April 21, 2009
How did Susan Boyle do it?
Middle aged Scottish spinster Susan Boyle, at 47, became one of the world's hottest celebrities virtually overnight after her rendition of I Dreamed a Dream on Britain's Got Talent show this month. But while most people see her story as a fairytale, some say it casts an unflattering light on the public and its preconceived notions about beauty and fame. Stuff reports.
They argue that the reason Boyle, who lives alone with her cat, became the instant star she has was because she did not look or behave like a "typical" celebrity.
"Sadly it all Boyles down to image" said Miranda Sawyer in a commentary piece for the Daily Mirror tabloid.
"No woman gets to perform publicly unless she looks like Mariah Carey. If you're a female singer, you are required by showbiz law to appear sexy at all times."
Tanya Gold, writing in the Guardian broadsheet, asked: "Is Susan Boyle ugly? Or are we?
"By raising this Susan up, we will forgive ourselves for grinding every other Susan into the dust. It will be a very partial and poisoned redemption. Because Britain's Got Malice."
Some descriptions of Boyle underlined media prejudices about beauty and age, critics said, with Boyle referred to variously as "frumpy", "dowdy", with "several double chins" and, in Britain's Daily Mail, as a "hairy angel".
Previously: - Susan Boyle follows Paul Potts
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