Quadsville

The film is inspiring and thrilling. A doughty looking,  middle aged woman steps on stage in the British version of "Idol." Audience groans, judges roll their eyes and wait for the 'godawfull' sound they are about to hear from this poor, misguided, 'nobody 'who thinks she has talent. Then out comes the most glorious of voices - not only that, but she sings a rather difficult song all the way through with perfect pitch, tone, and with appropriate feeling.

Suddenly Susan Boyle is the darling of British audiences and American TV - millions watch and re-watch her triumph on U-Tube.

How quick we humans are to judge based upon appearances!  We have fixed ideas about who is acceptable and who is not. What would have been the audience response if Susan had been an attractive 25 y/o when she walked out on stage? How about if she was a rather plain looking 47 y/o male? Do we ever learn anything from experiences like this?

Imagine the courage of this woman!  The children of her village in Scotland, who now are fans of hers, admit that they used to make fun of her!  Yet, she is not just a talented singer. In an interview with Diane Sawyer, Susan Boyle showed herself to be intelligent, to have a sense of humor, and to be charmingly inviting - when Sawyer asked her if she thought she'd win, she said, "you'll just have to watch" (with a little smile), in other words, she handled herself well in what would be, for most of us, a nervous-making situation.

Now there is a flap about Susan having a make-over. Why is that? Some will say we should not make her into what she is not - others will say that we are forcing her into a sterotypical model of what we understand a singing star to be. None are considering that Susan is a capable and intelligent adult who can make her own decisions about whether she wants a make-over or not.  Are we now in pretending to have some right to say whether she has a make-over, attempting to continue the attitude we had before she opened her mouth - that she is incompetent, incapable, and needs the rest of us to tell her what to do? Yet, Yet, Susan herself made the choice to come and sing before millions even though kids made fun of her and she must have known what the reaction of the audience would be when she walked out on stage.

Susan Boyle - what a woman! You go girl!