Susan Boyle

[kementari2]

Interesting post over at Toddled Dredge talking about Susan Boyle (from Britain's Got Talent) and standards of beauty.

When I think about Susan Boyle, I feel bad for her because she's surrounded by people and media saying it's such a shocker that from such a frumpy-looking person could come such beautiful singing, and how we're all too cynical, etc

Comments

[hulkingmanchild]

Something about this woman's situation reminded me of the movie "Nanny McPhee" ... McPhee is a homely woman with magical talents -- not unlike those of Mary Poppins -- who sheds her physical unattractiveness more with every lesson she successfully teaches the children until, at the end, she of course is revealed to have been a beautiful woman all along, both physically and in personality. It was the sour note of the otherwise-enjoyable movie, because it perpetuated that same stereotype: 'physical beauty is the hallmark of a worthwhile person.' It's nice that she was supposed to be the same person the whole time, but she became noticeably friendlier and happier when all the 'ugly' was stripped away, which really made her a different character. Ms. Boyle doesn't get physically prettier by singing beautifully, or doing good deeds, or just taking off her glasses and letting her hair down; in reality, physical beauty is entirely subjective to the observer and can never be truly universal. I should hope that someone saw Susan Boyle

[philipmaddox]

That's definitely an odd situation with her... on one hand, I do feel bad that she was the subject of such condescension. It really wasn't fair at all to her. On the other hand, she IS realizing her dream of being a famous singer. I just hope that she becomes more well known for her singing than for being "that ugly woman who it turns out can sing". I have no idea how fickle the TV viewing public can be (actually, I do know... they are VERY fickle), and I really do hope that she's remembered for her amazing singing talent (which is already how I think of her... as the woman from Britain's Got Talent who truly does have an amazing voice).

I am glad she's been heard, though, because she really is an extraordinary singer. The first time I saw her on that show, I had a thought I've never had about anyone on any sort of TV talent show before - "If this person releases an album, I will purchase it".