by Barbara Rainey
When my children were growing up I was a TV Nazi. High control, off the charts. Only Little House on the Prarie and Mr. Rogers Neighborhood were allowed when they were small. As they became older they watched sporting events or news features with their dad if they were interested, but little else. As parents we refused to get cable or buy Nintendo. We were "the only parents" this strict, of course.
When our last child left for college a few years ago our responsibility for monitoring what went into their hearts and minds left with her. We now had to police only ourselves. So we signed up for cable, mostly for my husband's interest in more sporting events and the hunting channels. Our kids all thought it terribly unfair and contradictory that we should change our values now that they were gone. A parent's prerogative, we replied with a smile.
With our evenings free from all the constrictions of homework, school activities, and bedtime rituals, we discovered the time to become fans of American Idol. Our good friend Bob, who loves music, was an addict from the beginning and kept talking about how much he and his wife and sons loved watching it. We finally began watching out of curiosity the year Jordin Sparks won.
This year we are even voting. And it's a great year for us to be engaged as one of the two finalists for tonight's (Tuesday) finale is from Conway, Arkansas, just 30 miles from Little Rock. And his success has all the elements of a great American story. Being from a small town in middle America, Kris Allen has been the underdog all along even though he is clearly talented. His opponent and the judges' obvious favorite is a young man who appears the opposite of Kris in every way. Adam is from a big city, has the backing of Hollywood, and sports an edgy look with heavy eye make-up and black nail polish. Kris is married and is the worship leader of a growing church, while Adam remains mysterious in his gender identity and spiritual leanings.
A most revealing moment occured several weeks ago when the show's creator and brutally honest judge, Simon Cowell, asked Kris what he thought about still being in the competition.
Kris replied that he was surprised because all of the top 10 were incredibly talented and he was grateful that he'd gotten this far. Simon responded that it was time to stop being humble! He advised Kris to become more self-assertive and to quit the humilty bit. Kris shrugged his shoulders and tilted his head as if to say, This is who I am.
If I still had teens at home that would have been a powerful teaching moment without having to actually teach! The obvious contrast between Kris's humble self-confidence and the judges' perception of what that means would have been enough even without parent/child interaction. But had we had that opportunity, we would have paused the DVR long enough to ask, "So what did you think about that dialog between Simon and Kris?"
Millions of viewers will be watching Tuesday night and we will be among them. It will be a classic "David and Goliath" battle. Kris will be getting our votes not only for his talent and because he's from our state, but because he is the kind of role model our kids need.
We will be voting for humility.
Stumble It!
