Susan Boyle's Got Talent and Us Eating Out of Her Hands

Please forgive me for being late to the Susan Boyle pundit blogging bonanza. I was preoccupied.

But now I'm not.

So here's my two cents as an emotional intelligence and communication specialist on how and why Susan Boyle emotionally got to so many of us. She is a solution to the following conundrum of our times:

A skeptic is someone who is reluctant to believe; A cynic is someone who refuses to believe.

A skeptic is someone who once believed and was hurt and/or disappointed; A cynic is someone who once believed and was humiliated and/or betrayed.

However deep inside all skeptics and even most cynics is a deep abiding ache to believe again (because not believing leaves us safe and bitter or at least British), but do so without the fear of being hurt, disappointed, humiliated or betrayed.

And Susan Boyle is someone we can believe without any of the worries.

Furthermore, before she began to sing on Britain's Got Talent, we collectively laughed or even sneered at her nerve at thinking she could be a star, much less convince us she had any talent. Before she opened her mouth, we were all getting off on feeling superior by thinking how much above her (smarter, prettier, cooler, suaver) we were (not the healthiest way to feel better about oneself, but nevertheless a nearly universal practice).

Then she opened her mouth and you saw the immediate reaction on the judges' faces on our own. In less than five seconds, we went from trying to feel better about ourselves by looking down on her to identifying with her as an underdog triumphant.

Laughing at her one moment perched upon our own inflated view of ourselves to identifying with her the next and rooting for her as we would people to root for us.

It's enough to make a grown man cry and maybe even a cynic (are you listening Simon Cowell?) believe.

Comments

[Tina Reuwsaat]

Anyone who calls Susan Boyle "ugly" , is ugly inside. And that goes deep.

[somefool]

So what you're saying it would have been OK to ridicule her if she had sang badly?

This is the one troubling aspect I see in all of this. Everyone is patting themselves on the back I think because we all realize you have to look beyond surface appearances to judge someone. However, it seems to me that if she hadn't had a remarkable voice, than most of us would still be looking down on her, and feeling OK about that.

[Mark Goulston, M.D. - Huffpost Blogger]

You are so right!

That is exactly what would have happened had it not been for the fact that Susan Boyle had talent. And I agree with you about THAT being a troubling quality of the human condition that too often tries to make itself feel better by looking down on others.

I wish it were not so.

Thank you for you observation.

[Flavor]

Mrs. Boyle has brought the world back into reality, everybody is not a size 10, everyone ain't lola faliona, and that talent is no respect of persons. I love it! You go Girl!

[angrykeyboarder]

Who is "lola faliona"?

[Flavor]

Oh, she was back in the day, I forgot some may be to young to remember her but she was a great dancer, in fact she danced on a show Mr. Cosby had on in the seventies. Peace out.

[donphoto33]

I hope she parlays her obvious talent into a remarkable entertainment career. Her performance should give others like her the moxy to, at the least, put it all out there for all to see. Go get'um Susan!

[markysgirl5]

Oh I think Simon was listening! Actually my favorite parts of the video are when they cut to Simon while Susan sings. I swear he appears absolutely smitten. Susan Boyle put the "celebrate" back into celebrity. As far as I'm concerned it's the most fun you can have crying!

[angrykeyboarder]

Watching the reactions of all three judges was the best part. And Simon's reaction was the icing on the cake.