If there is one cultural quality we have, it’s that we always see ourselves as an underdog. Bill Gates
Two months ago excitement spread across Twitter with tweets that said something along the lines of “Don’t judge a book by its cover: watch this!” The link was the YouTube video of Susan Boyle’s audition on Britain’s Got Talent. Tremendous positive energy was created as millions of people watched the YouTube video. Susan quickly became the most popular woman in the world! Even more than her voice, I believe people were touched by the realization of a dream and how she transformed the audience. One second they were all mocking her, and then from the moment she started to sing they where cheering for her. The judges acknowledged how badly and inappropriately they had misjudged Susan based on her appearance.
The more the public learned about Susan, the greater the excitement. She was presented as someone who was 47 years old and never been kissed; and, she was unemployed, lived in social housing with her cat, took care of her mother until she recently died, was a slow learner, and was a victim of bullying and ridicule. And now, she wanted to enter the Britain’s Got Talent competition to show (and feel) that she was worth something. This was a story made for Americans. Nothing excites Americans more than seeing an underdog beat all odds. It’s in our DNA. America was, after all, settled by colonies of underdogs. In America, Susan Boyle was played up in the media as a heroine – she was referred to as the 47 year old church volunteer and global sensation. CNN told her story, Oprah interviewed her, and President Obama invited her to the Annual Correspondents Dinner at the White House.
In Britain, it was another story. In the British media, she was referred to as the ”hairy angel,” dowdy spinster, frumpy and many much more hurtful descriptions. The press taunted her, much like the bullies she encountered throughout her life. Here she was trying to escape a life of pain, to live her dream and she discovered that even in her dream she was the victim of bullying and ridicule only now it was being played out for the world to see.
I can’t begin to imagine how crushing it must have been to Susan to face such cruelty. She was teased by a dream, but was soon reliving a nightmare. Susan gave the world a gift. She brought hope and excitement at a time when it was definitely needed, and she deserves better – much better. I can only say that it makes me proud to be on the side of the Atlantic Ocean that likes to build up underdogs, to support them and celebrate their victories rather than tear them down. Even during difficult economic times, in America there is a belief in abundance – seeing success creates an abundance of joy for all of us to share. Whereas, it appears that in the British press there is a mindset of poverty – success creates resentment.
Susan vacillates between delighting in her audience and feeling disconnected and alone. It may be the real battle that she is fighting is trying to let go of a cultural mindset of poverty and embrace a mindset of abundance – to believe that it is real and not just another trick that will lead to scorn and ridicule. It is the strength of her dream and the support of those who believe in her that ultimately will allow her to win this battle.
Not what we have, but what we enjoy constitutes our abundance. Epicurus
Tags: abundance, Britain's Got Talent, mindset, poverty, susan boyle, underdog
