Why Susan Boyle Inspires Us: A Story Like a Disney Movie

[phuketbound]

Why Susan Boyle inspires us: A story like 'a Disney movie'
By Maria Puente, USA TODAY

After a week of unabashed hysteria about Scottish chanteuse Susan Boyle, it's time to pause and ask: What's that all about?

A psychological boost for a world battered by economic calamity? A spiritual moment for millions in search of transcendence? Maybe it's about rooting for the underdog. Or maybe it's just a new reminder of an old truism: You can't judge a book by its cover.

"Susan Boyle is a Disney movie waiting to happen," says church worker Janelle Gregory, 34, of Olathe, Kan.

Boyle, for those who have been unconscious lately, is the middle-aged woman with frizzy hair who has been all over TV and computer screens for days, singing a Broadway show tune while millions wept and shouted and applauded wildly.
Ten days ago, Boyle — 47, unglamorous, unfashionable, unknown — faced down a sneering British audience and panel of judges on Britain's Got Talent, including the ever-sneery Simon Cowell.

Then, in an instant, she turned jeers to cheers with her rendition of one of the weepier numbers from Les Misérables. Almost as instantly, Boyle went viral: A clip on YouTube garnered millions of hits (almost 30 million so far, not counting millions more on thousands of other versions on YouTube).


"All of us reveled in the fact that even in our image-managed world, we could still have the tables turned on us," says Terry Christopher, 40, a computer developer in Phoenix.

For the English-speaking media, still breathless from covering the introduction of Bo the White House puppy, Boyle is cable catnip. Last week, she was on TV from early morning to late night, telling her Cinderella back story (youngest of nine, learning-disabled and bullied as a child, caretaker for her dying mother, never been kissed, singer in the choir, possessor of big dreams) to all who trekked in person or by satellite to her Scottish village outside Edinburgh.

The common refrain in comments about Boyle: I watched her over and over, and I cried and cried. "Every time I watched it, I felt emotional," says Julie Carrigan, 47, a mother of five in Hemet, Calif.

But why?
• It's the vindication. "When they were making fun of her, I was getting annoyed," Carrigan says. "And inside I'm thinking, 'I hope she blows them away.' I was so happy when she just let them have it."

• It's the surprise. "If you have expectations of someone, you need to be prepared to be surprised by them," says Paul Potts, the chunky former cellphone salesman who was the Susan Boyle of Britain's Got Talent in 2007 and has since sold millions of records as an opera-and-standards singer. His second album, Passione, arrives in the USA May 5. "It's part of human nature to make judgments based on first impressions, but sometimes we allow ourselves to be misguided by first impressions."

• It's the guilt. Why the surprise? There's no correlation between appearance and talent, says Scott Grantham, 35, a financial analyst in Atlanta. "If she didn't look the way she did, would there be the same reaction? I don't think so," he says. "We make snap judgments based on appearance, and when we see those judgments were premature, we overcompensate by going so far in the other direction."

• It's the shame. Boyle forced people to recognize how often they dismiss or ignore people because of their looks. "Is Susan Boyle ugly? Or are we?" asked essayist Tanya Gold in Britain's The Guardian.

• It's the psychology. "There's an emotional state called elevation, characterized by a warm, glowing feeling, that we get when someone transcends our expectations," says Lynn Johnson, a psychologist in Salt Lake City. Boyle is "an elevator — we want to believe in something higher, that there's meaning in life and that the ugly duckling can become the beautiful swan."

• It's the hope. "She has truly touched my heart and soul and lifted my spirits," says Anne Jolley of San Jose, who describes herself as 47, unemployed, frumpy and "disheartened, disenfranchised, disillusioned and dis-just-about-everything-else in these bleak times." The messages of Boyle, she says, are that "there is hope still in this world; that dreams really can come true; that cynical people can be turned around; that maybe my best years are not behind me after all."

• It's the distraction. With everything going on in the world, "our economy in the tank, my husband and I worried that we will lose our jobs — this was a feel-good/underdog story, and I ate it up," says Lisa Sweetnich, 40, a CPA in Massillon, Ohio.

• It's empowerment. "What are we all crying about?" asked writer Letty Cottin Pogrebin, founding editor of Ms. magazine, in her Huffington Post blog. "Partly, I think it's that a woman closing in on 50 had the courage to compete with the kids — and blew them out of the water."

• It's the authenticity. Unlike most of the contestants on, say, American Idol, Boyle clearly has not been groomed to be a pop star, so she is perceived as the real deal, says Ken Tucker, editor at large of Entertainment Weekly. "People want their idols to be authentic."

• It's the spiritual solace. "We're responding to someone who does not have the packaging expected of us, especially women, and in that moment of recognition, people got in touch with something so soulful and spiritual," says Laurie Sue Brockway, inspiration and family editor of Beliefnet.com. "People felt blessed by that."

For many, it all comes down to ancient wisdom. Rahn Hasbargen, an accountant in St. Paul, cites John 7 "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." "Never has that verse been explained more dramatically than in the case of Susan Boyle," Hasbargen says.
Why Susan Boyle inspires us: A story like 'a Disney movie' - USATODAY.com

Go Susan Boyle!
You can do it!

[kingwilly]

telling her Cinderella back story (youngest of nine, learning-disabled and bullied as a child, caretaker for her dying mother, never been kissed, singer in the choir, possessor of big dreams)

Oh god.

sickening.

the populist media love this tripe.

[barbaro]

She's on my sig, but is she good. I've never heard nor seen her.

I put here on my sig because of her look, whatever that means.

[kingwilly]

"If she didn't look the way she did, would there be the same reaction? I don't think so," he says. "We make snap judgments based on appearance, and when we see those judgments were premature, we overcompensate by going so far in the other direction."

quite right.

[Attilla the Hen]

If you have listened to her audition when singing I Dream a Dream, try listening to the 1999 blues track Cry Me a River that she recorded for the local council on a charity CD. It's even better. Astounding voice.

[November Rain]

Jeeze, I'm going to vomit. Sure she has a good voice. Sure she's not your average 'star' in looks. So what? Says a lot about society that drivel like this article has to be written and people are 'weeping'.
Championing the underdog? What underdog? The woman has talent. I should think the talentless are far more of an underdog class in a talent contest.

[DrAndy]

Jeeze, I'm going to vomit. Sure she has a good voice. Sure she's not your average 'star' in looks. So what? Says a lot about society that drivel like this article has to be written and people are 'weeping'.
Championing the underdog? What underdog? The woman has talent. I should think the talentless are far more of an underdog class in a talent contest.

I think you are missing the point NR


She was just a stout middle aged woman, in the midst of a talent competition

Her appearance would lead you to think she was just another competitor who was going to make a fool of herself

when she opened her mouth, her voice was so pure and full of emotion and beauty, it was astounding!

I was watching the show and was amazed

[November Rain]

No, I'm not missing the point. My point is why were you & the others amazed? Don't you think that the less prettily packaged can have a beautiful voice? Or be able to paint, or act, or whatever? Why would it be assumed that someone not so physically attractive had no talent?

Quite honestly, I think it's the people making the fuss about Ms Boyle that are missing the point.

[PlanK]

Shock headline: Contestant in talent contest can sing!!!!!

I also fail to see what's so amazing. She can sing, she got a break, good for her. But it's not exactly Disney. All the Disney stories have princesses or beauties of some kind. It's not often in a Disney movie the ugly step-sisters or hagged old witches win through in the end, only the hotties.

[blackgang]

Look at Ella Fitzgerold she was not a Hooters girl either,

[DrAndy]

No, I'm not missing the point. My point is why were you & the others amazed? Don't you think that the less prettily packaged can have a beautiful voice? Or be able to paint, or act, or whatever? Why would it be assumed that someone not so physically attractive had no talent?

Quite honestly, I think it's the people making the fuss about Ms Boyle that are missing the point.

because she was a 50 year old housewife who did not look as if she could sing in tune

because in her pre-match interview she came over as a weird woman, jigging up and down, and talking with a Scottish brogue that did not promise any sort of singing voice

because, with a voice like that, she was not already singing professionally

because etc etc

it was like letting some dog sing, you expect the usual howling and you get harmony and beauty

if you haven't seen it, you may be forgiven your cynicism

[Attilla the Hen]

NR, try and watch the 7 minute clip of her audition.

[November Rain]

^ Why? I believe you all. She has a fantastic voice. I just don't see why everyone is so amazed that a frumpy hausfrau has an amazing voice. Why shouldn't she have? Why would seeing the clip change that? I believe she's frumpy, I believe she's awkward, I believe she's got an amazing talent. The only thing I don't believe is that so many people are flabbergasted that those things can go together.

[kmart]

Lovely voice, but can't someone make her wear a mask (something artsy like out of "Phantom Of the Opera" or whatever).
"Talent Show Reveals Actual Talent!!" shock horror headlines notwithstanding; she's as hard on the eyes as she is easy on the ears. I'd buy her record even...

[DrAndy]

^ Why? I believe you all. She has a fantastic voice. I just don't see why everyone is so amazed that a frumpy hausfrau has an amazing voice. Why shouldn't she have? Why would seeing the clip change that? I believe she's frumpy, I believe she's awkward, I believe she's got an amazing talent. The only thing I don't believe is that so many people are flabbergasted that those things can go together.

because I would be amazed if anyone had a voice like that on a talent show

it was just more amazing as she confounded our expectations

how many frumpy housewives have amazing voices NR? I have not heard any before, so that is amazing

[PlanK]

how many frumpy housewives have amazing voices NR? I have not heard any before, so that is amazing

My Aunty was trained as a classical opera singer, has an amazing voice, only sings in local quiors though. She's a frumpy housewife too. Sings cause she can and enjoys it, not for fame.

[November Rain]

I knew a barmaid in HK. Really big girl, not very attractive. Her party piece was 'Summertime'. To this day, I've never heard it sung as beautifully as she used to sing it. Not even by professionals. Lots of ordinary folks can do extraordinary things.

[DrAndy]

yes, they can

but you do not often get to know about them

[blackgang]

well she is a hero to PB and Horseass because they can't do much except femanazi shit and want people to think maybe they can too because they "Frumpy"

Did you notice the AV that PB posted with the sheep dog hair over one eye and trying for the "come fuck me" look,, now that was Frump.

[mrsquirrel]

Isn't the fuss not so much about how good she can sing but about the fact that she was dismissed before she had even started to do her act, yet when she did do it she amazed people and shamed people for stereotyping her as a freal/loser/etc

[Norton]

The only thing I don't believe is that so many people are flabbergasted that those things can go together.

Because the public has been conditioned to the idea beauty is a prerequisite for talent. Cute, hard body, young looking with no talent are the norm. Naturally when folks see great talent in an atypical package they are amazed.

There are thousands of talented singers who never get a chance because they don't have the "requisite" packaging. Before the age of MTV this was less the case.

Of course there are exceptions.

[Moonraker]

Sod that, it's boring when they can actually sing.

The bad auditions are best to watch, are they on youtube yet?

[Propagator]

Isn't the fuss not so much about how good she can sing but about the fact that she was dismissed before she had even started to do her act, yet when she did do it she amazed people and shamed people for stereotyping her as a freal/loser/etc

Nail, head and hammer

[PlanK]

^

But why did people dismiss her?

It's only because the show is built on the ridicule of people who like to think they're talented. People don't watch it to see a great performer, they watch it to see people humiliate themselves. Then, shock, horror, one day someone doesn't.

I'll bet they set things like this up. Have a few idiots embarsss themselves then, when the timings right, throw out someone with talent. Totally engineered and orchestrated BS to tug on peoples heartstrings. There'll be another one next season, and another one the next, and people will lap it up.

[Jet Gorgon]

^ Mebbe, but I think from clips of other "stars" I have seen that the producers film all the high-potential singers backstage.

No, I'm not missing the point...Quite honestly, I think it's the people making the fuss about Ms Boyle that are missing the point.

Beg to differ with you here, NR. She reminds people that no matter how long you strive for it, your dreams can come true. The lovely thing about Ms Boyle is her innocence and honesty, both from clips of her backstage thru to the final judging, and the turnaround in the audience and judges' view of her. Nothing wrong with that. I thought the best comment from the judges was from the chick who said something like "It was a priviledge to listen to your performance."

I knew a barmaid in HK. Really big girl, not very attractive. Her party piece was 'Summertime'. To this day, I've never heard it sung as beautifully as she used to sing it. Not even by professionals. Lots of ordinary folks can do extraordinary things.

I do a good Joplin Summertime. My acapella Benz is better tho.