Überstar - The Book That Takes You Behind The Scenes of Idol - Alaine-Marshall

Überstar, the latest book by Australian author Vaughn Alaine-Marshall, slams the hit FOX program American Idol for intentionally legitimising teen-bullying. Alaine-Marshall’s book takes you behind-the-scenes of the world’s biggest reality-show, exposing its inner workings as told by former contestants, producers and insiders.

Teen-bullying is a problem in every schoolyard across America. Alaine-Marshall writes that American Idol reproduces the dynamics of bullying that children deal with every day. By making it family entertainment only legitimises the cruelty.

The U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention defines bullying‘as a real or perceived imbalance of power, with the more powerful child or group attacking those who are less powerful’. Verbal bullying (one of three categories) includes taunting, malicious teasing, name calling and making threats.

“American Idol is a franchise built on nastiness,” Alaine-Marshall states. “It thrives precisely because meanness is understood as the price for chasing your dreams. There is a price being paid in the schoolyards all over the world. American Idol and it spin-offs intentionally project cruelty with a public rationale that it is part-and-parcel of the entertainment industry.”

Bullying is a serious problem with long-term consequences. Children who have been victimized are much more likely to be depressed, anxious, withdrawn and distrustful, even in adulthood, and more likely to miss class and underperform in school. In 2008, researchers at Yale School of Medicine found signs of an apparent connection between bullying, being bullied and suicide in children. In 2003, nearly one in six of U.S. children in grades six to ten (3.2 million children) were targets of bullying. The impact of America’s most watched television show, along with the growing reported incidence of cyber-bullying, is of fast-growing concern for teachers and parents across America.

Alaine-Marshall says he wrote Überstar as a novel to give the reader a firsthand view of the people running American Idol. From high-flying executive producers to carnivorous publicists; he puts the show into perspective so to give readers an understanding of how contrived and unrealistic the reality format is. The winner is chosen before a single second of the show goes to air.

In an effort to tackle the some of the issues written about in Überstar Hendlin Books will donate $1 from every sale through www.uberstarthebook.com.au in the United States to Teen Life Line.

About the Author:

Vaughn Alaine-Marshall is a twenty-eight-year-old Doctor of Chiropractic who put a lucrative career in private practice after four-and-a-half days on hold to tell this story.