August 13 2008: Talent Vs. Appearance
Filed under Asian-ness & Body & Media & Politics
There’s been an awful lot of controversy today surrounding the eleventh hour switch of the little girl singers at the opening ceremony, with a large majority of comments on that particular article going “OMG China is evil”. These commenters are obviously delusional, and/or haven’t been living in the modern world.
Physical appearance matters. This is especially true for the entertainment industry, which this case falls into. Want a singer to appear on international television? You’d want an attractive singer, or at least an attractive person who can lip-synch. It’s the same everywhere – when was the last time you saw an unattractive actress, actor, singer, model? If you’re wanting to succeed in showbiz, you’d better hope that you’re good-looking, because no amount of talent will get you anywhere otherwise.
The article goes on to criticise the Chinese for only appointing slim and attractive women to present at the medal ceremonies. Yes, and? Slim and attractive women are a staple at ceremonies around the world. Grand Prix ceremonies are rife with sexy grid girls in skimpy outfits. A tennis tournament in Spain had models act as ballgirls to garner attention. Slim and attractive women are a staple for sports events – their presence sells tickets.
It’s not to say of course, that talent is worthless. On the contrary – talent is important as an athlete, a doctor, an engineer, etc. I’d be worried if physical appearance played a larger part than talent in these occupations. It’s not to say of course that physical appearance doesn’t matter. A doctor would be out of a job quickly if he showed up to surgery in sweatpants, an athlete wouldn’t last long in their sport if they didn’t keep themselves in peak physical condition. On a more basic level, I personally certainly wouldn’t show up to a job interview looking anything less than perfectly groomed; every little bit helps, and first impressions do matter.
Those kicking up a fuss about the “talent vs. appearance” argument need first to consider what industry they’re protesting against. Different degrees of each are needed for each particular job description…and in the case of the little girl singer in the ceremony, a bright, young, pretty thing was more appropriate for the role.
18 Responses to “Talent Vs. Appearance”
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Well, I think the fuzz got to this point cause it’s little girls we’re talking about. I don’t know…
I don’t think appearance should matter that much at such a young age, but in the real world appearance is really important no matter how young or old you are.
If I were them, I would have tried to find another girl who looked good and could sing, not one who lip mimed. There’s gotta be a lot of them, doesn’t it?
Regine on August 13 2008 #
I have to say I found the switch to be pretty awful, because we’re talking about little girls. The actual singer was seven, right? That’s much too young to be subjected to the beauty tyrrany of the entertainment industry.
Reply: Really? I seriously doubt that the commenters on that article (keeping in mind that I’m referring specifically to the comments in that article in this entry) actually care that much about the innocence of a child. Are they protesting against the institutionalised sexualisation of girls as young as five years old in annual beauty pageants around the world (”Little Miss XYZ” etc)? Are they protesting against the deprivation of a ‘normal childhood’ of all Hollywood actors under the age of eighteen?
It seems awfully hypocritical for them to say (literally) “Typical of the Chinese” in reference to this one particular case, as though the exposure of children to the cruelties of the entertainment industry doesn’t happen in any other country.
Mari on August 13 2008 #
Hmm I’m picturing a god-awful Ashlee Simpson and/or Avril Lavigne fiasco… takes one to know one, PAH!
I can’t believe that something so trivial as this would make front page headlines when there are more important things happening like oh I don’t know a WAR in eastern Europe or the actual SPORTING EVENTS themselves? The media’s just stirring a miniscule pile of crap and digging up squat. Really pathetic.
To be on the safe side though, the directors should have just stuck with a kid who had the talent and the looks; surely in a population of 1.5 billion this was more than possible? But apparently Zhang Yimou took a particular liking to that pretty little 9 year old, so what can you do…
Jen on August 13 2008 #
I agree with you. I also think they should stop making a big deal, as the two girls are friends and both said they didn’t mind- neither did their parents. The girl who performed said she didn’t care if it wasn’t her voice as long as she performed. So what’s the big deal? Also they did find a girl with looks and the voice but they decided she was too old…
Catherine on August 13 2008 #
Now, I’m not following this, but I’m pretty sure you missed the point.
I was under the impression that the point is that China tries way too hard, and this is just another example of it. I think it’s basically saying that they cheated in their opening ceremony.
So that’s why this is making headlines (although I haven’t actually seen any here in Canda). And the war in eastern Europe is over – Russia proved its point and ruined a huge chunk of a region.
Reply: I’m getting the impression that you’re thinking that the opening ceremony of previous Olympic Games involved no “cheating”, and that China is the first. So well: Athens used special digital effects to create the appearance of a projectile going from the site of the ancient Games, to the site of the Modern Games; Sydney started the flying girl tradition (wires are cheating!), Barcelona started the Olympic flame manually (unbeknownst to TV audiences!) when the archer missed his target, etc etc.
The point remains that the opening ceremony of any Games is a performance. It is not reality (since when do people fly on wires?), and digital effects and technology is used to make it more impressive. It is a gala extravaganza largely designed for television viewing by an international audience. So why make the big deal about China when ‘cheating’ has been done before? Why China?
Mike Haddad on August 13 2008 #
Amanda: Im not saying China is evil and never did. I dislike this thing everywhere. This is just the big issue right now that portrays it.
Catherine: They are little girls. How do you know they werent just told what to say? There would be way more backlash if they said the “wrong” thing. As for finding one other girl, that doesnt sound like they searched very far. One girl that was pretty and could sing in ALL of China?
Reply: Never mentioned you in this entry. :) I was referring specifically to the article by the Times, hence I linked it.
Skye on August 13 2008 #
Amanda: Sorry, the bit towards you was in reference to your comment on my post; I replied back there but wasnt sure if you saw. :-)
Skye on August 14 2008 #
I think, however you dress it up or try to present it, it is still fundamentally wrong. But I think, perhaps, where the real argument lies here is the media pouncing upon this story and blowing it out of proportion as yet another barb against China. I’m sure other countries would do — and DO the same — as part of the entertainment industry. That doesn’t make it right, but that’s what happens.
Amber on August 14 2008 #
I wouldn’t call either the girls ugly, but that’s not the point. I think people are just on the edge of their seat, looking for any reason to say that China is bad. The slightest decision they make is being looked over carefully with a microscope to find every possible flaw.
The United States, for example, are surely happy to say that this is horrible, but they aren’t exactly known for their worshipping of ordinary people and the importance they give to talent and personal quality over physical appearance.
Julie on August 14 2008 #
Would like to add: I’m not saying everyone in the United States is a superficial asshole.
Julie on August 14 2008 #
Yes, I agree with you, there’s nothing “typical Chinese” about switching the two girls. It could have happened everywhere, and I’d still see it as just as wrong. In my ideal world, talent would always matter more than looks.
Mari on August 14 2008 #
I hate how everyone always try to point out every little bad thing about China. I don’t see why they are making a big deal out of this when China is not the only place in the world where something like this would have happened -_-;
Annie on August 14 2008 #
It’s not fair that everyone seems to be picking on China, but at the same time… dumping a child because she has crooked teeth – She’s just a kid. They should have let her sing. If the US did the same thing, I’d think it was wrong too.
Chantelle on August 14 2008 #
I don’t have anything against China or that specific decision to let a “pretty” girl lip-synch while the “not-so-pretty” girl gets to do the voice over… What upsets me is that this would have happened in any other country and that had the girl with the crooked teeth sang the song, someone somewhere would have said something about it.
Anyway, for some reason that I don’t understand, some members of the media are just eager to Chinese people look bad. Wasn’t China recently criticized for how young their female representatives in the gymnastics were?
Felisa on August 14 2008 #
I think that little girl with crooked teeth is kinda cute, to be honest. And I think it just seems a little more heartless when a child is being shunted out of the spotlight due to her appearance.
Also, Maggie Gyllenhaal is famous, and her lack of good looks almost ruined The Dark Knight for me..
Shen-Shen on August 14 2008 #
I just feel so bad for the little girl who did sing. Such a voice, and the only thing wrong was her teeth. I understand your point completely, but I still thing that it is going to affect her life in some way. You know? That could severely damage her self esteem to have won such an esteemed honor only to be visibly replaced at the last minute.
Poor thing. I saw both of the girls pictures and I think the original girl would have looked just darling in the red dress.
Anyway, it seems like the media is nitpicking the entire Olympics in an attempt to keep selling newspapers and gaining view on their sites. All kinds of research is going into each of the contestants and reporters are all digging for dirt, like with the Spanish soccer team. Crazy business.
Erin on August 15 2008 #
Why would they even bother to switch the kid, most people think all kids are cute in general. I do agree on most people in the public eye looking “good” but I have not heard many cases where they switch someone who can sing great just because they do not look as good as another person. We have plenty of not so good looking singers…
This also is not the only thing China did before the start of the Olympics, I heard a story about training young kids numerous hours in a day with hardly any breaks… Not very nice if this is true…
Chris on August 15 2008 #
Wow, this has turned into a bit of a public forum hasn’t it? I might as well join in on this “debate.”
Yes, I didn’t particularly like how the Olympic organizers gave a young, impressionable girl the idea that beauty is valued over talent. However, this is how show biz works and China certainly isn’t the only country that understands and utilizes basic show biz concepts. At the end of the day, beauty sells, and China was trying to put on a perfect performance.
But, honestly, the media didn’t focus on the girls when they criticized China for making the last minute switch. They made it seem like China was somehow being deceitful for the lip syncing act alone! What country isn’t guilty of doing this?
Jennifer on August 17 2008 #