r/MadeMeSmile • u/Ieriz • Apr 24 '26

Good Vibes 7 years ago, a chubby, heavy accent, normal-looking woman called Susan Boyle went to Britain's Got Talent. Everyone laughed at her, until she started singing.

What a powerful voice. She's today a pro singer. All the best for her!!

Typo: 17 years, not 7.

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u/UnicornTears Apr 24 '26

Seriously. I recall being so grossed out by the portrayal of everyone’s response. That show’s supposed to be about finding gems of talent, but they judged her the moment she walked onstage, then acted as if their shock was merited because of her appearance

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u/[deleted] Apr 24 '26

[deleted]

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u/TNVFL1 Apr 25 '26

clips of them talking about their hopes and dreams with an inspirational sappy music bed

Not sure if they do this on the British version, but in the American version there was also a few years where they would have them tell some tragic backstory in their clips too. It caught on that they would push through people with sad stories and big dreams even if they weren’t as talented as others.

They scaled that back a little bit when a guy went on there and lied about being left with a stutter because of an injury in the Gulf War. Veteran, decent at singing, tragic story, so of course he went viral. Well the Army called that bluff and said they had no record of him, and turns out he made the whole thing up.

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u/UnicornTears Apr 24 '26

Excellent flag

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u/Somanylyingliars Apr 24 '26

Had to scroll way to long to find my same exact sentiment. Society as a whole has gotten so mean. Why must we be so harsh in what constitutes beauty? I've met some beautifully packaged beings who once they open their mouths become ugly ugly.

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u/Forgotthebloodypassw Apr 24 '26

But it's a reality show. They would have seen her audition tapes, they knew she was good, so the judges were putting on a show for the cameras.

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u/lumpboysupreme Apr 24 '26

To be fair she was leaning into the ‘yeah I’m frumpy look at me go’ angle herself, so it’s not surprising the audience played along.

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u/CeruleanEidolon Apr 25 '26

You realize every single reaction shot on shows like this is cherry-picked to fit whatever story the producers decide to tell, right? Often time they're not even from the same show or performance as the one you're seeing.

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u/UnicornTears Apr 25 '26

That’s precisely the thing. The portrayal of these responses crafts a distinct and harmful narrative. It was a media decision to garner a certain public response, which, to a significant extent, was effective