Susan Boyle is not a freakshow

If you don't know who Susan Boyle is, YouTube her name. There are about a million videos of her singing on Britain's Got Talent.

I will not doubt that she has a beautiful voice. She really is wonderfully talented. She will probably go onto win, judging by the amount of publicity she is getting at the minute. A similar thing happened with Paul Potts two years ago. He became an "internet sensation" and ended up winning. I guess sites like YouTube are starting to really affect who people vote for on reality television shows like Britain's Got Talent.

Anyway, that is not the point of this post.

What I don't like is the fact that people are so surprised that she can sing. I just read a BBC news report about the fact that she's ugly but is still talented. It's been nearly two weeks since the original show aired but still people are talking about how amazing it is.

Let me tell you something, her voice is amazing, but it is not amazing that she can sing like that. For some reason, people have this idea that anyone who is ugly, cannot be a success. And when they are a success, it is a "sensation". My problem is that people are still talking about it as if she was a corpse that came back to life and started singing. She clearly is very talented. She is also clearly not the best looking person ever. The two things are not mutually exclusive. An ugly face does not pertain to ugly vocal chords.

When she walked out on stage, she was getting boo's and wolf-whistles already, before she'd even sung. I hate these people. There's a difference between judging a book by it's cover, and actively jeering a book because of it's cover.

Sometimes I feel that judging a book by it's cover is important. First appearances are vital in many aspects of life. However, to jeer and make fun of someone because of their appearance is ridiculous.

I read an article from The Guardian that said that this was a gender issue. The author of the article said this:

"Why are we so shocked when "ugly" women can do things, rather than sitting at home weeping and wishing they were somebody else? Men are allowed to be ugly and talented. Alan Sugar looks like a burst bag of flour. Gordon Ramsay has a dried-up riverbed for a face. Justin Lee Collins looks like Cousin It from The Addams Family. Graham Norton is a baboon in mascara. I could go on. But a woman has to have the bright, empty beauty of a toy - or get off the screen."

Right, I totally disagree. I don't think this was a gender issue at all. I think that if people saw an ugly man standing on stage, they too would make the presumption that they would not be talented. Look at Paul Potts for example. Alan Sugar and Gordon Ramsey are famous because they made a name for themselves outside of the entertainment industry. There simply is no connection between Susan Boyle and Alan Sugar. Do you really think that the producers of The Apprentice would decide not to have Alan Sugar as the main man because he's a bit ugly? He's a business man, who cares what he looks like.

I don't agree that Justin Lee Collins and Graham Norton are particularly ugly people. They are not on the same scale as Susan Boyle, to be honest. But again these are people who did not become famous in the first place for their appearance or even their personality on the screen. Both Justin Lee Collins and Graham Norton started off on radio. If you make a name for yourself on the radio, and people know that you are talented, it doesn't matter what you look like. People will hire you if you are popular and talented. Susan Boyle is both of those. There are plenty of ugly women who are famous. Just watch an episode of Loose Women.

So, my point is that I wish people would stop commenting on how surprised they were when she started singing. Ditch your presuppositions that ugly people (not just women) cannot do anything with themselves. Susan Boyle is wonderfully talented, and she will probably win the competition. Focus on her talent, not her face.

That's all for now, but I'm in a writing mood, I might post another blog before the day is out.

Ta-ra for now.
x