss they don't actually; of it looks like it fair enough but to get to the celeb judge stage you will have been through several auditions with media exec types, and led to beelive you stand a chance. If they just televised all ausditions at random like they pretend, fine- but they do not.

I don't have to watch iit, but I do have to live in a society which is being influenced by it and similar stuff. And I am bringing up children in a society which thinks that fame for fame's sake is a desirable ambition, that physical appearance is the most important part of a person, that women are expected to look sexually available to be attractive, and it is possible to achieve something worthwhile without working at it. Oh, and that ugly, deluded people are funny.

Pretty, deluded people can be funny too.

Erm I feel a need to point out that people with SN can be pretty too (See profile for evidence - ds's not me!) whilst being aware that I am starting to vanish inside my own backside.

seeker, you are trying to make it something it isn't. Rebekah was classy on every show in the last X-Factor & was never once looked 'sexually available' (by which I presume you mean dressed like a hooker) & she came second. Mary didn't look sexually available either, wasn't a ben pole or young & uber pretty & she did really well too. Wagner was odd looking, oldish & unconventional & he was so popular and lasted for ages, because he was a great entertainer.

Seeker - the finalists are all fairly talented - yes, they always put through a bit of a joke act ( jedward ) but look at them now - laughing all the way to the bank - the auditions can be harsh but I don't watch them anymore - the live finals are great TV - some great acts most years.

Let's support young British talent.

Are we blaming people who watch XF for our society's obsession with fame, judgements about women and laziness then? What makes you think that XF caused this behaviour, instead of tapping into an existing rich seam of sleb/fame obsession?

Susan Boyle would still be living in her little village with her cat if she hadn't taken her opportunity to appear on BGT.
I've never seen her express a word of regret on how it changed her life.
She was clearly vulnerable, but has proved that anyone with talent should be given a chance.

X-FACTOR TO BLAME FOR TEH RIOTS

X Factor = Broken Britain
Peachy - East Enders??

You know ry I don't have a problem with the post audition stuff, it's the auditions that do it for me.

lady yes, she ahd talent. But she did show that a little more support would have not gone awry by ending up in a rehab centre surely? Although I suspect they apid which no doubt was a positive for her.

I like easteneders, mainly coz they show it at ten which is earliest I get to finish up of an evening LOL

Peachy - I agree the auditions just aren't entertaining anymore ( for me ) - watching some poor deluded fool sing badly is not my idea of fun - but I love the finals - Johnny is awesome and so is the girl with the long dark hair ( looks a bit like Liza Minnelli )

You'll just have to come on the X Factor thread Peachy, and discuss the really important issues.
Such as
Is Frankie really as skanky as he appears?
Is shitty Kitty for real?
How good is Misha (best by far).
Can Gary get away with tweeds and when he doesn't wear a tie should he undo his top button?
and how did Louis ever get to be a judge?
It's fun I promise you.
Well, a lot more fun than EE, I promise you

YY, Peachy, come and drool over Barry in his tweed.

Singing contest?

Pah.

It's a fight to the death over who gets Barry's stubble rash on inner thigh love :o

Who the hell is barry LMAO?

I can't make it I am afraid, I am chained to a large object each saturday evening for teh foreseeable

well until mid November anyway