{"id":1828,"date":"2009-04-19T23:20:53","date_gmt":"2009-04-20T07:20:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.godammit.com\/?p=1828"},"modified":"2009-04-19T23:20:53","modified_gmt":"2009-04-20T07:20:53","slug":"the-susan-boyle-thing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/godammit.com\/the-susan-boyle-thing\/","title":{"rendered":"The Susan Boyle Thing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.godammit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/susan-boyle.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-1831\" title=\"susan-boyle\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.godammit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/susan-boyle-150x150.jpg?resize=150%2C150\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/godammit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/susan-boyle.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/godammit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/var\/www\/vhosts\/godammit.com\/httpdocs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/susan-boyle.jpg?zoom=2&amp;resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.godammit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/ugly-duckling.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1829\" title=\"ugly-duckling\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.godammit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/ugly-duckling.png?resize=400%2C151\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"151\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/godammit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/ugly-duckling.png?w=400&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/godammit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/ugly-duckling.png?resize=300%2C113&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I didn&#8217;t actually cry, but I did get choked up. I watched it again, and then I watched it some more. I fucking love Susan Boyle.<\/p>\n<p>What is it that has <a href=\"http:\/\/www.susan-boyle.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">touched<\/a> a nerve all over the world?<\/p>\n<p>I know there&#8217;s a simple explanation, but I also think there&#8217;s much more going on.<\/p>\n<p>First, there&#8217;s the fairy tale aspect. I was thinking Cinderella, but my son suggested The Ugly Ducking, and of course he is correct. But why so much weeping?<\/p>\n<p>Are we crying with relief that for once there is justice, and virtue is rewarded?<\/p>\n<p>Are we crying with self-pity? We all harbor a secret belief that we are special and one day the world will take note; It&#8217;s happened for Susan but not for us.<\/p>\n<p>Are we crying because we feel sentimental when we root for the underdog?<\/p>\n<p>Are we crying because of a universal longing for authenticity?<\/p>\n<p>Are we crying because we are projecting a life of sacrifice and rejection onto Susan Boyle?<\/p>\n<p>Or are we responding to the sheer passion and sweetness of her voice?<\/p>\n<p>I only hope nothing happens to burst the <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.wsj.com\/digits\/2009\/04\/16\/the-susan-boyle-bubble\/\/?from=hp.featured\" target=\"_blank\">bubble<\/a>. Our love for Susan Boyle implies a collective humanity and desire for transcendence.&nbsp;\u00a0 However, it must be noted that my husband&#8217;s response is essentially &#8216;big deal.&#8217; When urged to elaborate, he said, &#8220;It&#8217;s Shrek.&#8221; ( If you need a cynic, you know where to find him!)<\/p>\n<p>Thoughts, anyone?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I didn&#8217;t actually cry, but I did get choked up. I watched it again, and then I watched it some more. I fucking love Susan Boyle. What is it that has touched a nerve all over the world? I know &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/godammit.com\/the-susan-boyle-thing\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[12,8],"tags":[328,566],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7t44M-tu","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/godammit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1828"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/godammit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/godammit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/godammit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/godammit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/godammit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1828\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/godammit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/godammit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/godammit.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}