Welcome to the first official Age Lessons blog. Thanks to lucky timing, we’re launching a blog addressing age-related issues across the generations on the heels of a recent YouTub phenomenon. The remarkable debut of talent show contestant Susan Boyle reinforces the truth of the bromide ”don’t judge a book by its cover” [or its age]. If ever there was a moving testimony to the triumph of talent over arbitrary criteria used by our society such as age or beauty, this is it.
SPOILER ALERT: if you aren’t familiar with Susan’s story, skip immediately to the video link below and view her appearance on the U.K. reality show Britain’s Got Talent before reading any further.
To outward appearances, Susan is the quintessential British spinster. Prim, proper, slightly dowdy and slightly disconnected from the world at large. The pre-performance screening questions from always-edgy judge Simon Cowell reveal that Susan is 47 going on 48, lives alone with her cats, and has ”never been kissed”. Her goal is to be as successful as musical theater star Elaine Paige. As the camera pans the audience, it captures reaction shots dominated by rude sniggers, sly asides and dramatic eye rolls at the audacity of a women at this age, in this outfit, with that accent, daring to dream so big.
And then, Susan sings.
The rest is YouTube history, registering the most successful viral campaign of the year with more than one hundred million hits in two days! If you’d like to see what the fuss is about, or re-visit her riveting performance, check out the link below.
Video Clip: Susan Boyle on Britain’s Got Talent
Age Lesson Learned: Talent trumps all when it comes to hiring practices.