As the evenings draw in not only does it signal the end of the summer but also the beginning of X Factor’s search for the next big talent. At this point I should confess that I am a fan. Especially of the early rounds where you are introduced to some truly deluded people! However, this year as much as I am enjoying the awful singing, Cheryl Cole’s facial expressions and raw talent (of the contestants NOT Cheryl Cole…) the opening titles of the show have riled me.
In these times where green is the new black and all sorts of celebrities have jumped on the green bandwagon it would appear that this has bypassed X Factor and ITV. For those of you familiar with the opening titles you will know that you see Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh, Dannii Minogue and Cheryl Cole in helicopters. That’s right FOUR helicopters!! If anyone knows the carbon footprint of four helicopters drop us a line. If that wasn’t bad enough there are quite a few huge trucks that appear to drive the length of the country. Surely Manchester, Cardiff and Glasgow are big enough cities and have all the equipment the X Factor needs?
Another environmental gripe I have is that each celebrity arrives in a separate car. They are big cars so I’m four of them could comfortably fit inside. Fair enough you couldn’t expect them to arrive on a bus but surely they could use a Prius or something a bit more green…
What the X Factor demonstrates is that green issues aren’t mainstream enough yet. The X Factor is all about the world of the celebrity and having it all which is why they have to have big cars and helicopters. If any of Louis Walsh, Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue and Cheryl Cole cared about the environment I think we would see evidence of this in the show. Instead we get a snap shot of their lives in which they jet set around and are chauffeured in massive cars. More needs to be done to make green issues ‘sexy.’ We all need to do our bit for the environment and prime time TV programmes and the entertainment industry in general needs to pull it’s socks up.
Sean said,
September 24, 2008 @ 1:17 pm
I totally agree with what is being said about the X factor. I have watched the start of the show and I think it is totally irresponsible to say the least. Children watch these programmes and really the young are who we should try to teach more than anyone about green issues.
The next generation of human beings I feel should always be an improvement on the last.
Who is to blame though? The X Factor? ITV? or the people who watch the programme, giving it the ratings and ultimately condoning its behaviour????
Hannah said,
October 5, 2008 @ 12:07 pm
Too right.
I will be taking my protest one step further than just not watching x factor though, i shall be turning the TV off on a saturday night.
To be honest it only depresses me anyway, all those people declaring to the nation how ‘this is everything to me’ and ‘i’m doing this so that my family and i can have a better life’….Do these people truely believe that the insanity of stardom will do that? Maybe what they actually mean is that being famous will allow them to buy all those useless things that they’ve always wanted but simply do not need – now or ever.
X factor seems to be the ultimate in promoting consumerism to the masses. I do not want to be one of those people.
I think your comment that “What the X Factor demonstrates is that green issues aren’t mainstream enough yet,” is spot on. Sad, but spot on.
Rob Patrick said,
October 4, 2009 @ 11:38 am
How about each of the judges having a separate house in a different country Simon in Los Angeles, Cheryl in Marrakech, Louis in Italy and Dannii in Dubai) in the later stages of the contest. Totally excessive!!
Say NO to Winter Blues! - Live moves pretty fast - Blogs - Brand Republic said,
December 14, 2009 @ 9:03 am
[...] of the more heel dragging, polluting-go-lucky countries around the negotiating table in Copenhagen, X Factor's hairspray and pyrotechnic budget alone has a greater carbon footprint than China, and that's before Simon Cowell helicopter's factored [...]