I think “cynicism” is too nice a word though. It’s prejudice pure and simple. The only reason anyone was surprised was because they had pre-judged her very negatively on the basis of her appearance. I found it disturbing that those two male judges weren’t even ashamed of themselves. Like they haven’t realised that their shock says something pretty horrible about them.

I think this is just an example of how the majority of people think it’s ok to treat people who don’t fit into the narrowly-prescribed vision of an acceptable appearance. Depressing. But like you say, it’s also uplifting, because the more Potts and Boyles that get onto our screens, the weaker the perceived correlation becomes between appearance and value, and the less shallow we are forced to become.

The less of a strangle-hold that middle-aged male-gaze gate-keepers have on who gets onto the stage, the better it will be for everyone. What is heart-warming is seeing that self-perpetuating strangle-hold of shallowness shown up for what it is.