The Malakar Malady

Salon.com hosts a summit of sorts on American Idol contender Sanjaya, the tone-deaf kewpie doll who keeps winning the damn thing. The question: Is a vote for Sanjaya a subversive act against the oppressive "Idol" machine? Chuck Klosterman has the best answer.

If we lived in a futuristic dystopia where the state forced the totality of its populace to watch 'American Idol' every week after constitutionally decreeing that this program would serve as the sole arbitrator for creative integrity, then, yes, voting for Sanjaya would be 'subversive.' As things currently stand, I would classify purposefully voting for a television personality you don't like as 'astonishingly idiotic.' It is difficult to understand why people would direct effort toward negatively impacting a TV show they could just as easily not watch, especially since their efforts will (clearly) have the exact opposite effect on the very program they (allegedly) despise.

His last collection (Chuck Klosterman IV) included a solid essay on why people get so worked up when people like what they don't like. Sadly, not online and linkable.

UPDATE: Lamar says "I wish I could read Klosterman's critique on why things he doesn't find entertaining should likewise be despised by all Americans." That's not what the essay's about. It's on why people—not him!—get so worked up about their favorite band not becoming popular, directing their anger at the fad of the moment. "I can't believe Arcade Fire is on the radio all the time but no one's buying the new Sparks album!" and so on. Klosterman doesn't share that attitude.