Post by Rob W. Case on Apr 17, 2009 2:51:01 GMT -6
I was watching the news the other day, when they brought attention to Susan Boyle, a short, stocky woman with a relatively unattractive physical appearance. Susan went on the British version of “American Idol” called “Britain’s Got Talent.” As a viewer, one would get the impression that she looked like just another “freak show.” As many contestants compete on shows like “American Idol” and “Britain’s Got Talent,” some go on those shows thinking they are good, but they are not. You can usually tell who will be a freak show and who will not. As you watch the video, you get the fullest impression that she will be just another freak show.
Watch the video and see for yourself:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnmbJzH93NU&feature=related
As you watch the video, and expect to be entertained, the cameras zoom in on Simon Cowell, who is a judge of talent on the show, as well as the rest of the judges. Their facial expressions tell it all. Then, the camera zooms in on members of the audience. Some are laughing. Some think it’s a joke. Some are like, “eeww. Who is this freak?” Some are neutral. Either way you slice and dice it, you fall under the impression, asking yourself, “Geez lady, why did you waste your time going on this show?” Nobody would ever expect someone like Susan Boyle to be a finalist, much less a star from on a talent show like that.
Conventional wisdom is a set of beliefs held by most people. In this case, it was a common impression most people had when they saw Ms. Boyle’s frumpy appearance. But in this particular moment, conventional wisdom was broken, and her talent broke through an exterior that would be conventionally unattractive to most people.
What I liked most about this video, was its justice. People judged her as yet another freak. They saw her as a source of comedy because of her looks (ridicule). People did not expect beauty to come out of her because she walked, talked, and came off as someone who was not only “ugly,” but couldn’t hold a note. She looked as though she was going to humiliate herself before she received her rejection which seemed inevitable. But her talent broke through the judgments, the first impressions, the ridicule, and the conventional wisdom that her even being on the show was a complete waste of her time and theirs.
Now, after her impressive performance, The LATIMES reports that, “more than 13 million YouTube views later, Hollywood agents and talk-show bookers are jostling for a few minutes with Susan Boyle, a stocky, beetle-browed woman who would not ordinarily rate a second glance on the street.”
Looks can be deceiving, and they can be either deceiving for the better or for the worse.
Content should always matter. Substance should always be the force for which to make any decision.
Some 700 years before the physical birth of Jesus Christ, Isaiah foretold what Jesus would look like. In Isaiah 53:2 it talks about him.
2b He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
According to his image embedded in the Shroud that wrapped his body after crucifixion, Isaiah in his prophecy appears to be right on the money as his future prediction became our history.
Take a look:
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e2/Shroud_of_Turin_001.jpg/800px-Shroud_of_Turin_001.jpg
www.shroud.com/examine.htm
Not only did people despise, ridicule, and make fun of Jesus Christ, but he created a following that would break all of the barriers of conventional wisdom and eventually become the sole centerpiece of human history. Why did Christ arrive physically unattractive? So that people would hear the substance of what he had to say, and focus on what really matters. If he had been physically attractive, his following could have been based on his looks, and could have grown simply by people’s lusts towards him. If Jesus were physically prepared as an attractive man, it would have created a cult of personality, thus steering people off of the substance of his message and focus on his looks.
People with good looks aren’t always good people. Some people who are attractive physically are the most spoiled, snobby, arrogant people who know the power their attractiveness has on others, and they exploit it.
In politics, some know that appearances are deceiving, so they want you to focus on the physically, or rhetorically attractiveness of the candidate (the man/woman being marketed) rather than focus on the substance of the issues at hand.
Case in point:
www.whitehouse.gov/assets/images/President_Official_Portrait_HiRes.jpg
The power of the cult of personality in this case would be to use one’s own physically attractive appeal, to charm, romance, and appeal to another’s personal lusts to win them over and transform them as a servant to one’s own personal ambitions. The opposite would be to do as Jesus did. Win people over by example (not only talk the talk, but walk the walk), and show love.
Love triumphs over hate. Substance triumphs over style. Support may come as a result of style, but substance always has a way of breaking through the ice. Giving makes you stand out more than selfishness, and beauty always has a way of breaking through the world’s definition of ugliness.
You can both be a part of the world and be among others, or you can stand out, defy the world’s ideas of what is and what isn’t, and start a following. This whole concept is very much amazing, and dynamic. Talent, wisdom, and substance will always endure. Emphasis on physical appearance without talent, wisdom, and substance are worth little to nothing in the long run, as their pull can expire at a moment’s notice.
Watch the video and see for yourself:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnmbJzH93NU&feature=related
As you watch the video, and expect to be entertained, the cameras zoom in on Simon Cowell, who is a judge of talent on the show, as well as the rest of the judges. Their facial expressions tell it all. Then, the camera zooms in on members of the audience. Some are laughing. Some think it’s a joke. Some are like, “eeww. Who is this freak?” Some are neutral. Either way you slice and dice it, you fall under the impression, asking yourself, “Geez lady, why did you waste your time going on this show?” Nobody would ever expect someone like Susan Boyle to be a finalist, much less a star from on a talent show like that.
Conventional wisdom is a set of beliefs held by most people. In this case, it was a common impression most people had when they saw Ms. Boyle’s frumpy appearance. But in this particular moment, conventional wisdom was broken, and her talent broke through an exterior that would be conventionally unattractive to most people.
What I liked most about this video, was its justice. People judged her as yet another freak. They saw her as a source of comedy because of her looks (ridicule). People did not expect beauty to come out of her because she walked, talked, and came off as someone who was not only “ugly,” but couldn’t hold a note. She looked as though she was going to humiliate herself before she received her rejection which seemed inevitable. But her talent broke through the judgments, the first impressions, the ridicule, and the conventional wisdom that her even being on the show was a complete waste of her time and theirs.
Now, after her impressive performance, The LATIMES reports that, “more than 13 million YouTube views later, Hollywood agents and talk-show bookers are jostling for a few minutes with Susan Boyle, a stocky, beetle-browed woman who would not ordinarily rate a second glance on the street.”
Looks can be deceiving, and they can be either deceiving for the better or for the worse.
Content should always matter. Substance should always be the force for which to make any decision.
Some 700 years before the physical birth of Jesus Christ, Isaiah foretold what Jesus would look like. In Isaiah 53:2 it talks about him.
2b He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
According to his image embedded in the Shroud that wrapped his body after crucifixion, Isaiah in his prophecy appears to be right on the money as his future prediction became our history.
Take a look:
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e2/Shroud_of_Turin_001.jpg/800px-Shroud_of_Turin_001.jpg
www.shroud.com/examine.htm
Not only did people despise, ridicule, and make fun of Jesus Christ, but he created a following that would break all of the barriers of conventional wisdom and eventually become the sole centerpiece of human history. Why did Christ arrive physically unattractive? So that people would hear the substance of what he had to say, and focus on what really matters. If he had been physically attractive, his following could have been based on his looks, and could have grown simply by people’s lusts towards him. If Jesus were physically prepared as an attractive man, it would have created a cult of personality, thus steering people off of the substance of his message and focus on his looks.
People with good looks aren’t always good people. Some people who are attractive physically are the most spoiled, snobby, arrogant people who know the power their attractiveness has on others, and they exploit it.
In politics, some know that appearances are deceiving, so they want you to focus on the physically, or rhetorically attractiveness of the candidate (the man/woman being marketed) rather than focus on the substance of the issues at hand.
Case in point:
www.whitehouse.gov/assets/images/President_Official_Portrait_HiRes.jpg
The power of the cult of personality in this case would be to use one’s own physically attractive appeal, to charm, romance, and appeal to another’s personal lusts to win them over and transform them as a servant to one’s own personal ambitions. The opposite would be to do as Jesus did. Win people over by example (not only talk the talk, but walk the walk), and show love.
Love triumphs over hate. Substance triumphs over style. Support may come as a result of style, but substance always has a way of breaking through the ice. Giving makes you stand out more than selfishness, and beauty always has a way of breaking through the world’s definition of ugliness.
You can both be a part of the world and be among others, or you can stand out, defy the world’s ideas of what is and what isn’t, and start a following. This whole concept is very much amazing, and dynamic. Talent, wisdom, and substance will always endure. Emphasis on physical appearance without talent, wisdom, and substance are worth little to nothing in the long run, as their pull can expire at a moment’s notice.