Judging Beauty
Ever heard of Susan Boyle? If not, take a few minutes and watch her at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY. She is a 47 year-old woman from Scotland who, on April 11th, appeared on the British version of American Idol, called “Britain’s Got Talent”. In the first two minutes of that video much is revealed about how we judge other people and how we think about beauty.
Ms. Boyle is not an attractive woman. Overweight, with poorly combed frizzy gray hair and two chins, she is about as far from being a beauty queen as Sarah Palin is from being a Mensa member. And when she walks out on the stage and says her dream is to be a professional singer, the audience immediately starts to laugh and roll their eyes.
Simon Cowell, one of the judges and also a judge on America Idol, asks her how old she is. She says she is 47 and jokingly sways her hips and adds “and that’s just one side of me” which brings on groans, rolling of the eyes, and even looks of disgust.
When Cowell asks what has kept her from her dream for so long she replies “I haven’t been given a chance yet, but here’s hoping that will change.”
There is something so open in her demeanor, so completely devoid of resentment or anger, even in the face of sneers from the audience and judges that it is almost hard to watch. It is clear that she is not ashamed of who she is or what she looks like, she just wants a chance to sing.
She tells the audience that she is going to sing “I dream a dream” from “Les Miserables”. More snickers.
But by the end of the first line, the judges jaws have dropped, the audience member’s eyes are wide, and it is clear that something significant just happened.
For 3 or 4 more minutes she goes on to bring the audience and judges nearly to tears with her heartbreakingly beautiful voice before bringing the song to a close and receiving a standing ovation.
The predominant feeling from the judges was shock. Why? Because they never thought that someone who looks like her could sing like that.
Do you think that if she looked like Mariah Carey or Brittney Spears she would have had to wait 47 years for a chance to sing publicly? Not on your life. But on the show people were laughing at her before she ever started to sing. How many times, when she was younger, did she perhaps avoid a chance to sing in public for fear of exactly that kind of response?
The truth is, we judge people instantaneously from the moment we first see them. Our judgments, made long before we talk to, or know people, affect how we interact with them, how we treat them, and in turn affect how they interact with us and even who they are. In many ways we shape the people around us to fit the judgments we make about them. If our judgments turn out to be true, it is party because we, and others, have made those judgments so many times that they have become true.
We can’t stop ourselves from making snap judgments, they are often so automatic that we don’t have time to stop them. But what we can do is try to be aware of when we are making these judgments and consciously defer them.
We may not be able to help thinking “she must be joking” when Ms. Boyle walks out on stage and shakes her hips, but what we can do is refuse to roll our eyes. Instead, we can watch and listen closely, lest we miss the beauty right before our eyes by convincing ourselves it can’t possibly be there.
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No no, not just judgments based on appearance.
I hadn’t heard that, but it is definitely interesting and I agree, I wouldn’t put it past them. Cheers.
Thanks for a well-written, sensitive article. I couldn’t agree with you more.
I’ve read some speculation that Susan Boyle is a set-up, a Simon Cowell et al. gimmick to heighten interest, increase ratings, etc. I wouldn’t put it past that crowd, but the lady does seem real. It’s going to be interesting to see how it plays out.
“!”, it seems like you’re suggesting that judgments made based on appearance often turn out to be true. I have to disagree. If there are more beautiful people who we can think of with beautiful voices, it may well be because to “make it” you have to be physically beautiful. Or at least being beautiful puts you at a huge advantage.
Sound, great point. Music and sexuality are more tied together than they used to be and that’s often a shame.
Music used to be about, just that, music. Nowadays it’s about sexuality. When was the last time many of you downloaded or bought a music vid that wasn’t borderline sex, hell i’ve seen almost as much of shakira, etc as their partners, and as for madonna or spears, please no, no more, have mercy. =)
True.
But you have to remember why certain people get judged the way they do. It’s pattern recognition. I agree that judging people instantaneously is not always the best thing to do, but most of the time, it just fits. It is a sad thing, and I am sure people have missed out on others talents because of this kind of judging. But I would think that this kind of thing is more of a rarity/exception to the rule.
And one more thing. I think people think she sings super duper well because of the gap we see. I kinda feel we are all overating her abilities. Though, she does have a nice voice.