American Idol: HPD Magnet

Let's be honest. American Idol is a guilty pleasure for many of us. Who can resist watching at least the audition episodes of the show to see all those wacky people who can't sing and who give the most bizarre demonstrations of it? It's nothing short of amusing, if not disturbing at times. After watching the first two airings of the show this week, I told my husband I think Simon has concluded that he's backed himself into a corner. He's sick of dealing with all the high-hoping caterwaulers out there, but the show is too big and he can't get out of it now. He gets pickier every year. He said "NO" by day four to people who were pretty darn good. I think he's just trying to deal with as little crap as possible through the rest of the show by giving as few "yeses" as possible. My husband the movie maker claims that a lot of the bad auditions are staged. I, the psychologist (well, not really), have my own theory. I think that whether the creators knew it or not, this show was born to attract Histrionic Personality Disorder. And there lies its big success. The HPDs pull us in for the audition half of the season, and meanwhile, we get hooked on the genuine vocalists who go on to Hollywood.

How else can you explain the complete vulgarity of some of these people? The crazy costumes, the vocals that no right mind would come up with. And let's not forget about the DRAMA. I only have a minor in psychology, and took just one course in Abnormal Psych. But it takes only that to point a definitive finger several times a night and declare "HPD!" Whether they knew it or not, Fox hit a gold mine with American Idol because people all over the nation would come screaming out of the woodworks just to show off on national television. And we would watch it. Year after year.

"The essential feature of this disorder is 'a pervasive pattern of excessive emotionality and attention seeking'"
(Abnormal Psychology: Integrating Perspectives pg. 386

I find the whole concept amusing. And maybe the histrionic people in America find it to be a catharsis. Honestly, how can they resist such an opportunity? It's a show made for them, as long as the auditions last. Abnormal Psychology states that more women than men tend to be diagnosed as histrionic (pg. 386). I haven't counted to see if there are more female bizarre performances than male. I will have to pay closer attention next week when I watch. My husband is probably rolling his eyes that I'm even admitting on the Internet that we watch American Idol. Sorry, honey. Our cover is blown. The book also says the word "histrionic" means "dramatic or theatrical" and that "these individuals are often provocative" and "tend to overreact behaviorally and emotionally". It also states "there's a shallowness about the speech and emotional expressions", for example, referring to someone they barely know as a "very close friend" (pg. 386). I once knew someone whom a helpful therapist summed up for me as histrionic, who was constantly telling extravagant lies and dragging everyone into them. When confronted with an honest "I don't believe you" there was sudden hell to pay for whoever was brave enough to say it. So the concept of HPD holds some natural fascination for me. Thus, American Idol monopolizes my TV for two hours two nights a week until the auditions are over, at least.

Of course, there's nothing funny about a person who has a real personality disorder. No one likes the idea of his/her behavior, thought, and feeling being adversely controlled by something irrational. But at the same time, for someone with this disorder, their greatest pleasure in life is our attention. So if people are going to seek it so diligently on national TV, the least we can do is be willingly attentive. So the next time you hear a therapist joke about some interesting specimen of behavior being "histrionic" just think American Idol and the extra fascinating individuals you've seen strutting their stuff night after night before the judges.