Susan Boyle

[kementari2]

Interesting post over at Toddled Dredge talking about Susan Boyle (from Britain's Got Talent) and standards of beauty.

When I think about Susan Boyle, I feel bad for her because she's surrounded by people and media saying it's such a shocker that from such a frumpy-looking person could come such beautiful singing, and how we're all too cynical, etc

Comments

[hulkingmanchild]

Something about this woman's situation reminded me of the movie "Nanny McPhee" ... McPhee is a homely woman with magical talents -- not unlike those of Mary Poppins -- who sheds her physical unattractiveness more with every lesson she successfully teaches the children until, at the end, she of course is revealed to have been a beautiful woman all along, both physically and in personality. It was the sour note of the otherwise-enjoyable movie, because it perpetuated that same stereotype: 'physical beauty is the hallmark of a worthwhile person.' It's nice that she was supposed to be the same person the whole time, but she became noticeably friendlier and happier when all the 'ugly' was stripped away, which really made her a different character. Ms. Boyle doesn't get physically prettier by singing beautifully, or doing good deeds, or just taking off her glasses and letting her hair down; in reality, physical beauty is entirely subjective to the observer and can never be truly universal. I should hope that someone saw Susan Boyle before she uttered a single note and had a pleasant thought for her.