Huffington Post: We Are All Susan Boyle

[LongTomH]

Yeah, I know people are already screaming about the number of Susan Boyle posts on DU; but this one is important. The article goes a long way toward explaining why we are so fascinated by Susan, and what this phenomenon says to all of us..

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/letty-cottin-pogrebin/why-susan-boyle-makes-us_b_187790.html

After she got her unanimous Yes votes from Simon, Amanda, and Piers, I typed "Ageism Be Damned" in the subject line of an email and sent the YouTube link to everyone on my Women's Issues list and within an hour, more than a dozen had written to tell me that it made them weep. Since then I've talked to other friends who've confessed to the same reaction. What are we all crying about? What is it about this woman that touches us so deeply?

<snip>

Then, too, we were weeping for the years of wasted talent, the career that wasn't, the time lost -- both for Susan Boyle and two generations of her putative fans. If someone with a voice like Julie Andrews' spent decades in a sea of frustration and obscurity, how many other women (and men) must be out there becalmed in the same boat? I believe we were crying for them and for whatever unrealized, yet-to-be-expressed talent may lie within ourselves.

But I'd wager that most of our joyful tears were fueled by the moral implicit in Susan's fairy-tale performance: "You can't tell a book by its cover." For such extraordinary artistry to emerge from a woman that plain-spoken, unglamorous, and unyoung was an intoxicating reminder of the wisdom in that corny old cliché. The three judges and virtually all those who watched Susan Boyle in the theater (and probably on YouTube as well) were initially blinded by entrenched stereotypes of age, class, gender, and Western beauty standards, until her book was opened and everyone saw what was inside.

I think we cried because her story appears to be en route to a happy ending, but also, perhaps, for all the books whose covers have never been cracked.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/letty-cottin-pogrebin/why-susan-boyle-makes-us_b_187790.html

How much beautiful music is still unheard? How many great poems, stories and books are unwritten - or have been written and lie unread in dusty drawers and shelves?

[DainBramaged]

1. Do you really think most of us give two shits through a rolling flaming donut?

[pnwmom]

4. Not you, obviously. But most of us, yes. n/t

[pacalo]

12. I'd like to see that!

You bring the axe, I'll bring the Bic lighter & kerosene...

We'll dismantle it, give it flames, & watch it roll for miles!

[Faygo Kid]

2. "we were weeping for the years of wasted talent, the career that wasn't"

Exactly.

I for one have enjoyed the week that was Susan Boyle.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. Yep

I know many many MANY very talented musicians and artists who are virtually unrecognized by the public in general, but whose works is on par, or even superior, to artists nationally recognized.

[alarimer]

17. Most of the music I like to listen to falls into that category.

I cannot stand this manufactured American Idol CRAP. And it is all crap. They are artificial from top to bottom. Maybe they can carry a tune better than some but mostly it is all superficial crap.

I have never seen American's Got Talent or the British version (except for this one performance) so I can't say if it is any less shallow than Idol.

[Karenina]

19. "Now life has killed the dream I dreamed..."

Damn, I've had myself a righteous cry fest since first hearing Susan. Tearing up during a good performance is SOP, but this was different. Then I read the lyrics and just. totally. lost. it. It's been cathartic and has stirred up a heap of my own middle-aged lady "issues."
I SO want her to get what she wants for herself out of this with an absolute minimum of the ca-ca-doo-doo I know so well.

GO AHEAD BGT, MANIPULATE ME WITH SUSAN. BUT YOU DAMN WELL BETTER MAKE SURE I GET MY FAIRY-TALE ENDING.

Nuff said.

Tante K.

[Cali_Democrat]

5. Personally, I'm always wary of things that make the masses go gaga

That's not to say that she doesn't have a wonderful voice, because she does.

I just think there's a whole lot more to this Susan Boyle thing than her voice. It's a combination of things that's making her into a super star of apparently epic proportions.

The producers of the show knew exactly what they were doing when they put her on stage.

Call me a cynic if you want, that's fine with me. I just consider myself cautious and wary of the corporations that attempt to make the masses go gaga for profit. Just think of all the records they will sell because of this Susan Boyle.

If the corporations and record companies are making the sheep go one way, I usually go the other.

[burning rain]

6. Not me.

I haven't decided who I'm going to be yet, but it's going to have to be someone barking mad, 'cause I need to go completely out of my mind to survive this latest media obsession.

[dorkulon]

7. Has our society actually degenerated to the level that we are shocked that ugly people have talent?

That's why I think this craze is so sad. There is nothing remarkable about this. Doesn't anyone remember the days before MTV?

[Deja Q]

8. Mama Cass was heckled by the press of her time too...

Oh, the hippies were NOT all as special as some made them out to be...

[Captain Hilts]

21. Ella Fitzgerald caught some of that crap, too.

And Katharine Hepburn - really.
And Eleanor Roosevelt - famously so.
Julia Child.
Barbara Streisand.

Crazy standards of appearance weigh so heavily on women. Ever compare the way women on the TV news look compared to the men?

[LongTomH]

9. Yes!

Answering your question: "Has our society actually degenerated to the level that we are shocked that ugly people have talent?" Yes!

If this phenomenon has any value, it will be in challenging our stupid stereotypes of class, age, physical beauty, etc.

[anigbrowl]

18. No it hasn't.

There are lots of ugly or not-conventionally beautiful people that are widely recognized as talented, right here in the USA. People who complain about how awful society is just like to feel superior about it.

A few random examples: Lyle Lovett. Tom Waits. Adele. Sure, it helps a lot to be young and pretty if you want to be a star of some kind, but that's genetics for you. I just don't pay very much attention to pop music and as a result it doesn't much bother me that much of it consists of the bland leading the bland. It's always been like that; there was lots of crap music in the 60s, 70s and 80s too.

[Reterr]

10. Barf.eom

[dipsydoodle]

11. Bo agrees

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6ixaXBWtyc

[BlooInBloo]

13. Susan Boyle.

[Uncle Joe]

14. Ich bin ein Susan Boyling teabags.

:toast:

[anigbrowl]

15. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Hey, I like her and her singing. I'm not so enthused about the multiple 'news' articles and online posts from people all claiming to know The Meaning of Susan. None of these articles are in the least important. the process goes like this:

"Damn...my column's due and I haven't done anything much to prepare for it yet. What's hot this week? (click, click, click) Oh, there's 2854 articles about that nice singing lady already, that's safe. Guess I'll just rewrite my experience of watching it on YouTube with the standard journalism-school cliches everyone expects of me.

Because that's what sells.

Man, I love those pithy one liners! It's so easy to sound insightful and serious while making a trivially obvious point. OK, I guess it won't win the Pulitzer...but if I surf on this lady's success for long enough, maybe my writing will touch someone's heart. And I, too, will make it. Hey - this self-reference is awesome, real Hunter S. Thompson stuff...I think I'll put it in the article!"

Susan Boyle is cool, but I'm not that impressed at all these hack writers projecting their unoriginal ideas onto her and trying to own the latest popular meme, because that's all these articles are about.

[elocs]

16. That there are many people who are also very talented does not nullify her moment in the spotlight.

I would hope that those who have undiscovered talent would be happy for Susan Boyle having her moment of success. I also hope that Susan Boyle has someone trusted to help watch out for her best interests because she seems to be a vulnerable person in regard to her newly found fame.

[DS1]

20. NO WE FUCKING AREN'T