Muldo

Everyone has heard Susan Boyle sing.  Heaps of praise were given to her after her “Britain’s Got Talent” performance, and deservedly so.  A homely, middle aged woman who’s never been kissed got tons of press coverage because it turns out that ugly people can sing too.  If Susan Boyle was good looking, would anyone care?

No, they wouldn’t.

The attention Boyle received says a lot about the media.  She entered her audition with the judges ready to write her off based on nothing more than her frumpy appearance.  That’s immature, high school-like behavior.  When she sang successfully, the media swarmed.  She got a bit of a makeover, plucked her eyebrows, and the clock for another average person’s 15 minutes of fame started ticking.

Why is it so surprising to everyone that an ugly person can sing?  Have there never been ugly singers before?  I’ve seen Mick Jagger, so I know that’s not true.  Are we conditioned to think that only aesthetically pleasing human beings can do something of note?  It’s like the popular kids in school taking one of the outcasts and pretending to accept them into their group so they can make themselves feel better.

The Boyle story sells to the masses of generally unattractive people in this country who enjoy seeing someone less physically appealing than them succeed.  The kind of people who eat pork rinds, listen to Toby Keith, and laugh at Larry the Cable Guy.

Count on Boyle losing some weight, getting some minor plastic surgery, and changing what made her fodder for the image obsessed media in the first place; her poor looks.

And, as has happened many times before, the media has already begun knocking her back down a peg.  The headline on CNN after her semi-final performance: “Boyle shaky during second performance.”

The day will come when the media will pour its pigs blood on Susan Boyle a la “Carrie.”  Hopefully she doesn’t murder everyone via telepathy.

Now THAT would be talent.

Tags: America's Got Talent, media, Susan Boyle