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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

298 replies

moondog · 09/10/2011 20:59

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.

OP posts:
RalphGhoul · 10/10/2011 09:42

Pendeen it's a love it or hate it show, I guess. Now that the auditions and bootcamp are out of the way the focus is more on the talent than the drama.

Peachy · 10/10/2011 09:43

Particvipation is voluntary IF and only if you understand the process fully and have the mechanisms to comprehend the motivations of the poeple invoved. They are not uour friends, they do not want to hewlp you, they want to know if there is any way they can wriong a profit from you- whether through (questionable) talent or failing that the freak show.

I don't have an issue with people who are NT, although I still won't watch. They shoud screen the others much more carefully.

It's not exclusive to X-factor; embarassing bodies seems to trade on getting a 50/50 mix of exhibitionist (fine) and ill and desperate to parade naken in order to receive proper medial treatment. Also nasty..

Peachy · 10/10/2011 09:44

Wf I said I think pweople with SN and MH should be allwed a shot- and if theya re talneted allowed through. It's the way theys creen for talented and laughable that converns me. keep the talented and ditch the 'jokes' early on.

Peachy · 10/10/2011 09:44

And gary barlow? Really?

yeesh

Wink
wordfactory · 10/10/2011 09:45

peachy that simply describes the arts worlds full stop.

To be fair, a lot of the kids on these shows are in or have attended drama school so they know the score.

Peachy · 10/10/2011 09:46

istill,love I honestly can;t remember names and I stopped watching it a while back (else IO would be a hypocrite). But it's worth reading some first ahdn accounts as to how the auditions pan out.

Ciske · 10/10/2011 09:48

By that reasoning, you might as well ban all sports on TV as well. It's a competition, there will always be more losers than winners, but that doesn't mean it's cruel and should be banned. Everybody enters voluntarily knowing exactly what the show is about.

Peachy · 10/10/2011 09:49

WF why would that be OK though?

the drama ones fine: I am not talking about those. I mean the ones who get laughed at during audtions,c alled back to eb laughed at some mor then ditched once they have been led to beleive they have some talent.

It's not all the arts world either; I have links with that world via Dh (mainly boring links such as knowing Stephen fry requires specilaist under chin lighting before QI... not sure if be demand or just stage requirement) and most of the arts world wants nothing to do with people who have zero talent. It might be the light entertainment world- not the same thing.

Sorry got to run, been called to collect ill ds1. A cold. Ah back in my day not a chance!

melancholista · 10/10/2011 09:50

I'm surprised if people can't see the cruelty. But I also think that's part of the problem - cruelty has become the norm. Just look at AIBU. Wink

Peachy · 10/10/2011 09:51

It's NOT about winners or losers at all

Losing is aprt of life

It's about people who never had a hope of winning and were not able to understand that being put through merely as entertainment value

Competiton is fine. Do we honestly think that by the time some of these acts get to the xth round of auditions that are actually televised that the media execs who assess them think they can have a shot? I don't

RalphGhoul · 10/10/2011 09:52

Peachy if someone had told my 14 year old self I would one day lust after Gary Barlow I'd have had the same reaction as you! Still, the heart wants what it wants...

melancholista · 10/10/2011 09:52

It's just ritualised humiliation, which is fun to watch. Apparently.

Not much to do with singing.

Oakmaiden · 10/10/2011 09:58

Obviously people with SN or disabilities should be on a level playing field with everyone else, but that is not really the problem. I think the problem is the auditions. The auditions should be to make sure only those who are "good" at what they are doing are put on the stage in front of a live audience and televised. To pass someone who has no talent at all through an audition procedure and put them on stage to be laughed at and mocked is just wrong. And it is especially wrong if that person is particularly vulnerable (due to MH issues or SN).

That is the issue - not that the programme is stultifyingly boring (matter of opinion); not that vulnerable people should not be allowed to participate; but that the auditions should be used to ensure that only the best however many are put on the stage, so the ones on the stage ARE talented and stand a hope of competing rather than simply being there for others ot laugh at.

BupcakesandHaunting · 10/10/2011 09:59

The only instance I saw of a potentially vulnerable person being allowed through to auditions was the little Welsh lady. A lot of X-Factor viewers reported it to Ofcom, so actually, not all of the show's viewers are comfortable with some practices.

rycooler · 10/10/2011 10:01

Yab a little u - 'talent' shows have been around for decades ( New Faces in the 70's for example, the judges used to slaughter people on that! ) the X Factor is just on a much bigger scale, and the contestants know what they're letting themselves in for. It's really sad though when they say things like 'I want this so much, I can't go back to being nothing' - as if being 'famous' is all they live for. it probably is.

The auditions are the worst part - they just take the piss out of the vulnerable and deluded -

Oakmaiden · 10/10/2011 10:02

And for those saying that people who enter all know the score - yes, I am sure they do. BUT - you don't have to have MH issues of SN to be deluded about your abilities. And if someone has massively overestimated their talent it is far more appropriate to say so at once than to lead them on and then laugh at them.

Animation · 10/10/2011 10:03

The singing is just a small part of the show now. It's not like Opportunity Knocks which was a simple singing competion.

The show is now centred arround creating emotional drama - with all this pausing and dragging it out - to make these contestants feel more emotional and desperate. It's cruel and undignified. Angry

istilllovelassie · 10/10/2011 10:06

"It's about people who never had a hope of winning and were not able to understand that being put through merely as entertainment value"

but who peachy who ??? we are watching two different shows - I see people from all walks of life, who dont fit to our normal standards of thin and beautiful getting through and getting standing ovations from the public. I see life affirming auditions. Where is the cruelty ? who do they bring back who doesnt have a chance ? look at Jedward - they have done incredibly well through it and you could have argued they shouldnt have gone through - but the public loved them.
I dont sit at home laughing at people with no talent - i sit at home being wowed and feeling great that people like Johnny are getting a chance to change their lives.

rycooler · 10/10/2011 10:08

Don't put yourself up for it then Animation - you have to apply to go on the show - no one is dragged off the street kicking and screaming.

Oakmaiden · 10/10/2011 10:10

but who peachy who ???

Ceri Rees springs rather immediately to mind.

BupcakesandHaunting · 10/10/2011 10:10

There needs to be a Mumsnet committee of What Is Acceptable.

I nominate any shows that are about knitting and lentils.

Animation · 10/10/2011 10:11

" It's really sad though when they say things like 'I want this so much, I can't go back to being nothing' - as if being 'famous' is all they live for. it probably is."

I think that's all part of the manipulation when they're in that bubble - being built up and made to believe being famous is the best. Ordinary life is actually pretty good and what makes people happy.

Animation · 10/10/2011 10:15

"no one is dragged off the street kicking and screaming."

That's true - but once they're there they're manipulated and toyed with like a cat with a mouse. It's like in any job - you've a right to be treat with respect and dignity.

WilsonFrickett · 10/10/2011 10:16

Ceri Jones has been on the show on more than one occassion, so she obviously knew what to expect. While I didn't find it particularly comfortable viewing, the thing I was most [anger] about was that someone in her home town was taking money off her for singing lessons!

I think there have been far fewer vulnerable people this series tbh, and fewer 'hard luck story' sections which I can't be bothered with.

Animation the thing is it's self selecting in that aspect - the people who think that ordinary life is pretty good and what makes people happy by definition won't want to be famous, so probably won't apply.

shineynewthings · 10/10/2011 10:19

Well I'm guilty of having enjoyed X Factor. However I must say I found last night's episode very distasteful. I really felt it for the contestants having been built up over many weeks and then being pulled down by their so called 'mentors' - HA! - and their breakdown is very public. I felt the judges cynically being made to vote off their own group members was nasty and exploitative. I especially felt had that sense watching poor Amelia who is genuinely talented, break down in tears, the poor girl looked inconsolable, and deserved a longer stay in the programme.

It is becoming too much, and I'm not sure I'll continue watching anymore.

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