The phenomenon of Susan Boyle

Why should I even be writing about Susan Boyle? She's not disabled (that we know), but she is, in some sense, a freak. Why do I say this? It's not just because she is that rare and freakish thing on TV: a woman who does not have model good looks. I sense something in her, some kinship with her, as she swivels her hips, saying, in response to a question about her age, "47. And that's just one side of me" (what does that even mean?). Clearly, the kinship does not extend too far; I know my place; I have some sense of what constitutes appropriate behavior—two things Ms. Boyle seems to lack, or ignore. No, I would never put on such a display, but I recognize in her someone who has, like me, been unsure of herself, who has, like me, been made to feel less worthy (ahem, less of a commodity) than the perfect, beautiful girls of the world.

More than that, I recognize her as a freak because of the way the audience responds to her. Watch the full video, and you get more of a glimpse of the derision with which the audience regards her. "This is a ridiculous woman," they are thinking. "I am going to get a good laugh at this." Indeed, most people are laughing already, as soon as Ms. Boyle walks on the stage. It's not merely her physical appearance; it's the way she carries herself, the way she presents herself. You can sense she's a little socially awkward, perhaps unaware of her ridiculousness. Yes, the audience can smell a freak, and Ms. Boyle is certainly a freak.

That doesn't change when she starts to sing. What? Why would I say that? Isn't that the reason she has become an Internet sensation? Because everyone was wrong about her? Because she turned out to have an amazing talent?Well, that doesn't make her any less of a freak. She, like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, turned out to be a useful freak, one that we can like and root for, but a freak nevertheless.

What irks me is all these norms talking about her, showing her Youtube clips to their friends, saying, "Isn't she amazing?" as though they're on team Boyle, as though they're truly sympathetic to her. Imagine for a moment that she had not surprised anyone. Imagine that she had turned out to be as terrible a singer as everyone thought she would be. All these people who are rooting for her now would, instead, have had a good laugh at the freak. And that is all.

Have these norms learned their lesson? Will they not be so quick to judge in the future? Does their admiration for Ms. Boyle somehow exculpate them? Heavens no! After Ms. Boyle leaves the stage, they'll bring out the next freak, and everyone will have a good laugh at them, and so on, ad infinitum.