The obligatory Susan Boyle post

[purplkat]

So I finally sat down and watched the Susan Boyle video on YouTube. In case you've been living under a rock, Boyle is a contestant on 'Britain's Got Talent', the british version of American Idol. She's 47, overweight, thick eyebrows, short, crazy greying hair. She walked on the stage, and you could see in people's faces that they were getting

Comments

[purplkat]

For a trained mezzo, it's not too bad. You extend your range down and up. An alto needs to learn to sing it without belting to hit those high notes.

She did go flat on the last two notes of 'shame', especially the last one. And IMO, it's important for the song that the last note there come out strong.

[miintikwa]

I know. I think we all wanted her to succeed-- all of us who have been there.

[akumadaimyo]

So why was she mocked and that fat black dude beat boxer wasn't? He was on American Idol? I forget his name. Though maybe he was mocked and I didn't see it.

[purplkat]

Because he was a man.

Well that, and he didn't look "frumpy". Fat black guys can look cool. Think Biggie Smalls.

[akumadaimyo]

Not true about the man thing. But your right that he didn't look frumpy.

[purplkat]

It is true about the man thing. It's way, way more socially acceptable for men to be overweight than women. Think about all of the magazines that talk about how X celeb GAINED A POUND OMG. It's always the women. Or look at the hell that Jessica Simpson caught for gaining weight, or the things that got said about Kelly Clarkson. Neither of them are even very heavy at all. I'd say they're around my weight, maybe a tad bigger. Only successful really overweight female performer I can think of is Queen Latifah, and that woman does whatever the fuck she wants and people go along with it, so she's a big exception.

Meanwhile, there are a -lot- of overweight actors and singers who are men. It's just more socially acceptable.

[foxfeather67]

If I were still twelve and so were you, likely we would have moved through the same circle, and never met each other anyway. :-)

I say this because my awkward stage didn't really go away until after I graduated and moved away. I was really introverted and people only took an interest in me due to my artistic talent (which usually meant drawing something for someone gratis).

So forget Susan Boyle. Yay, purplkat! You rock girl, and you always have. :-)

[purplkat]

You totally wouldn't have. You would have risked mocking at that school like you'd never known -- losing all of the so-called friends that you had. That's why the school nerd wouldn't touch me; he started to talk to me about computers once, and the teasing that he got, which was as cruel as what I endured, drove him away. He couldn't handle it.

I try to get across to people how bad it was, but they're usually casting it in terms of their own experience, and that's not how it was. People have a hard time comprehending having literally no friends, and by that I mean no one who was willing to say even a neutral word to me.

It was a private school, and as much as I hate to perpetuate the stereotype, I really do think that rich kids tend towards being more obnoxious and nasty than middle class kids. This is from my encounters with country club kids and kids at that school during my mother's "no, we must act like rich people!" phase.

[foxfeather67]

Well, either way, those kids missed out on a great opportunity. Even though you and I do not move through the same circles as we once did, I am better for having known you and you still rock! Again, always have, and always will. You offered me friendship and helped me through some tough moments when I needed a good friend. I won't forget, ever. Thank you. :-)