Lafayette, Indiana

This past week’s American Idol featured Kanye West and Kelly Clarkson as their featured artists. Clarkson’s dynamic performance (she really is an outstanding artist) featured bonehead lyrics celebrating the relationship between two dysfunctional individuals who stay together to try and heal each other. Brilliant. Watch Oprah or Dr. Phil and rethink that message.

Then there was Kanye West’s hip hop performance featuring a denim outfit with a large bath towel inexplicably hanging out of his back pocket down to his ankle - evidently in case he perspired. His background singers included a guitarist wearing the kind of mask you wear to operate a chain saw and a singer with shoulder pads that looked like large boulders.

I used to think that the gap in age explains that I don’t understand or appreciate the artistic choices of young, popular artists. But then I remember that when I was young, older people thought that our outfits and forms of expression were immature and embarrassing. Of course I dismissed them. But in fact, they were right. Disco glam was inane and counter culture outfits were mostly a visual abomination. This is not to say that we should deny everyone their fun and stupidity. But it does mean that if you see a musician who opts for the face shield with no real reason then…yes…you are correct to note that they look like a moron. It’s okay to laugh.