In Defense Of Susan Boyle, Or At Least The Susan Boyle Phenomenon
The obvious and inevitable Susan Boyle backlash has begun. Duh. Last Thursday, Michael Musto at the Village Voice wrote in protest of the heavy theatricality of the supposedly inspiring moment:
First off, Boyle--if that's even really her name--was obviously drabbed down for effect, so you'd think she was some crazy woman off the street. The dialogue before her song came off completely calculated too, with her even stumbling for a second to cement the idea that she's a bit daft and totally amateur. And the judges all assumed this "Give me a break" stance--with seemingly rehearsed audience reaction shots thrown in--all to stack the deck against saucy Susan.And then she sang her Les Miz dirge and the judges, every bit as rehearsed as before, lit up with predictable shock and glee, as I started to suspect this woman is a pro with a lot of theater credentials, probably sent down by Central Casting.
Sure. I mean, I don't know about the "pro" stuff. It doesn't seem hard to believe that someone with a theater-grade voice has been undiscovered by the world. There's a pretty big stack of cat ladies you have to dig through to get to the opera needle (if only there were a reality show about coming up with perfect metaphors!) But I will totally accept the obviousness of television's manipulation of the viewing experience to elicit a specific emotional reaction, and those manipulations being clearly and heavily in play here.
The same day as the Musto piece, Kyle Buchanan over at Movieline wrote a similarly a-ha post in which he criticized the moment's disingenuousness, claimed to be at his "breaking point" with the whole thing, and even criticized Boyle's perceived humility:
I'm over it, d00dz. I am an asshole, but I'm over it. Actually, you know what I'm most over? This weird prizing of humility in people aspiring to be huge music stars. The same thing goes for American Idol, where contestants like Melinda Doolittle and Taylor Hicks are rewarded for their seeming lack of narcissism, while message boards churn with antipathy toward aspirants who are perceived as "too arrogant." Yes, because that's what we hate in music: arrogance. We certainly would not like to reward that boundless self-confidence in people like Kanye West, Madonna, Mick Jagger, every rapper everywhere, and Howlin' Pelle Almqvist from The Hives (I'm just sneaking that one in because I love him). Oh wait, we do, because we actually want our rock stars to be full of themselves. That's what makes them fun and larger than life and able to command a stadium full of people.
Again, I get it. Buchanan's complaint is one that could easily be leveled against American Idol, and the entire industry of supposedly meritocratic reality TV in which your ability to work well with others and win over audiences with your down-to-Earthness is incorrectly valued as heavily as your actual ability to perform.
But here is the thing: what is everyone even talking about?
The Susan Boyle thing is definitely popular because the editing staff at Britain's Got Talent did a really great job of making it seem like she was a crazy, dowdy loser who was secretly a talent goldmine (i.e. living the dream), but that narrative is all over the place. Not just in reality TV, either. If you get rid of the 47-year-old Scottish virgin, Susan Boyle is basically Spider-Man. Moreover, I don't think the Susan Boyle phenomenon has anything to do with surprise that someone who seems frumpy or unattractive (because let us be honest, she is very frumpy, and very unattractive) could be good at singing (or anything else for that matter). I think it has to do with reversing expectations, and we all need to have our expectations reversed once in awhile. The expectation here, again, is not that you need to be beautiful to sound beautiful, or some nonsense, but that a TV show that is designed to use human beings as so much soul-crushing ego-destroying schadenfreude fodder could actually produce the opposite effect. That is the reversal here.
And you know what else? She's not taking time away from the classic model of TV as dehumanizing mockery! We still have plenty of room to insult and pity and deride the rest of the people we watch every night. Did you hear about Luann DeLesseps getting divorced? LOL, right? Fuck her pain. She's an asshole! See what I mean? MULTI-TASKING.
As far as being frustrated that people are "falling for" this, that's a completely separate issue. Here at Videogum, we still get emails on a regular basis from people trying to get on the shows we write about. Because they still don't understand the difference between a (somewhat) humorous pop culture blog and an actual television production company. There's lots of people out there who don't "get it." Take it up with your local school board. And the media going crazy over something insignificant is just what the media does. Would you ask the sun to stop blowing things out of proportion? Would you ask the rain to stop losing perspective on what's important? So for now, let's just enjoy that there's someone in the world who's "happy" and "achieving their dreams." Even if it's fake! Lord knows, some kind of depressing Heidi Montag driven publicity steamroller of despair will pave over our collective enthusiasm soon enough.
Posted by Gabe at 4:30 PM in Backlashes
Tags: Britain's Got Talent | Susan Boyle
It's really too bad that this whole kerfuffle (?) occurred too late for the Pulitzers. Celebrity journalism been had robbed!
Score = 2
A big part of being a cynical jerk is being the FIRST cynical jerk about anything. I bet Musto was the first kid on the jungle gym to say "Bambi? Deer can't talk, you dolt. And forest fires are healthy for the ecosystem anyway, under the right circumstances."
It's as edgy and smart as a raincloud at your fantasy beach. Because average people don't need anything that'll make them a bit happier these days.
Score = 28
i always suspected gabe had an actual, functioning heart. well done, sir.
Score = 24
I think the ridiculous part of the Susan Boyle appearance is the response from news outlets. I believe the NYTimes article called her an "unlikely singer" in the headline. Unlikely model, maybe, but what's the supposition for that? Ugly people do not have talent.
Score = 23
i think maybe you're projecting a little bit with your whole "it's not surprising because she's ugly!" thing. maybe it's not surprising to YOU, but i'm pretty sure that was exactly why there was expressed surprise (real or contrived) on the show. ugly women aren't really supposed to be good at anything other than being bitchy and eating the last doughnut.
Score = 7
Gabe FTW.
Score = -1
Badly adapted Memoirs of a Geisha metaphors are the best.
Score = 2
Someone made this video about the Susan Boyle phenomenon. Makes a good point, don't you think?
http://www.gotchamediablog.com/2009/04/susan-boyle-unlikely-star.html
Score = -2
Gabe, I could not fuckin agree more. It's fuckin' TV, of course they're going to dress it up! What's the big damn deal that the editing team did a good job of packaging and delivering a story? We don't wanna see some shit that looks like it was filled by amateurs. Reality tv is--technically, despite the shit ton of shit we get mostly--supposed to be a distillation of every day events into a form that provides entertainment, surprise, etc. WHO THE FUCK CARES if someone behind this new she was good? Does the fact that she killllllled it get cheapened? No? Good. Fuck all you haters. People are just pissed because they're better looking, don't have shit talent, and just have a blog to rant on.
Goddamn it people can suck.
Score = 13
You are very eloquent sometimes.
Score = 9
Hey, I was wondering if you guys are currently accepting resumes for the position of "Kramer" from Seinfeld.
A response would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time.
Score = 29
I'm getting tired of everyone thinking they're really deep when they talk about how this one frumpy shut in is a revelation to all of society because she shows that our expectations are for only attractive people to be good at singing. Most of us can think. The second they showed her face and had the goofy music you could tell where the narrative was going. If you think her talent was unexpected then you are shallow, and you're projecting it on to everyone else. Just because someone's sad aunt can sing show tunes doesn't mean we should all get really introspective.
Score = -14
Actually, there are dozens and dozens of videos where the reality-show contestants look frumpy, have goofy music, and then turn out to ... surprise! ... be really awful. I think that's far more the convention than goofy-looking people who turn out to be talented.
Score = 10
Talk about theatricality: "First off, Boyle--IF THAT"S REALLY EVEN HER NAME..."
I'm just gonna go ahead and change my bookmark for this site from Videogum to Schadenfreudegum.
Score = 5
Yeah, that was just fucking stupid.
Score = 3
Hey Gabe, marry me, kthx.
Score = -5
A cynical and stupid article. I am inspired by Susan's unequivocal success despite whatever roadblocks she has endured over the years. If you glory in spitting on it and trying to tear it down, that says something about you, not about her or our delight in her achievement.
Score = 2
Unless you want to "die young and leave a good-lookin' corpse," you, too, will look unattractive and frumpy someday. But Susan Boyle's voice will carry her to heaven. God Bless.
Score = 1
For chrissakes, you people are the ugly, unattractive ones! Not to mention petty and jealous over someone's success. Susan Boyle is a down-to-earth, decent lady that was brave enough to take a shot at changing her stars in life. And she has the talent to back it. She is normal looking - not unattractive at all. And you're all going to be there sooner or later - and then you die. That's life creepers, so stop being so ugly and give props to somebody doing something good in this messed up world. Go Susan - you rock!
Score = 1
Yeah, seriously. Michael Musto's the biggest whiny unpleasant douchebag there is. Of COURSE he's going to pooh all over the Susan Boyle love. Fuck him.
Score = 0