The girl singer was fat. The boy singer sang beautifully. [ed.note. the boy singer was a bit round, too, but we won’t mention that, just like we won’t comment on how he was costumed.] Talk about double standards. But, as they say, those that can, do, and those that can’t are critics.
This is great! However, it’s important to point out that, while I know this wasn’t at all the intention, this implies that a fat singer is unrealistic, just like singing instead of speaking is “unrealistic.” The fact that a singer is overweight should not be another thing that the audience must work to ignore or overlook in order to enjoy or “believe” the story being played out in front of them. It should not be a case of, “Oh, well, the soprano is fat and in real life the hunky tenor wouldn’t be in love with her, but because it’s opera and she can sing well I will just ignore that fact.” Singers’ physiques are not something we should have to overlook if they don’t fit into society’s narrow definition of what is “beautiful” or “normal.” If the singer is comfortable in his or her body and can convincingly inhabit their character through their vocal and physical presence, then that’s all that matters. A singer’s weight or general appearance is never the reason why we fail to believe them onstage; it is either a fault in the costuming, direction, production, OR a fault in their acting/movement and/or musical skills. It’s important that we are able to criticize (if we must criticize at all) the correct things, and not lazily blame everything on a singer’s looks.
Thank you for taking the time to comment thoughtfully and constructively. I completely take this on board. The nuances of this issue are not well served through the medium of Lego. A great many words have been written on this issue in the past few days, and I’m sure there are many more to come. A lot of these words will be written by people far better-placed to comment on the reality of sexism in the music world. I’ve only sought to address the idea that we get to pick and choose which aspects of the performance need to be realistic, and that those selections are above questioning. It’s not a complete argument. It’s a small part of a big and serious picture, which I’ve tried to handle in a concise and entertaining way.
I still love this Lego post though! You’ve done a great job with it, and it does bring to light the absurdity of people’s foolish remarks. Well done. 🙂
Proper Discord 
The girl singer was fat. The boy singer sang beautifully. [ed.note. the boy singer was a bit round, too, but we won’t mention that, just like we won’t comment on how he was costumed.] Talk about double standards. But, as they say, those that can, do, and those that can’t are critics.
This is great! However, it’s important to point out that, while I know this wasn’t at all the intention, this implies that a fat singer is unrealistic, just like singing instead of speaking is “unrealistic.” The fact that a singer is overweight should not be another thing that the audience must work to ignore or overlook in order to enjoy or “believe” the story being played out in front of them. It should not be a case of, “Oh, well, the soprano is fat and in real life the hunky tenor wouldn’t be in love with her, but because it’s opera and she can sing well I will just ignore that fact.” Singers’ physiques are not something we should have to overlook if they don’t fit into society’s narrow definition of what is “beautiful” or “normal.” If the singer is comfortable in his or her body and can convincingly inhabit their character through their vocal and physical presence, then that’s all that matters. A singer’s weight or general appearance is never the reason why we fail to believe them onstage; it is either a fault in the costuming, direction, production, OR a fault in their acting/movement and/or musical skills. It’s important that we are able to criticize (if we must criticize at all) the correct things, and not lazily blame everything on a singer’s looks.
Thank you for taking the time to comment thoughtfully and constructively. I completely take this on board. The nuances of this issue are not well served through the medium of Lego. A great many words have been written on this issue in the past few days, and I’m sure there are many more to come. A lot of these words will be written by people far better-placed to comment on the reality of sexism in the music world. I’ve only sought to address the idea that we get to pick and choose which aspects of the performance need to be realistic, and that those selections are above questioning. It’s not a complete argument. It’s a small part of a big and serious picture, which I’ve tried to handle in a concise and entertaining way.
I still love this Lego post though! You’ve done a great job with it, and it does bring to light the absurdity of people’s foolish remarks. Well done. 🙂