The Susan Boyle experience

27 June 2009 | 21:47 - By Stefano Boscutti

What was the Susan Boyle spectacle exactly?  What was that chunk of culture that held us, for days at least, so firmly rapt?

thesusan_1768487112

Virginia Heffernan knows the answers lie in the video, a small, insidious masterpiece that really should be watched several times for its accidental commentary on popular misery, the concept of "expectation" and how cultures congratulate themselves. First off, the Susan Boyle phenomenon truly belongs to the world of online video, whose prime directive is to be amazing. The great subjects of online video are stunts, pranks, violence, gotchas, virtuosity, upsets and transformations. Where television is supposed to satisfy expectations with its genres and formulas, online video confounds them. More than ever it's not about what's on the screen.  It's about us.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/magazine/28FOB-medium-t.html

Share article: 
top

Join the discussion

You have characters remaining.
Validation (
) :
This is a captcha-picture. It is used to prevent mass-access by robots.

PLEASE NOTE: All submitted comments become the property of SBS. We reserve the right to edit and/or amend submitted comments. HTML tags other than paragraph, line break, bold or italics will be removed from your comment.

About this Blog

New New Media looks at how our mediascape is exploding to bits. How the latest technology and the internet are changing the way we live, work and play. How the latest media is shaping us all.

Stefano Boscutti is an executive creative director and strategist. He's like a better looking version of Todd Sampson. He also has an abiding faith that stories and wordplay (and not powerpoint presentations) will change the world.

 
ADVERTISEMENT

Other Blogs

TV
Food
Films
Documentary
World News Australia
Sport
About SBS
Business
Internet and Technology
Cycling Central
Festival Reports
Tour De France