I feel like I may have been the last person on earth to watch the video of 47-year-old Brit Susan Boyle taking all the "Britain's Got Talent" folks by surprise with her beautiful voice. This morning, nearly 40 million people have seen the clip on YouTube. So what gives? Why is this striking such a global chord?
Well, from a feminist perspective, there are some really compelling explanations. First of all, Susan Boyle defies just about every one of the "ideal beauty" standards that have such a tight grip on the recording industry. She's not thin, she's not blonde, she's not manicured, she's not young. The fact that she's white may be the only way in which her physicality conforms to stereotypical definitions of Western beauty. Her reception when she walked out on stage was such an exquisite example of the way in which we, as a society, vilify overweight people--projecting all sorts of negative assumptions on them because of their perceived weight. The audience members' faces said it all--"She's overweight and ugly, so she must not be talented."
As I write about in my book, psychologists have a concept called "the halo effect"--essentially that we often project unrelated and unearned attributes to people based on their beauty. We see a hot women on the street, for example, and automatically assume she has a great, easy life, a loving partner, a successful career--all because her hair is shiny and straight and she wears a size two! The reverse effect is ever-present these days; when a woman is overweight or doesn't fit the conventional standard of beauty in some other way, we assume all sorts of completely unrelated thing about her--she's lazy, unhappy, untalented, unloved.
Susan Boyle brings all those ugly thoughts to the surface and then highlights their absolute ridiculousness with her gorgeous singing voice.
But that, my friends, is not really why this video is being forwarded like nobody's business. I don't think the majority of us are really willing to look at the ugly scripts in our heads, the fat discrimination, the self-hate (oh so relate to our merciless judgment of others). Instead, I think Susan Boyle represents a certain kind of surprise that we are desperate for in this time of economic recession. The typical power brokers have been revealed in their corruptness and brutality and now we want the little guy/lady to succeed, to have her day in the sun, to indicate for all the rest of us, that we, too, can still dream.
I wish Susan Boyle's explosion on the global scene would make people less brutal in their physical critiques. I'm not optimistic. You?
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The flip side of this coin is the coverage of the Craigslist killer. "How could an attractive, educated white guy be a killer?"
I don't know why people are so shocked by that guy. Look at Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer. They were both crazy, blood-thirsty notorious serial killers, yet they were "handsome," white, middle class and blonde...! If you study serial killers, there's a pattern here and there.
Beware. Nobody is what they appear to be.
I think my grandfather said it best when he said "People are no damn good".
People are superficial; always have been and always will be. I don't mean to sound self-righteous or anything, but I didn't really understand what was so funny about her looks. Someone sent the clip to my mom and that's when I saw the clip. When she walked out on stage and people started laughing and all that, I was kind of confused. Why are they laughing? The answer should have been obvious but, like I said, I didn't see her as a joke or anything. If anything she comes across as kind-hearted to me.
god, I felt so bad for her and I was angry at all those assholes in the audience. I was thrilled when she sang. Bastards! She showed them wrong and it felt GREAT.
I'm so glad to read this post. I have been arguing with friends about this, who seem to think that people really are just amazed by her talent. That clearly isn't what is going on here, which is just plain ignorant and hurtful. Thanks for this post!
I think you are right on this. I think she has more in common with the flight that landed in the Hudson River and the response that got. People were so overwhelmed with joy that everyone survived, because right now, nothing is going right. And Susan Boyle, instead of being savaged, "survived" being on a show that is designed to gut people who dare to perform. Just like we know the script for a plane crash (everyone dies), we know the script for those types of shows- if you don't look right, you are there to be humiliated. She was, indeed, a little surprising good news in a time without much good news.
I think it also has to do with the song she sang. "I dreamed a dream" is already an incredible message, it brings me to tears 1 out of 4 times I hear it.
Aside from that, I think it also seems a song fitting for her, she's middle aged, and she mentions how she's never been kissed in her introduction. Besides showcasing her phenomenal voice, I also wonder if choosing that song was strategic, because I found it very powerful.
I think her personality seems so to challenge what we'd assume of her: she's unemployed, 'single', confident, goofy and nervous but not afraid. She's not insecure, which I noted the first time I watched it. I thought that she had one of those inner beauties and I think that is unnerving for a lot of people.
no, I disagree. the MEDIA thinks she's a sensation, that her personality is challenged. the MEDIA is so shallow and superficial. the MEDIA is run by elitists who live in New York City and Los Angeles, who are out of touch with reality, with real life. Of course THEY are making a big deal out of Susan Boyle.
Come to my neighborhood in the midwest and nobody will think Susan Boyle is a sensation. she's one of us, a normal American woman who happens to be talented. We're all rooting for her because she happens to be REAL. Nobody is un-nerved by her-- only the elitist, stuck up, superficial MEDIA is.
oops, a BRITISH woman. But she's just like any average American in my neighborhood, that is.
I think thats a great point! In 'real life', this would not surprise me. Most everyone you know has a special talent that you may or may not know about...and most everyone looks a lot different from the perfect ideal of beauty. So in my personal life this might not be surprising, but it was surprising on Britain's Got Talent. Perhaps because she dared put herself out there when she knew she didn't fit the ideal of beauty?
Or perhaps surprising because the SHOW put her out there, knowing how "young + hot" sells / dominates the market. She seems totally aware of her talent and doesn't seem to care about appearance. I'm more surprised that they gave her a shot, but then that's part of their marketing appeal, too.
It was so discomforting to watch this video (like so many of these talent/reality shows) precisely for this reason. While I was moved by the song, I was also really uncomfortable with the way in which Susan Boyle's talent was a "surprise" (because of her lack of conventional beauty) and it was that very surprise that made the show work on an emotional level, somehow. It didn't challenge the authority of the judges and the audience to pass judgment on her -- it just introduced a new (almost exotic??) sort of element to the narrative that gave them something to play off of.
And I'm not very familiar with how these shows work, but I assume they pre-screen their participants? So this whole "bait and switch" scenario was on some level orchestrated by the show's producers for precisely this effect, right?
All the contestants on these shows are pre-screened. The weed out the middle of the pack, then bring on the best and worst. The best are there to be talented, and the worst are there to be humiliated. It is like that on Idol and all the others, which is why I never watch those shows. So when she came on, everyone assumed she was one of the ones to be fed to the lions, gladiator-style. That is why it was such a surprise.
I agree with your discomfort. But I admit I did get teary when I listened.
Oh, yes. I didn't mean to imply she's not worth appreciating as a singer even in this context -- she has a beautiful voice and the song, even if it's been overplayed, is really a lovely ballad.
That's why it's so much easier for the audience to get into that stereotypical thinking pattern of pretty = good singer, ugly = bad singer. I watch a lot of American Idol, and almost all of the bad singers don't conform to Western beauty standards and/or dress eccentrically. Of course, a lot of them are up there to get on TV and gain exposure for their own careers in acting or comedy. And even though a huge part of me thinks a lot of the rejects are plants, I still fall into the trap of thinking that the "weird looking" people who audition are going to sound like crap.
It's actually really depressing looking at the evolution of the music video and live performance over the decades. Before the video really started wagging the dog of the music industry, you had performers like The Weather Girls, eight years later, Martha Wash was replaced on screen by a lip-synching model. And shortly after that, Carnie Wilson's figure became the subject of mockery on Saturday Night Live.
Not coincidentally, the same period saw increasing dependence of pop music on digital filters and pitch correction.
That Boyle has an excellent voice and skill shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who really listens to jazz, blues, gospel, classical performance, or any number of other musical genres that have not been subjected to the harsh filter of television and video.
And of course, there is a huge double-standard at work here. Male performers can get away with being "overweight" and middle age as long as they can still deliver the music.
Although, I'm a bit skeptical because this feels like a classic bait and switch. The reactions of the producers and Simon seem to be scripted, and I really doubt that selected performers don't receive hair, makeup and costuming. Perhaps I'm just a buzzkill, but the whole narrative of finding a diamond of a brilliant performer out of middle-class and middle-age mediocrity seems a bit too convenient. I don't think it's literally deceptive, rather that her presentation was manipulative.
"We see a hot women on the street, for example, and automatically assume she has a great, easy life, a loving partner, a successful career--all because her hair is shiny and straight and she wears a size two!"
-----------------
Uh, we do? Because when I see someone (male or female) who looks like they spend a lot of time in front of the mirror in the quest for physical perfection, I expect them to be shallow, self-centered, and vain, not a perfect human being. Of course, this is just as much of a broad stereotype as idealizing the person, but that's the assumption I jump to.
I think both sets of things about women who fit the physical stereotype "everyone" seems to be striving for these days -- that she probably has a great career and gorgeous family, that she's probably superficial and possibly vain, and I also suspect she's probably not happy. The more average a woman looks, the more I expect her to be average, and the farther away from the stereotype and odder a woman looks, the more I expect her to be interesting, hard working, and to have a strong sense of self. But I'm probably just as wrong as the next person about these things -- I'm still stereotyping, just with a somewhat different set of prejudices.
Maybe you don't think that way, but many people assume that attractive people are more likely to be intelligent or talented. The problem is that people don't even know when they do this, it just happens on a subconscious level.
The thing I found so interesting about this video is the commentary of the judges.
The first judge Piers: Speaks about how surprised he is and that is all he can talk about.
The second judge Amanda: The only judge who acknowledges, in the slightest, the preconceived notions that are held by herself and the others that were watching. Even then she doesn't really say that much except to point out once again that everyone was laughing at her.
The third judge Simon: He drove me nuts. He flat out refuses to acknowledge any of his preconceived notions not even noting that he was surprised. Furthermore he goes on to call her a tiger, whatever that is supposed to mean. He doesn't seem to react well at all to the fact that he cannot dismiss her with his infamous "x" factor (which I think amounts to having the ideal beauty) because she is really talented and no one would approve.
Just a few observations.
Well, not knowing the background of any of the judges other than Simon, he really shouldn't be surprised and probably wasn't. He's a producer, and I'll betcha 0.25 Euro that he employs professional studio musicians and singers who look pretty much just like Boyle.
Indeed. I've no doubt that the Simon Cowell we see on tv is a character, a persona he has created. And it's a very successful character. How much that character is based on the 'real', off-camera Simon, I don't know.
Nevertheless, I'll go you double-or-nothing that the reason Simon, just like most other producers, would employ professional studio musicians and singers who look pretty much just like Boyle as studio talent and not signed acts is because of their looks.
Yes, looks matter.
Yeah, but this is the same as with Paul Potts two years ago. People saw the overweight guy with bad teeth and were taken by surprise when he sang Opera.
The bigger problem for me is this: Will people still like her when she's been to the hairdresser's? When she's been to the fashion consultant? When her publicity has helped her to find a guy who will want to kiss her for the first time? When she actually no longer is the underdog after recording an album?
Because if they don't we know that this is really all about ourselves, and not really about her voice.
When I watch the clip, I don't watch any parts besides where she sings, and I still think she is sensational.
Unfortunately, if she couldn't sing her video would either be moderately circulated as an office joke, entitled something rude and sexist, or people wouldn't think twice about her. The sensation of, as Courtney said, a woman deemed unattractive and weird by conventional standards actually possessing TALENT is what is fueling this video. The shock value is enough. Yes, she's extremely talented, but so are a lot of people on the BGT and AGT shows. The difference is that the other people have the physical appearance to match the talent. Sad but true. But I do wish Susan Boyle well.
The fact that she's white may be the only way in which her physicality conforms to stereotypical definitions of Western beauty.
She doesn't have an obvious physical disability either.
One thing that's been particularly annoying to me about this whole deal is that, while I have to admit I agree she's not one of the most physically attractive people in the world, she seems to be considered so terribly *un*attractive by the public. She looks like any number of middle aged, kind-of-plain-but-very-pleasant-looking women I see out and about every day.
yeah, totally, man. She's real. unlike shallow, barf-inducing skinny pop singers with shiny, blonde hair and loads of make-up.
nice job insulting other women's bodies
god, what shameless hypocrisy
nice job insulting other women's bodies
god what shameless hypocrisy
Now wait. Just because she doesn't fit your stereotypical ideal about what a shallow person must look like (beautiful, unreal) doesn't mean she isn't shallow.
Fat, ugly people can hate fat, ugly people. I once had a morbidly obese friend who stunned me into silence by digressing into a 30 minute tirade about how disgustingly fat another girl was (she was smaller than us!).
Allow, for a moment, that Susan Boyle may be a wholly rounded human. She could be ugly, talented, and perhaps a bit eager for her 15 minutes of fame.
Not all marginalized people are defacto saints. Food for thought.
Beyond thinking about how we judge people and place expectations/stereotypes/etc on them based on their looks.....we should also be thinking about what this does to people.
If you don't fit the stereotypical definition of beauty, you are most definitely going to pick up on the social ques that are given to you. If you are told often enough that because of your looks, you probably aren't successful or talented or worthy, you will start believing it. Its inevitable that you internalize these feelings and let other people drag you down due to their judgement.
As a young child I knew I could sing better than anyone on the radio. I secretly dreamed of having a singing career. When I voiced these ideas to my loved ones, people immediately reacted with compassion. Compassion, because, as they would soon teach me, I could never "make it" and "didn't have what it takes." My voice is beautiful. I'm artistic and passionate. I have always been overweight.
I think casting this contestant is a narrative strategy employed by the American Idol production team.
If they wanted to, they could cut all the non-photogenic singers early, on and still have a roster of professional singers who are also conventionally attractive. The music industry does this all the time. They select for Beyonces, Rhiannas, Brittneys, etc.
Fantasia was another Idol contestant who wasn't traditionally pretty or feminine. Her style/look was rough, she was a single mom, and she wasn't particuarly advantaged growing up. She won and went all the way to Broadway.
I think the producers are well aware of the dynamic between beauty and talent and how it's typically used in Hollywood. I think they consciuosly operate against it. I don't know why, maybe to prove this point, maybe to garner ratings by being different, i.e. more authenticaly about talent, than those other talent shows.
Will people still like her when she's been to the hairdresser's? When she's been to the fashion consultant? When her publicity has helped her to find a guy who will want to kiss her for the first time? When she actually no longer is the underdog after recording an album?
I would say, probobly not. At least in the sense that she will be in the top 10. She will undoubtedly retain fans.
Here's why...
Assuming she wins, she'll get a makeover, she'll be told what to record (note that Alexandra[the X Factor winner] recorded Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' as her debut single, despite not even LIKING the song), she'll be marketed, in short, to top the charts.
Go look through any non-mainstream/non-commercial genre of music you care to, and you'll see people who conform to conventional beauty standards along with other who do not. It doesn't matter. Many bands and artists don't put pictures of themselves on the CD covers, many do not make videos, or make 'artsy' videos. Artists, both male and female gain fans and respect simply for the music that they make.
In terms of 'commercial' artists, which is where she will be pushed to, this is not true at all. This applies to both male and female artists. Whether it's Britney Spears or Peter Andre, a boy band or a girl band, looks are a central part of the package, and the scope is increasingly narrow. Even many of the 'alternative' bands in the mainstream arrived fully formed, preened and marketed to a certain audience.
She could reasonably hope for a career where she is outside of the mainstream, but, still sells a lot of CDs - she's certainly got the talent for it, but, shows like this, and all the other Pop Idol/X-Factor/Got Talent type shows do not cater for this.
i don't know--susan boyle's style really doesn't seem well-suited for britneydom anyway (for a lot of reasons, not least of which that britney isn't really marketed for her singing abilities). i see her as being successful recording standards and broadway covers, things that mostly middle-aged people buy. i'm picturing more a sarah brightman, il divo, michael buble, elaine paige appeal. not that looks don't matter in entertainment (particularly for women), even in this genre, but i think with a more polished look and subtle makeover she can do well in a certain, not-insignificant niche in the music market that is overall less looks-oriented than top 40 pop music aimed at those under 40.
like many others i found the video inspiring and i wish her well because she clearly has the talent.
Whatever happens to her hair, clothes, and makeup, I hope no one tries to make her diet. ugh, misery.
I cry buckets every time I watch it. The laughter of the "beautiful" people in the audience and the judges, the patronizing... and the fact that it is surprising when she begins singing.
But I do appreciate the female judge who says that she has experienced a huge awakening. I hope she follows through.
I didn't expect her to be good not because she was unattractive, but because she was goofy and unsophisticated. In reality television competitions, that spells disaster.
If we're going to discuss superficial snap judgments... I don't believe her weight, face or age really factored into my expectations. Her bushy eyebrows, wild hair and old fashioned dress did tell me that she didn't spend much time performing on stage which signaled she was, at best, an amateur.
I mean, we still have that fat opera diva in horned helmet stereotype, right? Fat and singing aren't antithetical in post people's minds. More than fat and "ugly," it was grooming and behavior that lowered people's expectations.
I was struck by the contrast between SB and many others who appear on 'reality shows' - not just because of her looks, but because of her attitude. She didn't seem entitled, egotistical or defensive. How many times have you seen contestants on American Idol or whatever who are 'hot' but have no talent, or are 'unconventional' and are there to prove a point - and get angry and defensive when they don't make the cut. Susan Boyle was so unassuming when she walked on the stage that it was a relief. She also wasn't even trying to look like anything other than herself! How many people would go on that show and assume an image to go with their performance? Often that is what is ridiculed. AND - I'll have to admit that I can't resist that song - I had goosebumps. When sung right that song is - whoah!
I still thought it was a great moment because it would force at least SOME of the viewers to question themselves and eat their own lies and hatred.
Although there was a double effect there -- if the viewers felt some shaudenfreude when she walked on stage at her supposed upcoming demise, I felt some shaudenfreude towards them at the fact that the performance was contrary to their expectations.
Personally, I stopped watching the first time I saw Simon Cowell give his "Well, I guess *I* was wrong!" look (though from what I've heard, he gave no verbal indication of this afterwards). I've always thought Simon to be a huckster of a middling order, and I smelled bullshit on this whole video from the first. It's edited to within an inch of its life, to give the indication that yes, you're supposed to feel like she'll flop. It's crude and cynical, and I don't believe for a second it's about teaching anything to the live or television-watching audience.
As for my opinion of Boyle herself, from the snippet I heard, she's got a solid voice, and her looks mean a grand total of fuck-all to me. I hope she'll go as far as she desires, in the exact way she desires.
I agree that the whole thing was very probably manufactured to create exactly the buzz it's getting now. Purely cynical.
k, i get that she doesn't conform to normative standards of beauty... but i don't see where the "overweight" comes in.
The problem with the Susan Boyle mania I've been seeing--I've seen a story about her and how wonderful she is on Good Morning America every day my co-workers watch it, and I've seen coverage of it on tons of blogs, etc.--is that so much of the reaction seems truly disingenuous. I hear/read people having these over-the-top reactions to how amazingly wonderful her voice is (and it seems pretty good to me, but I'm no expert), but there is always a subtext of "in spite of her appearance." Often, it's just stated overtly, not even as subtext--hell, the judge on the show kept talking about his surprise, and he didn't really have to mention what he found surprising, did he? Susan Boyle may well have a voice worthy of celebration, but it's unfathomable to think that this story would have become such front page news if not for the contrast of her voice with her appearance, which means that what this media-hype is really about is the allure of the freak-show, which is a disgusting exploitation of a woman based on her personal appearance. By which I in no way mean to imply that Boyle herself is any kind of "freak," but that the representation of this story in the media has created this circus-atmosphere around her based on her physical features in contrast to her talent. It's really not much different than the shameless way that American Idol paraded around William Hung a few years ago--other than the fact that Boyle actually has real singing ability--is it? I really don't want to even see this woman perform on TV again, because I don't think it's possible to watch her without sensing this creepy subtext around her as an event.
As johnny303 notes, there was a similar response to Paul Potts. It doesn't disprove your hypotheis in this instance, Courtney, but it is a point-for-point counter.
I thought that this was a really fascinating article on how the media may just be using a situation like this to further manipulate viewers and sustain their control over our expectations (and prejudices for that matter):
http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-literary-mind/200904/the-staging-susan-boyle
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103327782
I heard this on Talk of the Nation on NPR yesterday and I was horrified. It was a discussion about whether Susan Boyle should get a makeover in which the guest argued that yes, she should.
I think it is terrible that people are even discussing her appearance. She's a singer, not a model. I know beauty norms play a major role in our society, but can't we at least try to fight that? NPR, I'm pissed at you for producing this segment.
Came across this in allure's blog:
Today the Mirror reports that Boyle has indulged in a bit of tweaking since to all the attention. "I will need to sort out my dress sense and my weight. It wasn't until I saw myself on TV that I realized how frumpy I was," she said. "It doesn't worry me too much—but I will be doing a bit more exercise to help me sort it out."
:(
Here's my two cents.
Susan Boyle showed up the hypocrisy of many people with her voice. She showed us that we should be better people than we often are, and also that we should be less critical of others. What right do we have to tell her now that she has the means not to get a makeover if she wants to? Shouldn't free people living in a free society be able to make their own choices? If she wants to get a makeover that's fine by me. If she doesn't then that is fine as well. Her beauty is determined by her sauciness and her talent. Personally I fell in love with her when she said "I'm 47 and that's just one side of me!" Sauciness, grit, and personality are what a person should be valued for. As a society and a culture we need to be reminded from time to time that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. It is a person's personality that makes them beautiful as well as ugly. Kind, generous, forgiving people are beautiful. Mean, snarky, cutting, and cruel people are ugly. I think we loose sight of that from time to time.
I'm way late to the conversation, but my cousin reminded me of something - "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." If that is true, maybe it is WE (society) who are actually the ugly ones!
I don't know if the "beauty" standards will ever change. I'm African American, so if I held on to these Western concepts of beauty I'd spend the rest of my life hating myself. And I simply refuse to do that.
It's interesting however, that people forget that no matter how stunning and sexy a person is deemed, they STILL have to deal with the ups and downs of life. They have relationship issues, loss of family, career challenges and moments of doubt about their general self worth. They (might) simply have a constant cheering squad telling them how hot they are while they go through all of this.
Just my thoughts...
What impressed me most about Susan Boyle was not the video of her singing, which everyone has been watching, but an interview that was done with her afterward. In it she was asked if, now that she's a "star," she would change her appearance. She said she wouldn't change a thing. Fuck. Yes.
Britain's Got Talent is a merciless parade of point-and-laugh freakshowery. It makes me embarassed to be British. People in the audience were so mean to Susan Boyle. It was horrible to see their sneering faces, just waiting to boo her off (I don't watch the show, I saw Susan Boyle online). I think the main reason the audience was against her, though, was more to do with her personality - she came off as a bit odd, and the odd people who go on these shows are almost invariably deluded and talentless. But it was still great to see her show everyone how wrong they were about her.