Standing Between "Never Give up On Your Dream" and the Perfect Example of "The Other"

I cried while I was watching the YouTube of the show “Britain’s Got Talent.” In the YouTube, Susan Margaret Boyle was singing “I Dreamed A Dream.” I cried with hot tears from deep inside of my heart not only because her voice was amazing, but also because she was a kind of a woman like me in some respects; she can be considered as one of the in terms of “The Others,” in several ways.

She was definitely a “woman,” “slightly chubby,” “far from a classy dresser,” “not very sexy,” “ not had an attractive appearance,” and was “not young” as a new singer. She was born in 1961 and the show was held in 2009, so when she was singing in the show, she was 47 almost 50.
However, April 11, 2009, she was reborn as a woman whose dream came true. I think she was standing in the position of between “never give up on your dream” and an example of “the others”, for a long time, but not anymore. Susan showed to the people that “the others” can dream their own dreams. More importantly, she made a fool of people’s stupid prejudice and the media’s low grade malice by her beautiful singing.

Although she made her dream came true beautifully, I was very annoyed while I was watching the show because everyone’s behavior in the show was very impolite and rude. The audience behaved as if Susan Boyle was a kind of a freak just because of her appearance and her age. Before she began to sing, the judges and everyone in the show including the audience expressed their disappointment because she looked as if she was not suited for the show at all. One of the judges, Simon, asked her age. Susan answered “I’m 47, and that’s just one side of me.” I liked her response, but everyone on the show ridiculed her. Some of the audience humiliated and insulted her. However, when she started to sing, everyone on the show was astonished because her voice was like from heaven and her attitude was imposing and beautiful. I could not stop crying for a while.

The audience changed their attitude immediately and it was ridiculous. But I don’t blame on the audience rather I blame on the TV show makers. I know something about how a TV show is made. The show probably was recorded before being broadcasted. And the setting might be set up before being recorded. I cannot say that all the reactions of the audiences were fakes, but certainly the show makers exaggerated and emphasized people’s biased consciousness by editing and setting just to make the show dramatic. Even if people’s biased prejudice is our sad fact, the media should not do that because the media can lead people in a bad direction. The show was held in England, but I discovered that America is not very different.

When I was in my home country, Korea, I have heard that America was a nation of opportunity, a country that allows everyone to have their own dreams, the land of equality for everyone. However, while I am in America, my belief is shifting. Furthermore, while I am learning about the American culture and the way of thinking, I have to do self examination every moment. “What was I thinking?” “Can I still be dreaming in America?”

The most frustrating thing for me is that, I have realized that I am the perfect example of the term, “The Others.” I am a foreigner, more specifically an Asian, a woman, and I have a strong accent, do not speak English very well, and I am not young, not rich, not sexy nor beautiful.
For Susan Boyle, she is at least a white, more specifically British, and her English is her mother language. She was like me in some parts, but obviously she had a much better position than me, I mean in terms of “The Good and The Others.” And the sad thing is that, at least I believe, I have a same red blood and hot tears and the same emotions in terms of “The Good.”
Now I think I can understand more clearly why no one believed or supported my dream when I left Korea. The reason was not only because of English or my age, but their doubts were rooted in a more broad scale.

Then, should I stop dreaming?

At this point of time, one thing is clear to me that I don’t want to live with the awareness that I am the perfect example of in terms of “The Others.”
Should I ignore it? Do I have to forget it?

I have met many of friendly, kind, nice, and warm hearted Americans in the U.S. They don’t think about my characters as one of “The Others.” I also met some mean people, but I do not think they are racist or ageist. Good people and mean people are everywhere. I surely believe the positive human nature regardless of race, gender or nationality. Standing between “never give up on my dream” and “the perfect example of the others” is sometimes very frustrating to me. On the other hand, I don’t want to surrender the prejudices. Therefore, I want to believe that my study in America will be worth to try. I want to be still dreaming that someday maybe I can be the same as Susan Boyle. I want to show to “The Others” that “The Others” can make their own dream come true and I also want to prove that the false image made by the media is wrong like Susan Boyle.