Susan Boyle, cont'd
Apr. 19th, 2009 07:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rhuIt's easier to respond in a fresh posting to the various comments that my earlier posting garnered.
The point I tried (and failed) to make earlier is that the overwhelming majority of the links and other references that I've seen have basically been of the form "She looks like she can't sing, but watch her knock everyone's socks off."
She certainly does have an impressive voice (I have now listened to her version of "Cry Me a River"), far better than mine, but it seems clear to me that what's motivating the internet buzz is a combination of the "she doesn't look the part --- but surprise!" and the "watch Simon Cowell get what's coming to him."
I appreciate the schadenfreude of the latter, even if I doubt its authenticity. In reading past press coverage of Cowell, I got the distinct impression that his persona as the judge everyone loves to hate is an act; he knows that he is the designated villain on these shows and he plays into that. He also pretty well knows in advance what he's going to see.
So what my discomfort boils down to is the first part of the internet buzz. Many (not all, but many) of the links I saw seemed to hold Susan Boyle up as the counterexample that reinforces the underlying stereotype. They weren't links to "Hey, here's an amazing performance from 'Britain's Got Talent'!" -- they were variations on "Lookee! A middle-aged, overweight, unattractive woman surprises people by excelling!"
And that's what got me seeing red.
The point I tried (and failed) to make earlier is that the overwhelming majority of the links and other references that I've seen have basically been of the form "She looks like she can't sing, but watch her knock everyone's socks off."
She certainly does have an impressive voice (I have now listened to her version of "Cry Me a River"), far better than mine, but it seems clear to me that what's motivating the internet buzz is a combination of the "she doesn't look the part --- but surprise!" and the "watch Simon Cowell get what's coming to him."
I appreciate the schadenfreude of the latter, even if I doubt its authenticity. In reading past press coverage of Cowell, I got the distinct impression that his persona as the judge everyone loves to hate is an act; he knows that he is the designated villain on these shows and he plays into that. He also pretty well knows in advance what he's going to see.
So what my discomfort boils down to is the first part of the internet buzz. Many (not all, but many) of the links I saw seemed to hold Susan Boyle up as the counterexample that reinforces the underlying stereotype. They weren't links to "Hey, here's an amazing performance from 'Britain's Got Talent'!" -- they were variations on "Lookee! A middle-aged, overweight, unattractive woman surprises people by excelling!"
And that's what got me seeing red.