Sob stories hide reality TV's emotional manipulation
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We should all praise the courage and amazing determination of China's Got Talent winner Liu Wei.
His playing isn't bad either, particularly considering he is doing it with his feet rather than his hands.
I have no objections at all to praising someone who has gone through so much to learn such a skill that many would believe impossible given his physical impediments.
But does this show really recognize Liu Wei's talent, or is it, as with other winners worldwide, based more on a sympathy vote?
Asking this question in no way demeans Liu's ability. However, would someone who had arms but could play the piano with their feet win a national talent competition?
Probably not.
Liu's talent is prodigious, but it only won him a large talent competition because it fits the magical formula of modern reality television.
People vote for the competitors that have the best story, preferably one of overcoming obstacles. It is not enough to be merely talented these days. You have to be talented and just that little bit strange.
Liu is certainly not the first to win a talent show through a combination of talent mixed with the strangeness of some sort of deficiency.
Susan Boyle immediately springs to mind.
Although she didn't win Britain's Got Talent, she became a mega star in the US and the UK thanks to her seemingly unlikely ability to sing show tunes quite well.
Unlikely because she is a reclusive spinster with some form of learning difficulty, which has led to some odd behavior since she was thrown into the spotlight.
She may have sung like stage star Elaine Paige, but if she had looked like Elaine Paige the magical formula of talent plus sympathy would not have equaled success.
