And yet I can't help but think that there is something more than that. Susan Boyle is 2009 as Britney Spears was 1999. It is the difference between Richard Phillips in 2009 and Jeff Bezos in 1999. It is Dick Cheney declaring that he deserved every penny as Halliburton's CEO in 1999 and Barack Obama declaring that we are our borthers' keepers in 2009. Their public persona are archetypes of our collective mythmaking, and I think these archetypes reflect our anxieties and aspirations.
The cultural zeitgeist of Susan Boyle is also, I think, the cultural zeitgeist of Judy Garland. "I Dream a Dream":
And the world was a song/"Somewhere Over the Rainbow":
And the song was exciting
There was a time/
Then it all went wrong
Somewhere over the rainbow/Crises, such as they are, are time of humility and hope. At the other end is conspicuous consumption and self-serving righteousness. It is the crest of the trashing-talking, high-flying Hebrews that forms the narrative of the Pentateuch, as they achieve their historical apogee in the Kingdom of Israel; and it is the trough that is Babylonian Captivity that forms a time of deep spiritual reflection, and a yearning of better days.
Skies are blue,
And the dreams that you dare to dream/
Really do come true.
But this time on youtube.
2 comments:
you're correct that her talent exposed to the masses might have garnered similar attention in 1999. However, it has nothing to do with dick cheney, barack obama, britney spears, jeff bezos or halliburton
you are trying to create a greater narrative of the times we're in because of the current political climate, and by doing so you've overeached. she sang a well-known song from a well-known musical.
But she's not an artist pushing boundaries of convention by making a statement through her lyrics, her art, her words, her images. she's an underdog singer who only needed the right persons to hear her sing. that's all. that's a lot, but not more than that.
Guilty as charged. We all try to find patterns and narratives.
However, the fact that she didn't try to be more than who she is does not, I think, invalidate this by itself. Most public persona are not consciously cultivated by the person underneath that public persona.
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