Skanky Men Finish Last

First things first: David Hernandez.

I think we were all shocked (as was he and Kristy) that he was kicked off last night. It was the first real upset of the season (unless you were a Danny Noriega fan).

But thinking about it now, I’m super-glad he got kicked off last night. It continues the long standing tradition of the ‘scandalous’ contestants being voted off quickly and quietly.

I’ve purposefully avoided adding stripper jokes in the blog… I mean, the last thing I want is for this blog to be trashy. 🙂 But it became pretty clear that these ‘rumors’ were actually true. (I mean, how many guys can you expect to give a lap dance to while maintaining your anonymity… come on…)

David Hernandez now joins the ranks of Antonella, Corey, and all the other ScandIdols who deserved to get kicked. It’s nice to know American Idol fans consistently vote against trashy people. (Even at the risk of advancing the crappy singers.) I would like to think these votes reflect some ‘moral center’ of America, which I think still exists somewhere between the two coasts.

Note to self, do not become a stripper and then go on American Idol.

Now… to tie this in with some other current events…

Unless you’ve been living under a rock this week, you have heard about the Eliot Spitzer scandal. The former governor of New York finally resigned yesterday amid allegations that he paid over $80,000 patronizing a high priced prostitution ring.

I’m not so concerned that a man in New York paid for sex. I mean, these kind of things happen every day in every city in the country. What I am concerned about is this man (or these men) has a wife. And if he isn’t satisfied or can’t make that relationship work, he can’t even go get a mistress or a girlfriend, a free, legal outlet for his struggles. Instead, he turns to an illegal, immoral, and repugnant practice of paying someone for sex.

I mean, adultery is bad enough, but what makes this stuff absolutely repugnant is the monetization of ‘love’, a commodity that can’t and shouldn’t be bought or sold.

And that’s my problem with David’s occupation choice. It’s a hollow, soulless, loveless profession targeted to those who are too lazy, depressed, or otherwise dysfunctional to go out and pursue a real relationship with a real person – or those who just want an unemotional, business relationship with their sexual needs.

It is the true pornography: form without substance.

Here’s what I feel bad about, though. Because these pernicious things are so deeply pervading every aspect of our society (mostly because of mass marketing), they touch everyone. You just have to watch one installment of Dateline’s “To Catch a Predator” to understand that anyone can get caught in these dangerous, destructive traps. They are your friends and neighbors.

So what I feel bad about, is that some people (they are, after all, people – with a soul and everything) have to so publicly and humiliatingly live out their darkest, most embarrassing moments.

The media feigns ‘portrayal’ or ‘reflection’ of our society when it’s actually a participant in it. What’s more, many programs and networks actually wallow in it. (TMZ, Access Hollywood, etc) It goes back to the old cliche: never wrestle with a pig – both of you get dirty, but the pig (media) loves it.

All in all, I suppose you just have to look at both of these guys and say to yourself, I feel bad they have been so publicly humiliated, but feel good that we are maintaining some semblance of a national moral compass, such that the public can assert that this behavior isn’t right for someone we are putting on a pedestal, whether they be a governor or an American Idol.