The Human Spirit
Susan Boyle. Susan Boyle. Susan Boyle. This dowdy, forty-seven year old Scottish subject knocked the socks off three judges and a smirking audience. She stunned the world with a sensational singing voice, which was perfectly concealed behind frumpy clothing and an unsophisticated presence.
Her performance at the Britain’s Got Talent contest overpowered the audience's first impression and mocked its arrogance. She embarrassed us, and in truth, she shamed us. Susan reminded us that we live in a world of expectations groomed and promoted by marketers.
Expectations are routinely defined by perceptions. We are taught what to jeer and what to cheer by the media elite. Those who can’t or won’t play the game are often branded as inferior or labeled misfits.
Another recent example of this phenomenon was the mainstream media’s disdain for the Tea Party participants. The crowd was condemned as misfits for not being in sync with the liberal media’s definition of proper political thinking. The media reaction defined the real losers.
It is obvious that Susan has spent her life in the shadows, much the same as Victor Hugo’s Quasimodo, in the Hunchback of Notre Dame. That was the wonder of her performance. She knew who she was when she walked across the stage, and she knew what the judges and audience were thinking.
But it didn’t deter her from seeking her place in the sun. In hindsight, that’s what we admired and cheered. It was determination that brought her there, which the audience had mistaken for gall. Her voice was merely the crescendo.
In three minutes she changed twenty million minds. That’s the feat the world saw. And her performance empowered us.
We shared a moment with a person who proclaimed that it’s okay to be imperfect. Everyone can relate to that. That’s the joy we felt when her voice erased perceptions and proclaimed I belong here.
Imagine the bruising and doubts and frustration she had endured for forty-seven years. She escaped the bondage of low expectations with courage, personal resolve and talent.
Remember when the vast majority of Americans knew that if they didn’t quit, they could make it? Remember when perseverance was admired, adversity was expected and success was honored?
Well, evidently it still is. And Susan Boyle reminded us that this attribute, although not uniquely American, still exists on our shores, despite the government’s efforts to substitute equal opportunity with equal outcome.
Susan would never have walked across that stage and competed head-to-head with the other contestants in Obamaland USA. In Mr. Obama’s affirmative action plagued America, Susan would have been given extra points for being homely and declared the winner.
Thus, despite her talent, no one would have admired her, no one would have honored her, and no one would have shared her triumph.
Thank you Susan Boyle for reminding us of the power of the human spirit.
Her performance at the Britain’s Got Talent contest overpowered the audience's first impression and mocked its arrogance. She embarrassed us, and in truth, she shamed us. Susan reminded us that we live in a world of expectations groomed and promoted by marketers.
Expectations are routinely defined by perceptions. We are taught what to jeer and what to cheer by the media elite. Those who can’t or won’t play the game are often branded as inferior or labeled misfits.
Another recent example of this phenomenon was the mainstream media’s disdain for the Tea Party participants. The crowd was condemned as misfits for not being in sync with the liberal media’s definition of proper political thinking. The media reaction defined the real losers.
It is obvious that Susan has spent her life in the shadows, much the same as Victor Hugo’s Quasimodo, in the Hunchback of Notre Dame. That was the wonder of her performance. She knew who she was when she walked across the stage, and she knew what the judges and audience were thinking.
But it didn’t deter her from seeking her place in the sun. In hindsight, that’s what we admired and cheered. It was determination that brought her there, which the audience had mistaken for gall. Her voice was merely the crescendo.
In three minutes she changed twenty million minds. That’s the feat the world saw. And her performance empowered us.
We shared a moment with a person who proclaimed that it’s okay to be imperfect. Everyone can relate to that. That’s the joy we felt when her voice erased perceptions and proclaimed I belong here.
Imagine the bruising and doubts and frustration she had endured for forty-seven years. She escaped the bondage of low expectations with courage, personal resolve and talent.
Remember when the vast majority of Americans knew that if they didn’t quit, they could make it? Remember when perseverance was admired, adversity was expected and success was honored?
Well, evidently it still is. And Susan Boyle reminded us that this attribute, although not uniquely American, still exists on our shores, despite the government’s efforts to substitute equal opportunity with equal outcome.
Susan would never have walked across that stage and competed head-to-head with the other contestants in Obamaland USA. In Mr. Obama’s affirmative action plagued America, Susan would have been given extra points for being homely and declared the winner.
Thus, despite her talent, no one would have admired her, no one would have honored her, and no one would have shared her triumph.
Thank you Susan Boyle for reminding us of the power of the human spirit.
Labels: Susan Boyle
posted by David at
6:55 AM
<< Home