Underdogs deserve makeovers, too.
Yesterday, in an article about dating and physical attraction, we touched on the phenomenal reaction that a British theater audience had to Susan Boyle, the frumpy, 47 year-old Scottish woman who was transformed from a target of derision to celebrity sensation in a matter of moments on Simon Cowell’s program Britain’s Got Talent.
To have any idea of the startling reversal, the judges and audience underwent in a matter of seconds as Boyle’s performance began you must click here to see it for yourself.
Here you see a dark side and a noble side of human nature as it collides. When Boyle walks out, a woman who had described herself as “never married, never kissed,” camera shots of the audience catch a variety of individuals giving each other looks of amazement that this woman had the nerve to even appear. The judges snickered, by their own admission, as well. When she announced that she would like to be the next Elaine Paige, known as the first lady of British musical theatre, many audience members laughed out loud and one of the judges rolled his eyes.
But when Boyle, after giving herself an awkward introduction, began to sing, everything changed. Within seconds half of the audience was on their feet cheering, and what started with snickers and sneers quickly changed into a three-minute love fest as Boyle belted out a pitch-perfect rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream,” the soul stirring hit song from the musical Les Miserables.
By the end of the piece nearly everyone in the theater was on their feet cheering wildly.
No one seems to mind that minutes before they had dismissed the same woman as a crank, an ugly duckling, who no doubt had a voice that matched her features.
What so startled this audience and these three judges was the rapid and dramatic unfolding of a classic underdog story.
Love of the underdog is deeply ingrained in our character. It’s what makes sports stories like the “Miracle Mets” of 1969, the USA Hockey Team of the 1980 Winter Olympics, or an individual triumph, as told in the film Rudy, so popular in our culture.
Ultimately in Boyle we see someone we can all identify with. The person who rises out of the faceless crowd and stuns a nation, and thanks to the Internet, the entire world, in one amazing moment.
When the New York Yankees make it to the World Series people yawn because with a huge payroll and an endless supply of talent it’s what we expect. But when the Tampa Bay Rays make it to the championship with a payroll less than ten percent of that of the Yankees organization, people become overnight fans of the team.
Simply put, the vast majority of us are not children of privilege. Clearly we identify with the person who comes from the back of the pack and finishes first. The log cabin Lincoln, or an Obama, the son of a single mom on food stamps, as opposed to a George W. Bush, the son of a president and the grandson of a United States Senator.
Watching Boyle’s performance is akin to a classic Disney moment. It’s Beauty and the Beast, meets Cinderella.
It will be interesting to see how the next chapters in this story unfold as Britain’s Got Talent show moves towards its final rounds of competition. Already Boyle has gotten a makeover, and Cowell, ever the promoter, is keeping her under lock and key as they prepare for what promises to be a huge audience both in Britain and around the globe. Stay tuned and we’ll see if this underdog has legs.
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