Thursday, 08 September 2011 09:02

I've become a curious spectator of the Got Talent global phenomena in recent years. Part marketing hype and part entertainment, every so often we are drawn to a contestant with incredible spirit whose talent shines through despite some "imperfection". A couple years back it was "spinster" Susan Boyle of Britains Got Talent. More recently,  two Got Talent winners have solicited not only media attention but raised questions about the nature of media.

Liu Wei from China and Bogdana Petrova of Bulgaria were top winners in 2010. What makes them unique, is that one was an armless pianist and the other a blind singer; and, both are from either a present Communist system or a vestigal one, where one's rights and dignity are tied to one's production.

Curious. Can media help the spirit survive in an age that accelerates towards utility, production, and a Marxist economic vision of society?  I find it ironic that money-driven media broadcasting has an unspoken feedback loop tied to "human interest" stories; stories of people who have overcome, um, the hardships of oppressive utility. Perhaps profit scenarios and economics are not the last word. Perhaps it is the word "spirit" -- that intangible quality and spark of life that transforms all human matter.