lauren caitlin upton: an alternative hypothesis

[king_mob]

By now, I imagine everybody has seen Miss South Carolina pontificate on geographical ignorance; if you have not, I reproduce the video and transcript below for your convenience.

Comments

[boundfate]

O.k., having done a few competitions before I can say that reading that transcript it isn't the transcript of someone who is dumb or uneducated. That is the transcript of someone who is nervous and scared and messes up one word in the initial sentence (I'm guessing she meant to say citizen instead of American) and then panics. Her coaches should have done a better job of teaching her to stop, breath, and restart. But having been in the position where I had 1 minute to tell a group of people judging me what kitchen appliance most resembled me and relate that to being a good leader on the spot and oh this is the question that makes us decide if you get to serve in this position you want or not - it is easy to flub.

[king_mob]

I just dunno. She doesn't look panicked, she looks like she thinks she aced it, you know?

Maybe that's the pageant coaching showing.

[boundfate]

It is exactly that. You are coached in any contest to look confident and calm in any situation. She had probably had nerves at 150% the whole evening and the smile and body language are permanently glued in place until after it is all over. And I guarantee that her coaches emphasized body movement and facial expression.

We should play balderdash sometime, and I'll show you what public speaking competitions can do to the ability to completely BS your way through anything without reacting. I'm really rusty but some things you don't unlearn once you turn them on.

[p0cketsize]

Theater and speech/debate teams do the same thing. That's why I'm so good at lying! :p

[littlenothing]

1. Are you feeling ok I've not seen this much lj action from your corner before...

2. This explanation also serves to explain the Republican Party for the most part.

3. Seriously though, I hear her trainers or coaches or whatever told her to answer patriotically and she'd be a shoe in...that was the end result.

[king_mob]

I just decided to start posting again, you know?

[p0cketsize]

How the f*ck would you answer that damn question? At least she tried. I won't have even gotten that far! I really think she was just really nervous and didn't exactly know how to answer it. I kinda feel sorry for her. I've never been in a pageant but having some similar situations, I could see the panic.

[midnighter]

I pity her too, but not for the same reasons.

Sure, she freaked out. And I'm sure if they trolled a bit on the footage, you'd find flubs for nearly every other hopeful in the same contest.

But I also thought these pageant baby types were practically propped and primped to the point where thinking and panicking is shelved somewhere down there in the bottom with 'appetite' and 'non-judgmental friendship.'

I feel sorry for her from the viewpoint that her being scared or nervous might be in reality the only moments of real human reaction we're getting from her, and instead we're calling them things to laugh at her for. Not the rest of the pageantry nightmare she was already engaging in.

Nobody has ever seen televised sponsored footage of the "Miss Teen Proust Quotation" pageants. I'd like to see an event where they let the biggest fuck-ups win if they REALLY want to show people something to admire and accept as a great and typical example of human experience.

[midnighter]

His thinking gear wound down, but his speech is still going!

[teleen]

Like she was being judged by her brains... Let's face it, every one of these girls probably looks down on strippers and yet they are treated (and act) in a far more degrading fashion than most strippers would.

Let's just hope she doesn't breed.

[midnighter]

At least not until I have a chance to discuss with the good Doctor whether or not we can find a qualified superior-breeding stock male counterpart to join her in the bunker.