Like everyone else with an internet connection and a pulse, I bawled like I’d been snorting onion juice at the ultra-viral video of Susan Boyle surprising the judges and audience of Britain’s Got Talent. But with each callous description, with each wide-eyed commentary, I find myself growing more and more dismayed and angry.
First of all, consider the cynical manipulation of their viewers by the B.G.T. producers and editors. Following the undiscovered virtuoso of former snaggle-toothed cell phone salesman Paul Potts, the formula for success must have become crystal clear to the producers. “Unlikely” (read “ugly”) contestant possesses world-class talent, comes on show to jeers and guffaws, and proceeds to produce a stellar performance with accompanying standing O and “shocked” judges. We conveniently forget that everyone involved with the show knew exactly what to expect, the oft-irritable Simon Cowell included. It’s not as if they hadn’t heard her initially audition for the show – they can’t possibly drag everyone who shows up onto stage. And if you watch the banter and audience reaction preceding her performance, it’s clear that everyone is “in” on the “joke” except for Susan herself.
So, while the show led to her worldwide fame, it was ultimately at the initial cost of her dignity as a serious artist, and potentially at the cost of her long-term viability as having a serious career, once the inevitable backlash starts. There’s a cruelty and cynicism in the clip that betrays all of the “feel-good” status of her amazing rise. We’ve grown so accustomed to seeing slick, over-produced acts who have been groomed by stylists right down to their toenails that we apparently believe external features have something to do with one’s vocal chords or lungs. We’re used to multi-tracked vocals, pitch adjustments, and a hundred other digital enhancements. A singer’s qualifications for pop stardom, in other words, rely less on talent, hard work, and practice, and more on “image” and star-quality these days. (Interestingly, a fact that seems clearer in American Idol than in the other Cowell productions.) But it’s clear from even a cursory reading of Susan Boyle’s biography that she has been a singer for her entire adult life, singing in church choirs in her village, and even appearing on a recording ten years ago. This isn’t an overnight sensation, but someone who has plodded along as a working artist, studying with others when she could, holding her dream inside her for her 47 years. She hasn’t been singing in her shower, she’s been performing in public weekly, just like thousands of talented singers in churches and community productions everywhere.
The fact that anyone could be surprised once she opened her mouth says nothing about Susan or the quality of her talent, but speaks volumes about US. We all like to think we don’t judge by appearances, but this is about more than that even. Everything in Susan’s life works against who we “think” someone with her talent should be: looks, yes, but also age, weight, lifestyle, and even geography. Every article mentions that she has cats, every article comments on her mode of dress, and every article mentions that she’s “never been kissed”. These classifications build upon the stereotype of the “spinster-singleton-small-town-cat-lady” in order to increase the “surprise” that she manages to sing so beautifully.
How different the story would be, however, without the game show. Susan Boyle is a very good singer (from the 2 songs I’ve heard, anyway), but is she good enough to get discovered any other way but through a game show? Well maybe, if “getting discovered” was about talent anymore….it’s not. We tell ourselves that we live in a meritocracy, that having enough talent or enough drive is enough to get us through the magical doors of fame and fortune, but the gatekeepers no longer care about talent, or drive, or hard work: they care about marketability and profit. And Susan Boyle is marketable, but only based on our wicked assumptions that people we have collectively deemed “ugly” can’t possess world-class talents. After all, would you have forwarded her video as an “inspiration” had a stylist tweezed those bushy eyebrows and tarted her up a bit first? Be honest: would you?
And really, what IS “ugly”? The popular and quirky television show Ugly Betty would have us believe that America Ferrara, a stunning girl dressed up in goofily clashing outfits, braces, and glasses represents the tv version of “ugly”. But there’s the rub: modern beauty is as manufactured as Betty’s supposed ugliness is. Look to the plethora of makeover shows for your evidence of how simple it is to turn a hot mess into hotness. Anyone with enough money can be beautiful these days, it has little to do with genetic gifts or healthy living. Our ultimate shallowness and vapidity has eclipsed us, and found us lacking: few of us qualify to be “beautiful” by today’s standards, unless we’ve opted for plastic surgery or spend a large part of our budgets on makeup and hair products. Meanwhile, eating disorders in young girls have doubled since the 1960’s, 12.1 million Cosmetic Surgeries were performed in 2008, and the latest trend for 5-year old girls is mani / pedi parties in spas. Focus on appearance has obscured all other qualities a human may have. We buy the books based on the covers and don’t even crack the spine.
We all love rooting for the underdog, but I think we fail to see our own patterns in creating the very condition of underdog-ness. Our expectations and habits dictate what we listen to and whom we pay attention to. We’re all guilty of judging on first appearances and buying based on the packaging. Even in the art world, looks and youth play a part in what artists make it into the best galleries & museums, though neither should have anything to do with marketing artwork. With the monolithic entertainment culture that has grown up in America and spread like a viral video throughout the world, we only see talent that has already been manufactured for us, with little of the inherent creativity of the artist left to shine through. A band’s marketing and image sells them as much, if not more than, the music itself does, whether on a major label or an indy start-up. We rely on hype and PR instead of our own instincts and tastes, and only find underdogs after they’ve been discovered by someone else and groomed for our consumption AS underdogs. We’ve lost our sense of discovery.
So, I would like to issue a challenge, to anyone reading this. Go out and see the bands you’ve never heard of, buy art from local artists, go out and DISCOVER the talent in YOUR community instead of waiting for them to “get big” and then pretending you went to their early shows. Hunt out the underdogs in your own community and SUPPORT them. Every single community on this planet, large and small, urban or rural, has talented people in it. If you miss them while you’re gobbling up the latest Hollywood offering and downloading the next Billboard hit, then ultimately, the one missing out is you. Susan Boyles are all over: go forth and find them.
