At my first glance of Susan Boyle when watching the clip Britain’s Got Talent, I imagined her being part of the ‘just for laughs category.’ The part of the show where people are shown to be gibed so viewers can have a good laugh, and not because the participant has talent. When Susan Boyle walked on to the stage the reactions of the audience and judges showed that they thought listening to her would be a waste of time, and would be a pain on the ears. They thought they were up for a laugh, because Susan Boyle is not the most attractive girl in the world, and being 47 years old, she is not the youngest either. However, the moment she opened her mouth and sang the words “I dreamed a dream,” everyone, including myself, was blown away. The audience jumped to their feet applauding when the song had only just begun, the mockery on the judges faces turned into shock and amazement. All my criticizing of Susan Boyle was replaced with a magical feeling. At that moment it did not matter that Susan Boyle was old and unattractive, her voice was beautiful, breath taking, and inspirational.
Watching this video clip opened my eyes to see the inner beauty of Susan Boyle. Hearing her sing allowed me to see past her imperfections and flaws. It made me realize that one cannot be judged by appearance, because looks do not show people’s true identity. The identity that is based on actions and deeds, and not the superficial outer appearance. Our true appearance, which shows the special talent inside all of us, that makes us, different, unique, and beautiful. Through seeing the audience and judges reactions I believe they have learned the same thing. In the beginning the audience and judges already predicted Susan Boyle would be a lousy singer because of her appearance. You could see this through the audience laughter, whistling, and disapproving looks. Even the judges, who are meant to give everyone an equal chance seemed to be biased against her, which was shown by the way they looked and talked to her.
However, once everyone had heard her sing, they were praising her with smiles, giving her a standing ovation and endless compliments. All the assumptions they have made in the beginning had been proven wrong. This is because society has taught us to base our judgments on looks. Endless fashion magazines and television shows have taught us to judge people by their appearance. They have made us believe that everyone should be gorgeous and skinny when the truth is, majority of the population do not meet these standards. Which is why the Susan Boyle and Paul Potts video is so popular and successful. People would rather see regular people, real people, do extraordinary things. Susan Boyle and Paul Potts are idols for they are people everyone can relate too. They are not people who have walked out of the pages in a magazine, and are perfect in everything. They are the people you walk by on the streets, with a special gift that no one expected.
Honey, I believe dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29NgBfM8hKo
2 comments:
Great comments related to how Susan Boyle and Paul Potts show us the truth and beauty that is far more important than skin-deep first impressions.
I love your concluding sentence. You continue to have powerful ways to put words together. It is nice to see recent postings.
I still love your title -- what a great image with your play on oxymorons.
I so agree with you about the importance of looking for the'soul' in people rather than judging by the superficial, the possessions,the brands,the size or age. I too was blown away both Susan Boyle and Paul Pott's voices, their aspirations and humility.I believe this has been watched so often because we all love to dream, we all champion the underdog orlove to see the impossible made possible. Thoughtful comments!
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