Two Cents: Crying is the new black

We are privileged enough to live in "the lucky country". A place where the sun shines (almost) all year round. A place that people travel far and wide to experience its beauty and relaxed lifestyle. A place where people are given a fair go and battlers continue to prosper.  

Can someone please remind FremantleMedia of the above? Every time I turn on the TV I'm faced with another journey montage and distraught contestant tearing up over a burnt crouton. I cook most nights and aside from the odd aggressive onion not once have I cried as a result of preparing a meal. Am I alone?

And, correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the opinion that dancing was a joyous activity? Apparently not, after watching So You Think You Can Dance earlier this year I realised that unless you had recently lost a family member or were recovering from an eating disorder you were really no good at dancing at all. I'm not a psychologist but surely going on national television and reliving all the depressing, upsetting elements in your life for society's entertainment is probably not the best way to deal with it. You're there to push dance for god's sake!

Of course to have the faintest hope of succeeding in "Fremantle Idol", it seems like you need to be a brickies labourer with a dad who has never seen you sing (the ability to cry on cue being a given). Surely God is looking down on us all with disgrace, at our misuse of his emotive gifts.

Fremantle have clearly stumbled upon a formula that they think will work in any context. If someone told me I could produce a real life drama for half the price of a scripted drama and attract the same audience, why wouldn't I?

While they may be an easy scapegoat, surely the damage has been done by our own remotes. We've become lazy viewers who now allow ourselves to be entertained by anyone with a handy-cam and a tear duct.

I say enough with all the blabbering, let's get back to the good old days when Australians could take the piss out of themselves and have a laugh when we sat down in front of the tele.

I would also like to say that...um...um....my mother has never read any of my blogs....insert Damien Leith track here.