The View From My Soapbox

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past few weeks, you have probably heard of this woman:And you have probably seen the YouTube video of her belting out a beautiful rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" on Britain's Got Talent, much to the surprise of Simon and everyone else in the audience. This video is everywhere these days- people are posting it on facebook, linking it on their blog, etc.

I saw it for the first time on Sunday, and, to be perfectly honest, I wasn't exactly floored. Yes, Susan Boyle has a beautiful voice, but it doesn't seem extraordinary enough to garner all this attention until you take into account the fact that Boyle is, well, rather homely. It seems as though all the hulabaloo over her performance is not so much attributed to her talent as the plain package it comes in, and that people posting this video are practically saying "Check out this lady, she's old and unattractive but she can sing! How amazing is that?!"

Um, okay people. Last time I checked talent and good looks are mutually exclusive elements of someone's personality, and the fact that everyone seems so astonished by this revelation makes me want to weep for the fate of society. Are we seriously so brainwashed by the pages of Us Weekly and People that we believe talent to be inextricably linked to white teeth, silky hair, and glowing skin? What troubles me even more is that this distorted way of thinking is applied most liberally to women. I mean, The Three Tenors aren't exactly youthful and droolworthy but no one's jaw drops to the floor when they start belting it out. Just sayin.

And before all of you start coming at me with pitchforks, let me just say that I am very happy for Susan Boyle. It's wonderful that she can finally share her gift with the world, and I'm sure all of this attention is a dream come true for her. I just wish that, for her sake, the attention didn't include offers of free makeovers and the like. I hope that this media circus translates into some real success for her instead of the token 15 minutes of fame that most reality TV sensations get, but the cynical part of me is more prone to believe that, after this talent competition is over, Susan Boyle will be back home in Scotland and the rest of us will be obsessing over the latest blonde-haired, tight-abbed twenty-something lip synching her way to stardom.