All right... This entry will probably be a little different from any so far. Today was pretty calm, but I was just exposed to something that really got me worked up, and I felt I should write about it to get it out of my system before I go to bed.
During my conversation with my mother when she got home from work, Mom told me about this story she saw on the news, and I was intrigued. She just told me to look up this woman's name (Susan Boyle) online and I'd find what she was talking about. So I did as she said and found a clip from "Britain's Got Talent."
So this woman comes out and introduces herself as Susan Boyle, aged 47. This woman is not what most would call physically attractive (even my mother compared her to the bowing lady toward the end of "The Sound of Music"). This woman says she dreams of being a professional singer. The audience snickers and gapes at her with disgust and disapproval. Even the judges give her some pretty ugly looks when she reveals her age and ambitions. The woman hasn't even performed yet, and my heart is just aching at the theater's response to her presence.
Finally, after this dismaying prologue, Ms. Boyle begins to sing. It's "I Dreamed a Dream" from "Les Miserables," and it is absolutely beautiful. As she sings, they show the audience. Jaws are on the floor. She gets a standing ovation after the first few bars. Spontaneous applause erupts throughout the whole song. The audience can't help but get involved, so moving and unexpected is this performance. And as she finished the last heartwrenching notes, tears were streaming down my face as I sat in front of my computer screen.
Now I'm sure the editors of the show have been careful to manipulate me into feeling this way, but this knowledge does not undo the fact that I felt so emotionally invested in this act. This woman has touched my soul, and there's nothing I can do about it. And I thought to myself, "this woman has done such a brave thing in getting up there and doing this."
And then I thought about it. Why should she have to be braver than anyone else? It takes a lot of courage to get up and sing in front of thousands of people (plus countless home viewers) no matter how old you are or what you look like, and we love to encourage performers to do well. And yet this audience seemed to be against this lady from the moment she walked out onstage! Why? Because she wasn't young or young-looking. She wasn't made up all fancy. Her clothes were nothing flashy. She wasn't skinny. She wasn't glamorous. Why should these things matter in a talent competition?
I don't think they should. I'm watching "Britain's Got Talent," not "Britain's Got Hotties." I guess the judges' reactions support my feelings, because all three (even Simon) each gave Susan Boyle a resounding "YES." I just think it's sad that we had to be surprised into realizing that someone who is over 40 and isn't Madonna can actually be a talented performer. I am also reminded of Julia Child, who revolutionized the way our nation thinks about cooking, despite her ungainly personage and unusual way of speaking.
I think every human being has something to offer this world, and we do ourselves a great disservice by focusing only on judging appearances and knocking other people down. Let's do ourselves and the world a huge favor and not do that anymore! And as for Susan Boyle, let's not kill the dream she dreams.
Whew, glad I got that off my chest... Goodnight world!
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That's a very pretty video. I've watched it carefully several times, and I think there's a bit more stage-management to it than you've realized.
ReplyDeleteFirst, the camera-panning catches of significant facial expressions is simply too good, too apropos, to be serendipity. The judges remarks are too well thought-out to be spontaneous; most of them indicate that a bit of time has passed for reflection and word-smithing. The cameraman on the flying boom was ready to make his zoom-in pass when Boyle hit her high note--again, indicating that a degree of advance preparation had occurred. Likewise, the fellows off the stage left had been prepped with several smart remarks and had a camera backstage ready to speak them to.
Oh, there's more. But that's enough, I think, to convince most people that Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden were falsely pretending to be surprised after Boyle finished singing, and that Simon Cowell was telling the plain truth when he said that he knew Boyle's singing would be extraordinary when she walked out on stage. Cowell probably intended that his statement would be DISBELIEVED, but it was, I think, true nonetheless.
What I think happened is this. Susan Boyle probably made an earlier appearance at some sort of talent contest and was scouted by someone from Britain's Got Talent. She was given an audition off-camera and then invited to sing on the TV show. The audience was salted with people who had been to acting school and knew how to make facial expressions of the sort people have when making snide or catty remarks, or alternatively when to look "surprised" or "ecstatic." I think that the real stage in the video is the ENTIRE AUDITORIUM. Susan Boyle might have been the diamond in the ring, but she wasn't the whole piece of JEWelry there.
Still, all-in-all, the production was a worthwhile piece of art, and it achieves its lesser purpose of making viewers feel good. It also carries out a deeper purpose of providing a moral object lesson in the vein of "Never Judge A Book By Its Cover." And, if I might presume, there is yet a third and yet deeper purpose that has to do with a very hidden tiger flexing its propaganda claws, just to stay in form.
The video itself was harmless. But consider what this level of illusion-making talent could do if it chose to be mischievous or, dare I say it, even criminal. It could, for example, predetermine the outcome of political elections by making one candidate look heroic or visionary, while, subtly and unjustly, leaving a faintly tainted odor on the other candidate. Beware! Learn ALL the lessons that this video has to teach, not the pretty ones only.
Yes, all of that is very valid. I agree with just about everything you have said. And I do sense the manipulation involved. But yeah, am still fond of the "book/cover" lesson in general.
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