The piece particularly denounces the use of women’s bodies in these entertainment shows. Susan Boyle perfectly embodied this problem: first mocked by the public, she was then celebrated, but for serving exactly the same principle of voyeurism and entertainment.
“This right that we grant ourselves to judge is extremely violent”denounces Réal Siellez, pointing the finger “one of the great cancers of the last 25 years”: this ease with which everyone can comment on a body that does not belong to them. The show questions our responsibilities in the face of the spectacle of difference and vulnerability.
With director Muriel Clairembourg, Réal Siellez wanted to work on the artificiality of television sets. “TV on TV is always more real than in the studios”observes the author. “We create the heat that will appear on the screen”while the reality in the studios is very different.
This mise en abyme reveals a disturbing truth: “We don’t sell reality when we work with images. Never.” The show thus reveals the mechanisms of this entertainment industry which transforms suffering and difference into a spectacle, questioning our own complicity as spectators.
Susie Got Talent by Réal Siellez, directed by Muriel Clairembourg, can be seen until May 28 at the Théâtre des Martyrs.
