Paula or Simon?

I’ve been watching American Idol for the first time ever this season and really enjoying it!  But what really has struck me is the Paula/Simon dynamic.   Paula is sweet, gorgeous, kind -and, well – kind of syrupy.   If Paula says she likes you, or you were good, or to “keep the dream alive,” what does that mean exactly?   It’s not a high bar to clear because Paula tells EVERYBODY that she likes them, they were good, “keep the dream alive.”   You can pretty much guess that when Paula says something it will be kind, it will be sweet, but unless she tells you it stunk, (and it really has to be bad for Paula to hate it), there is no real “value” to what she says.  

The viewers know this, the contestants know it too.   That’s why what everyone wants to know is… what does Simon think?   Simon, although not always kind, and more than a little caustic, doesn’t just give it away.  If it’s good… it’s VERY GOOD.   To my mind, he saves the contestants a lot of pain and heartache by being up front with them, by calling it as it is, by not sugar coating, hiding, or downplaying the truth.   That is why Simon always gives his opinion last, and to say “Simon loved it!”   has real value.

And in a way, I think there is a great charity in that.   Perhaps it is better to hear the truth instead of stringing yourself along for years and learning the inevitable truth with much personal pain and heartache.  

I think there are some biblical truths there as well.  I know many readers, particularly of the liberal variety see Jesus as more of a Paula.   But I see him as Simon.   Jesus doesn’t bend from the hard truths, he doesn’t sugar coat it, and although everything He says is in love, that love doesn’t back down from the truth.   It was the hardness of that truth, however, despite the love with which it was given, that got Him crucified.   But it was also what gave what He said, “value!”