The Aesthetic Beauty of Susan Boyle
Susan Boyle Touches Heaven & Our Hearts
April 18, 2009 – Over the past week, a simple Scottish woman from Blackburn named Susan Boyle has exploded like a fantastic firework display into global recognition and stardom for her stunning singing performance on Britain’s Got Talent. Her plain appearance earned her a flood of scorn before she let loose her extraordinary voice upon hypnotized and humbled masses lucky enough to be blessed with seeing her performance in the studio audience and on television. Even after her performance, people have struggled with her appearance. More than a few have stooped to call her “frumpy,” “dowdy,” and “ugly.” The Chicago Tribune concedes that in the least, Susan Boyle is not “leonine,” and pointed readers to an online virtual makeover. Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda Holden criticized efforts to change Susan’s appearance, contending that her main appeal is her simplicity and plainness, in a word.
What is it about Susan’s appearance that caused so many people to bring forth their ugly sides with unapologetic arrogance? In a world that so prominently values pre-defined standards of physical beauty, Susan is nothing short of a threat. Her grayish dark hair is shockingly frazzled all around her head. Her eyebrows are brazenly bushy. Her chin is connected to her chest, hanging like a pale wattle. She has “cankles,” or thick ankles. Her hips jut from her church-going frock. Her breasts are large and slung low, toward her navel. She smiles and confesses that she’s never been kissed. She’s unemployed. On stage, she stumbles over her own words, attempting to describe her town as a village (West Lothian). Much of the world recoiled, repulsed, afraid. Many in the audience that night, including judges Simon Cowell and Piers Morgan, snidely regarded her. It’s easy to feel superior to the simple and unadorned, and particularly to what appeared to be the unfortunate. There Susan stood on the stage, taunting those who likely consider themselves mature and sophisticated, even exceptional. Surely, she was someone at which many could safely laugh.
With the hullabaloo over Susan Boyle’s appearance, what is conspicuously absent from the hyperactive flurry of discourse is any real appraisal of her current look, besides criticizing it. Let’s look at it honestly, here and now.
Susan Boyle walked out onto the stage of Britian’s Got Talent, sassy and cute and confident, with a perky walk and comedic gestures right out of an old American movie flick. Susan is plump and conservatively dressed, like my aunt who lives nearby in Glasgow. She excudes kindness and a kind of rare purity in disposition. She has faith in herself and one could even speculate that there was a twinkle in her small brown eyes, which are framed with crinkles etched into her temples from many smiles in this lifetime.
The ethereal capella I Dreamed a Dream, which was unleashed from Susan Boyle that night, brought many a snide elitist to their knees. Was it her superior singing voice? Or was there more to it, something unspoken that gripped the hearts and souls of her audience around the world? When she opened her mouth and the silky melody flew from her lips like a beautiful and liberated songbird, eyes widened and jaws dropped. Certainly her angelic and astounding voice was a surprise. Then her voice dove into the lyrics, But the tigers come at night, with their voices soft as thunder, as they tear your hope apart… Up until that point, Susan was enchanting, but it was when she sang, and they turn your dream to shame, and her voice began to rise and rise and rise and bloom like an exotic flower at the heights of some intangible wonder that our hearts and souls slipped over the edge of some heavenly abyss, grew wings, and flew with Susan Boyle. Many in the audience stood and screamed and clapped…. and on Susan sang, in glory, nothing short of a saint and spiritual leader in that few minutes of time here on Earth for those who had the ears to hear the undercurrents of her song. Listening to her sing, she can only get better each time she is heard. Many people were moved to pray for her success and many were moved to confess that they learned a profound lesson from her, namely “never to judge a book by its cover.” That which is profoundly beautiful and closest to a divine aesthetic is not always wrapped in glittery paper and impressive bows.
Once the shock wears off, is it really fair to judge her appearance so harshly? Take a closer look. Can you put aside societal brainwashing regarding typical standards of beauty and recognize her deeper beauty, the kind that is more subtle and less easily recognized? She is a natural beauty, the kind that keeps her flower garden simple and bright, and likes to make hot tea for her house guests. She loves chatting and laughing and she loves to touch people’s lives. It’s evident in her speech. It’s evident when the local townspeople speak of her fondly and gently chide the world for having been ignorant to the lovely person they knew her to be all along. Kindness, peace, and innocence flood out of her like a beacon in a shallow and image-obsessed world of entertainment. Her nose is petite and sculpted beautifully. Her cheeks are like fresh red apples and her skin is quite pleasant. She probably smells like a gentle floral bouquet, perhaps mixed with silk body powder. Haven’t you noticed those crinkles at the corners of her eyes, those windows to a soul that has been courting the angels for years unknown to most of humanity?
Without a doubt, her performance demonstrated the essence of personal transformation, the caterpillar changing into a splendid butterfly before our eyes. Susan is the embodiment of the underdog risen to the heights of the most idealistic glory. She sang her song for her mom. Did her voice not reach soul stirring heights at its crescendo? Did her mother hear her sing in her eternal resting place? Whatever the case, Susan is teacher, guide, and unexpected wise woman to a sleeping and apathetic world. She gives all who oppressed by unrealistic expectations hope because she so clearly represents the ascent of the soul in the face of adversity. She is resilience in human form. What blind coward would call that ugly?
Piers Morgan, one of the judges on Britain’s Got Talent, finally apologized to Susan Boyle for his derisive demeanor prior to her performance. It’s a start. Susan Boyle, you go get ‘em, girl… and with sincerest gratitude, thank you.
