A possible trajectory for a story?

 Recently, I have been thinking a lot about the media we consume and the process in which it is made. The powerful, almost seraphic beings at the top of the food chain who micromanage every single thing and the dregs at the bottom, naive and young waiting for their first job. What I find interesting about this societal phenomenon is the abuse of this power and how it is even possible. The exposé of Harvey Weinstein in Hollywood might instantly come to mind for this but I wish to focus on the exploitation of singers in the music industry and how this phenomenon inspires me. I am also going to talk about media that I enjoy inspired by this circumstance.

A while ago, I was automatically recommended a video from disgraced X Factor auditionee Zoe Alexander on Youtube. When one watches the original audition, Alexander comes across as brutish, coarse and a patent sore loser. But after viewing this video, my perception has shifted slightly. She discussed the sequence of events leading up to her audition and from this I saw the context. The footage in the audition was cut and changed around to create a dramatic effect, but unfortunately Alexander being naive had her reputation ruined from this. Regardless of one’s personal opinion of her reliability as a narrator, people being staged and set up to create a narrative around them and their personality traits does happen in the media. A real-life Truman Show if you will. When I first saw her audition on television in 2012 I laughed at her but now I just feel disturbed.

Similar themes can be found in the Black Mirror episode ‘Fifteen Million Merits.’ Black Mirror has always been a source of inspiration and appealed to me because of it’s quirkiness and unapologetic unconventionality and this episode is no exception to the rule. This episode looks at singing competitions through a dystopian lens. In the context of the episode, the characters live in a fictionalised world where electricity is generated using humans on stationary bikes. People make currency called merits to pay for their daily actions. The only chance of escape is to win ‘Hot Shots,’ a cruel and blunt talent competition. The deuteragonist of the episode Abi auditions for the show with a haunting song but is humiliated afterwards by the judges, she is offered a job in pornography and begrudgingly accepts because she knows she has nothing to lose.

In conclusion, after thinking about these themes, perhaps I could explore writing a story about the more disturbing elements of the music and talent show industry.