Reality and reality

My wife asked me to take a listen to the Susan Boyle videos on YouTube this weekend. My initial gut reaction was joy at a bit of reality breaking through inside the context of some of the most pretentious cultural fare television has to offer. The blogs variously take for granted she has never been kissed, that she is Shrek-like (Rosie O’Donnell quote), and that this is her fifteen minutes of fame.

Susan Boyle has a God given gift to go through life with. I hope she is able to share it in a way that does not take away from it. The very appearance on the show and the desire to please such a crass, jeering, sarcastic audience makes me wonder. There is already talk of makeovers and contracts. I can only hope the marketing machinations will not mitigate the beauty of the gift.

It is my belief, and my experience, that most of the most beautiful displays of God given talent emanate from hidden sources, away from the limelight, in place such as country churches and family gatherings, in impromptu jam sessions and coffee houses for a limited and intimate audience to savor. Turning the spotlights on tends to distort the effect of beauty and simplicity.

Most of the blogs I've read are focusing on her outward appearance- they cannot seem to help themselves- to me she looked like a normal human being, like many (most) of the people I know. The very idea that such a person has anything to offer seemed to blow away the crowd and judges, which says far more about them than it does about Ms. Boyle. I hope she is able to have the peace to be able to continue to visit her church’s shut-ins, something far more important in the eyes of the Lord than all the media blitz. Perhaps she will be able to become a role model based on the beauty of her voice and the compelling soul she bared. I also liked her response to Simon Cowell's contention that she was a "tiger," dismissing the idea out of hand.

Talent is a curious thing. Most of what passes for talent in today’s world is a corruption. I look at the talent present in the early vaudevillians, and early movie performers - they seemed to have true talent based on the hard, hard work they put into perfecting their acts. Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell in Broadway Melody of 1940 springs to mind. Or an early Pavarotti concert captured for the ages. No fancy editing, no cutting room editor’s enhancement, no special effects. Just pure, raw talent perfected by hard work into a diamond.