Saturday, April 18, 2009

Beauty is in the ear of the beholder, I guess

Whoa, with a side of whuh??

All this fuss about the magnificent performance by Susan Boyle on the UK talent show got me thinking. She has a spectacular voice, but all the buzz is about how nobody expected her to be so talented. Why? Because she's not pret-ty.

I mean, how could such an "unattractive" person have anything of value to offer in our pretty pretty world?

We have hoards of people who make fortunes by simply being pret-ty, with no discernable talent. Hollywood offers a veritable smorgasbord of beautiful banal.

And there are whole industries built around the quest for physical "perfection".

What if people put the time, thought, money and effort into cultivating their voice, their brain, their better self that they put into botox, wax, collegen implants, tucking/sucking, makeup and hair care? Whoa!

There are tons of pret-ty people out there with no talent. And we pay them just to be pretty.

I wonder how many more undiscovered and unlauded but greatly talented people there are out there that are missed simply because they aren't pret-ty enough.

My applause to Susan not just for her voice, but for the moxie to put it out there in spite of the snickers and derision. For showing that the packaging simply just doesn't count when the content is stellar.

6 comments:

  1. amen. i thought the same thing when i saw all the hooplah.

    betcha she gets a big time makeover before they start trotting her around post-idol.

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  2. OMG. you are so right, pearl. I just read your post to Brian up here in the mountains. He is the one who sent the YouTube to me and when i watched it i cried. Then i showed it to my co-workers and they cried too. We loved her.

    Because of his comments on the email, i was prepared already for her Cinderella story and knew she would be amazing before i even clicked it open. But i loved her moxie, like you say. And her personality. I am not even a fan of Les Miserables or opera at all but she made me really like her performance.

    I had no idea that it would become such news. I can't say that in all honesty that had i been in the audience i would not have been rolling my eyes too when she strolled out. I think i have been watching American Idol too long and they are all about the whole package and anything else is usually really bad. They exploit the odd ducks - like the SheBang dude Will Hung or whatever his name is and rarely are they talented. But i was so happy for her.

    But you're right. Pretty girls just seem to find out early, how to open doors with just a smile, just like the Eagles song. They don't have to do anything else. Think of Paris Hilton. Kate Moss.

    Thanks for giving me a perspective on the story i had not considered. It was worth seeing the YouTube if not just to see the look on Simon Cowell's face.

    I hope they don't make her over TOO much, but do believe she needs to do something about those eyebrows. I have a thing about them because mine would look exactly like that if i was not so obsessed about fixing them.

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  3. You know what's really funny? my acapcha was

    WINGSTER...

    LOLOLOL. and i just poured a glass of chardonnay. What are the odds?

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  4. And your 2 examples, Hilton and Moss, are classics: no talent at all, and not very pretty from within. It's all a facade.

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  5. The sad thing is I doubt that she will progress very far except possibly the theater because in this world entertainers are judged on looks #1 and talent comes in much later down the line.

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  6. They've already waxed her eyebrows. Simon and company love to re-make people..

    I think she will end up in theatre..she's a little long in the tooth for pop. Even successful singers do not do so well on the charts after 40 (Madonna is the exception as she is the devil).

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