Millions of words have been written about Susan Boyle and her performance on Britan's Got Talent show. Here is the video if you haven't seen it (What is wrong with you??). Now this 47 year old woman who was nobody some weeks back, has a huge fan community, a wikipedia article, has been interviewed by CNN and has a movie being made on her life!
Some observations.
1. Instant fame: 9 days, 100 million+ views, 20 million overnight. If she stands for election she might easily become prime minister/president (Obama's victory speech had just 18.5 million views, damn!).
2. Bridging the old and new: First telecasted on the "traditional" media, Television, the video came on the "new" medias, YouTube, Facebook and the works. More importantly events like this make you realise the Democratization of the media has happened.
3. Sharing: Or as per Friedman, Flattening of the world. People are sharing information like never before. Someone in India can see the performance of a Scottish woman via an American website. If this is not globalization then what is?
4. Hypocrisy: Right now since she sang so well everyone is rooting for her. What if she had met expectations of the judges and embarrassed herself? That was being expected, right? No wonder she would have been a subject of another viral video, but just think for a second, What if she wasn't so good? All the rooting for Underdog, Beauty is skin deep bull crap would have evaporated right then and there.
Very well written
ReplyDeleteShe would have been the butt of all jokes on the net if she had had performed poorly but instead now the 40 year virgin is getting marriage proposals....
“Hypocrisy in anything whatever may deceive the cleverest and most penetrating man, but the least wide-awake of children recognizes it, and is revolted by it, however ingeniously it may be disguised”
ReplyDeleteLeo Tolstoy
47 or 48 years....
ReplyDeletewow i also wrote about her yesterday. Check out my post too.
ReplyDeleteTrue, yet the reason she got such an overwhelming response is coz she surprised everyone! may be her making a fool of herself would have been publicized too, but this is not just a good performance, its beyond that, its a miraculous(almost) performance..! when something like this happens it brings a wave of positivity from some where within anyone and everyone who witnesses such "phenomenal act"!!!
ReplyDelete