Why Veronica Mars Matters

Yesterday, I talked about the return of the Sing-Off. Today, I’m going to do something totally different…talk about the Sing-Off.

For years, my faith in the broadcast networks was shaky at best. I would fall in love with a new television show and then find out it was cancelled after three episodes. I’m the kind of person who can’t watch something if I know it never reaches a finite conclusion. (like Alphas or Pushing Daisies, both of which I stopped watching after hearing of their cancellation)

And like an obsessive fanboy, I get mad when these shows go off the air. I get mad enough to go on some crazy internet commenting spree, posting angry letters to the network on a website where I know no one will ever see them.

Such is the fate that befell the Sing-Off, and despite the a cappella community’s assurance that even getting the Sing-Off to television was a victory, it still felt like a loss.

The same story happened many years before the Sing-Off, to a wonderful show called Veronica Mars. I watched it because everyone raved about it. I fell in love with it, and it got cancelled, mainly due to the combination of two low-rated networks into the CW. (and the terrible ratings)

But as luck would have it, the Sing-Off has returned. And in an even more amazing twist of fate, Veronica Mars made entertainment history by funding a new movie project entirely on Kickstarter…They raised TWO MILLION dollars in ELEVEN HOURS.

It made me hopeful. It made me believe that despite our complete lack of control over which shows survive and which shows get cancelled, someone, somewhere, is looking out for us, and listening to the fans more than the powerful producers.

You’re probably wondering where all of this is going…I tend to draw parallels between the pop culture world and the a cappella community. I tend to let the real world events of today shape my philosophical views of a cappella music. I was stunned (STUNNED) to hear the Sing-Off was returning, but even more shocked (STUNNED…I mean…SHOCKED) to hear that Veronica Mars was making a triumphant return.

There will be people in this world who tell you that you can’t succeed in the a cappella world. There will be people who tell you that your a cappella group is not good enough to compete in the big leagues. There will be people who think they know more than you, because they have the experience and all you have is the dream.

They are wrong.

A dream is more powerful than twenty years of experience. Don’t misunderstand me…to achieve your dreams, you must work harder than you’ve ever worked in your life. You must study and practice. You must become a perfectionist. You must learn from those who already succeed. You must develop a higher order of thinking. You must become something more than average or ordinary. You must become extraordinary.

But what the return of the Sing-Off and the history making Veronica Mars Kickstarter campaign teaches us is…when the big boys told us we couldn’t have what we wanted, we proved them wrong. Even years after our dream was “killed,” we resurrected it.

This past week has showed us that no dream is ever truly dead, and if we want something bad enough, we can have it. That’s why Veronica Mars matters.

Oh…and it’s a darn good show. That helps too…

Marc Silverberg

Follow the Quest for the A cappella Major:
twitter.com/docacappella
acappellaquest.blogspot.com
docacappella.tumblr.com

http://www.casa.org/content/quest-cappella-major-why-veronica-mars-matters