SPOILER ALERT  - before you read this blog, make sure you watch this video:

<a href="http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=55732145">Susan Boyle</a><br/><object width="425px" height="360px" ><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"/><param name="wmode" value="transparent"/><param name="movie" value="http://mediaservices.myspace.com/services/media/embed.aspx/m=55732145,t=1,mt=video"/><embed src="http://mediaservices.myspace.com/services/media/embed.aspx/m=55732145,t=1,mt=video" width="425" height="360" allowFullScreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent"></embed></object>

Then come back and read the rest of this blog when you're done watching.  It might be hard to, but please try. 

See ya!

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You're back?  Truly amazing!  Okay now you can keep reading.     

We hate to admit it, but we judge people by their appearance.  This was a glaring example.   Even the "average" looking people - the very ones who should be most angry at this sort of prejudice - were snickering.  

The funny music score under her intro kind of gave it away for me, but I was still surprised.  I wonder if I would have been one of those cynical audience members?  Probably.  I like to think that I am better than that, but how can I think I am better than the average person in that regard?   Hindsight is twenty-twenty. 

I like to think that I judge people by the content of their character rather than by how they look.  I'm sure the audience and judges like to think the same about themselves.   It's easy to say that in a hypothetical situation.   But everyone here was caught off guard; and our true, naked, ugly nature reared itself.  It kind of makes it hard for me to look in the mirror at this moment.  I feel - well - ugly.

In my film "Beauty: In the Eyes of the Beheld," I chronicle  the curses faced by the beautiful (along with the blessings).  They are nothing compared to how people treated Susan Boyle before she sang.  Maybe I'll eat these words later, but for now I'll just follow my emotions.

I cried when she sang.  I cried because she overcame one of the most basic prejudices there is to overcome.  I love underdog stories.   Even though the villain might be yours truly.

Here's an interview of her that I found:
















Here is a childhood photo of Susan Boyle.