I can’t wait
Who could possibly have a problem with this?
Only a few more hours until the ice dancing! Tonight, in the original dance competition, reigning world champions Domnina and Shabalin will perform their Sensitive and Respectful Tribute to Brown People.
The figure skating has been truly delicious this year. I’m glad Evan Lysacek beat Lord Plushenko, though I would have preferred to see Johnny Weir on the podium. That wasn’t going to happen, of course.
In other news, I’m also glad to see that Bode Miller finally won his gold medal. Now I wish he would disappear into the same black hole that I keep praying will swallow up Tiger Woods. Is there or is there not a god? I ask you.
65 Responses to “I can’t wait”
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Valhalla says:
I confess I watched this in action. This picture is from their previous skate at — I don’t remember, world championships? They ‘toned down’ their outfits for the Olympics (really, they just removed the fake tattoos). The costumes were not half as offensive as their actual routine was. At one point the guy (can’t be bothered to learn his name) “dragged” his partner across the ice by her hair. Oh those goofy aboriginals! And they ended the whole routine by rubbing noses, although I wasn’t quite sure if that was intentional.
February 21st, 2010 at 10:47 pm EST -
Violet Socks says:
Yeah, I watched it too. The costumes were also distinctly lighter in tone, not as brown. And they dropped the face paint.
The routine was horrible. Their choreographer should be shot. Along with their costumer. Jesus. I know they’re a strong team, but that was just ridiculous.
The fact that they’re in third place after that just goes to show how crooked figure skating still is. Russian money, politics, judges padding the scores.
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Violet Socks says:
The good thing is that the two couples at the top really are the two best. Davis and White skated their Bollywood program, which is fricking brilliant. They were in first place until Virtue and Moir took the lead with their flamenco dance, which is a very fine piece of choreography and very well executed. Easily the two best teams tonight, by far.
Domnina and Shabalin don’t belong anywhere near those two with that garbage they did tonight. Just a bad, bad program. They’re very good skaters, but that aboriginal thing is just horrible.
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Keri says:
It was a hideously offensive dance and their skating for that was far below the scores they received. Even the NBC commentators talked about how subpar that dance was.
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Toonces says:
I remember being upset with crooked skating judging last winter Olympics (and in many competitions), but I’m really blown away by how obvious it is this year. I think it was Peggy Flemming who said she wanted to see some of the score sheets.
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Tabby Lavalamp says:
Any Canadian who saw Bourne and Kraatz get the shaft in Nagano knows that ice dancing judging is crooked. My opinion is that if there’s no way to fix it, then it has no place at the Olympics.
But it’s not just ice dancing. Don’t forget the pairs skatering Salé and Pelletier controversy at Salt Lake City, where there was so much evidence of fixing that the IOC ended up awarding them the gold.
Frankly, I wonder if any judged event has any place at the games. -
riverdaughter says:
Think salad with russian dressing.
I’m not offended by these costumes and think the people who are should chill. Clearly, the beings that wear this costume as their national dress live on another planet, like Pandora except for the color scheme and lack of pick phosphorescent floaty thingies, which I’m *sure* this pair would have engineered into this getup if they could.
They call it aboriginal, presumably because the music featured a digeridoo but it could have included a uilian pipe and it wouldn’t have made the costume Irish.
Let’s just say that they are in their own world and leave it at that. -
Nessum says:
I have to admit that watching the Canadian couple Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir always takes my breath away – and yes, leaves me teary-eyed.
The synchronosity(sp?), the harmony, the utter beauty of their every performance is awesome.
(Doesn’t hurt either that it goes for their looks too. They are adorable !)
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Topper Harley says:
@6 That’s why I think the winter olympics are lame. Practically everyone has ridden a bicycle, been in a foot race, or picked up something heavy. As such, they can appreciate what’s happening at the summer olympics. But judged events? “Oh no! They didn’t keep their ankles together. Tenth of a point!”
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Tabby Lavalamp says:
Topper, the Summer Olympics have their judged events too, diving and such.
The Winter Games also have events that are based largely on skill (and good equipment) – luge, bobsled, hockey, curling, any of the skiing and snowboarding events that are races and not performances, etc.
Unfortunately figure skating is one of the big money events, so it’ll never be let go. And don’t get me wrong – figure skating is one of the few sports I can watch and enjoy, and it’s one of the few where women are held in as high esteem as the men (though that’s sadly probably to do with homophobic reactions to male figure skaters).
But there is such a taint to judged events that I can’t take them seriously. It’s like an asterisk should go beside every medal “won” in one. -
votermom says:
Hah. When I first looked at that picture I thought they were supposed to be iced gingerbread cookies.
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teresainpa says:
but then Riverdaughter, you are not an aboriginal Australian right?
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Valhalla says:
There are some other judged events that don’t seem to be quite so subjective, like the aerials and even snowboarding (style points). Although there aren’t hard numbers to be assigned as with a straight race, those events do seem to have some sort of standards (how many times rotated, were your legs straight, etc). It’s the catch-all ‘artistic impression’ type stuff that is where the wide latitude for bias, politics and fraud come in. Although maybe it’s because there’s not quite as much money to be made from aerials and snowboarding as figure skating?
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Violet Socks says:
Riverdaughter, this isn’t a fantasy dance. The theme for this portion of the competition was “country/folk” dance, meaning that it’s specifically supposed to be a folk dance or traditional dance of a particular country.
Domnina and Shabalin chose to do Australian Aborigines. And this is the result. It’s absurd.
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Violet Socks says:
It’s the catch-all ‘artistic impression’ type stuff that is where the wide latitude for bias, politics and fraud come in.
No, here’s the deal: the scores in figure skating are crooked because the world of figure skating judging is crooked.
Actually the standards are very clear, and not really any more subjective than any of the other judged sports.
The problem is the politics. The world of figure skating is a lot like ballet, particularly Russian ballet — cutthroat, ruthless, political, etc. It’s an old sport and it’s been like this forever.
If the judges want to inflate somebody’s scores, they do it. They just grade everything higher, including technical aspects.
The new scoring system is better, I think. Harder to mess with. But the judges will still pad and inflate if they want to, and they definitely want to. That’s why Dom/Shab got third place for the original dance, despite it not being a strong program at all.
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riverdaughter says:
tersainpa: If I were, I’d be laughing rather than demanding an apology. I’m beginning to think that the word “aboriginal” suffered a lapse in translation from Russian to English. Or that the word was insensitively applied to native Australians by the English who thought they were primitive savages. But it’s quite clear to me from just looking at those costumes that there is nothing about them that refer to native Australians. Just because a team wants to wear a silly costume doesn’t mean they are out to upset or demean anyone, overtly or otherwise.
C’mon, if you were from Australian, would you be offended? I mean REALLY offended or would you be too busy trying to breathe while laughing.
Aboriginal just means “An original inhabitant of any land.” For all we know, they might have been trying to do a modern take on The Rite of Spring, which was native to where they were from.
Or, heck, I don’t know but I wouldn’t get my knickers in a twist. Otherwise I’d just be PO’s all the time. We have to be more selective in our outrage or people will stop taking us seriously. -
teresainpa says:
does anyone miss Torvill and Dean? I know I do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....re=related
they should have won when they came back in 1994. The Russian pair did what all Russian skaters do. they flail their arms and over emote so that you don’t notice how sloppy their feet are.
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Violet Socks says:
Aboriginal just means “An original inhabitant of any land.” For all we know, they might have been trying to do a modern take on The Rite of Spring, which was native to where they were from.
No, as I said in #14, the dance is supposed to be a specific folk/country dance. It’s not just some wide-open fantasy thing.
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riverdaughter says:
violet: Well, whether it was intentional or not, that dance and costume was fantasy. Like I said, if I were Australian, I’d be laughing my ass off right now. And look at the silliness of the dancers who chose American country. I mean, what was that fuzzy orange bandaid that woman was wearing last night?
I’m betting mockery would have changed that costume quicker than outrage ever did. It’s ridiculous and since they’re Russian, not Australian, what’s the biggy? It’s a DANCE, not an international treaty.
Let’s focus on whether the roughage made the stupid moves more thrilling. I vote “no”. -
teresainpa says:
all I am saying RD is that they have a right to be offended. You can’t tell people what their feelings should be. I was offended when Obama said I was not supporting him because I was from a small town in Pa… etc etc… My brother said “well he wasn’t talking about you”. BS, of course he was, only he was miss-characterizing me. Should I have laughed? Maybe, but I didn’t. So I don’t see where anyone really gets off telling Aboriginal Australians how they should feel. Do you think it would have been okay for them to do black face. Aunt Jamima head gear, braids sticking straight out from their head and do a ridiculous take off on AA “folk dance” from the 1800s? Do you think some people might be offended?
I think the Russian pair have no clue about the rest of the world yet. In some ways they are still sheltered from diversity and the societal problems it can cause in communities even when they strive to be sensitive.Other than that it was a easy but sloppy piece of skating.
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riverdaughter says:
teresainpa: I think you just have to look at the medal count to see that the Russians are nto the formidable juggernauts that they were 20 years ago. I remember when Oksana Baiul went professional right after her gold medal win. There just wasn’t a soviet infrastructure there to support her and the other skaters.
Just look at those costumes. Does that look like quality design and craftsmenship? Heck no. It looks like it’s been slapped together.
Maybe the took a more whimsical, artistic approach to their interpretation (this is what I think happened). I don’t think they were trying to offend anyone and I’m kind of at a loss as to why there was such an outrage over it. At one point in time, EVERY culture was “aboriginal”. If you wanted to do a Rite of Spring aboriginal dance and you only have 3 minutes and fifty bucks, you *might* look to Australian aborigine culture for inspiration and then decide that the red, spandex polyester will show up nicely against the ice but that something tan or ochre colored will just look like you’re leaving a trail of mud.
It was a bad idea. It looks stupid and their performance was subpar even if they were overscored.
Whatever.
I think the people who should be offended are the other skaters. They’re trying to take this sport seriously. That costume just made everyone look like a bunch of ditzy lightweights. -
Violet Socks says:
The aboriginal Australians were legally second-class citizens at best until the late 1960s — judicial children and sometimes even slaves. This is a group of people who have been regarded as sub-human for most of white Australian history.
So a dance that purports to represent them, but is instead nothing more than some kind of Quest for Fire cavepeople “savage” slapstick, with cartoonish costumes to match, is offensive.
Especially when you look at the other dances to see how other folk traditions are treated: with respect. The Bollywood dance by Davis & White is a huge hit with Indians because it’s such a well-done and authentic translation to ice. Davis & White worked with an Indian choreographer and used Indian costuming material, etc., for a dance that truly evokes Bollywood films. Indians love it.
The flamenco ice dance was superb, being the closest thing to true flamenco on ice I’ve ever seen. The country dances, like the Moldavian dance, were also very good skating versions of traditional dances, incorporating well-recognized authentic steps and costuming.
And then here comes the “Australian aboriginal” dance, which has nothing to do with how real Australian aboriginals dance. Nothing. I’ve studied films of Australian dance, and this wasn’t it. Instead, Dom/Shab seemed to think that dressing up in brown bodypaint and cartoonish Aboriginal style costumes was license to act like Hollywood-style savages. The goofy pointing? The hair-pulling? I was sitting there with my mouth open. It was incredible.
No, I don’t think Dom/Shab meant to offend anyone. They’re young people from an extremely white country with no sense of this kind of thing. They made a mistake.
But the reason they are digging in and being defensive has a lot to do with the cloistered world of Russian ice skating politics. Their coach issued a statement making it clear that she thinks these protests are being fueled as a way to influence the judges against her team. I wouldn’t be surprised if she really believes that the North Americans somehow egged on the Australian Aboriginal elders to protest. The Russian skaters are totally in a hothouse world of politics, and that’s how they see everything.
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SKM says:
The olympic committee was foolish to make a “theme” of “country”–i.e. folk dances. This was bound to happen. Not that the theme absolves the team behind the Russian pair’s dance–far from it. I thought that journalists were just stirring controversy until I saw the costumes and even worse, the routine. Argh!
Oh, and Johnny Weir was totally underscored on both of his programs. Quelle surprise. Skating judging is soooo corrupt.
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Violet Socks says:
By the way, anyone interested in a good analysis of the politics in figure skating: The Art of International Politics
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riverdaughter says:
Jeez, Violet, I don’t think anyone on your site doesn’t know the status of Australian natives or how they got to that point. But why all of the stridency over an unfortunate costume choice? I mean, why didn’t the people doing American culture choose a squaredance or Appalachian clog dancing? Why did it have to be Daisy Duke cutoffs and overt sexuality? Why not Saturday Night Waltz by Aaron Copeland or Rodeo? Why not some Bluegrass? I LOVE bluegrass and think it’s quintesential American. Why not New Orleans Mardi Gras? No, instead, we get something straight out of Dukes of Hazard and L’il Abner. Once, I could sorta understand. But TWO teams skating like that? That’s what the rest of the world thinks is our native culture? Cowboys and Ellie May Clampett? How come you weren’t offended by that?
I prefer to lighten up. It’s just a skating competition. -
Violet Socks says:
Riverdaughter, my comment #22 was an attempt to explain why Dom/Shab’s dance was offensive to Aboriginal Australians.
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riverdaughter says:
Violet: I think the Australian native population have said what they wanted. The costumes were modified. They’re still ridiculous.
Now, about Jethro and Ellie Mae… -
Violet Socks says:
Just because a team wants to wear a silly costume doesn’t mean they are out to upset or demean anyone, overtly or otherwise.
But why all of the stridency over an unfortunate costume choice?
I think the Australian native population have said what they wanted. The costumes were modified.
Riverdaughter, one more time: please read my comment #22. This isn’t a costume competition. It’s an ice dancing competition.
I took the time to explain the problem.
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kk says:
I’m an Australian of “indigenous” descent…and I think they look like stupid tea towel art..so I’m just laughing…
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SKM says:
But why all of the stridency over an unfortunate costume choice?
“Stridency”? I only wish you were being ironic. Talk about a cliche silencing tactic.
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riverdaughter says:
Violet: I understand the issue. I just don’t happen to agree with you that this is a violation of someone’s sacred feelings nor does it rise to the level of an international incident. You are preaching to the choir here with respect to aboriginal rights and atrocities that have happened to them. But at one point in time, all of our ancestors have had horrible things happen to them. I’m Irish. My family came here during the potato famine. Should I be upset every time some ninny dressed up as a leprechaun in some bright green coat and top hat dancing some silly jig?
I’m saying this lapse of good taste by the Russians doesn’t meet the criteria of a full fledged outrage. Furthermore, it has apparently been resolved already. The Russians modified their costumes. They still look tacky. If they had changed the costumes to something a little more outback, would that have satisfied some people? I don’t know. It is, after all, a dance interpretation on ice. The Flamenco number didn’t look all that Flamenco-ey to me. Should the Spaniards rally the troops for a sternly worded letter? And I really didn’t like the Moldavian thing. The costumes seemed right but the music was completely out of sync for the dance. I imagine there were more than a few Moldavians (are they Czech or Germans?) scratching their heads over that. So, I have no idea whether the Russians did service to aboriginal, excuse me kk, “indigenous” (that *does* sound better) dancing but I will defend their right to give it a shot.
And yeah, stridency did kind of fit. I’m not sure we’re all supposed to agree with each other on everything or even agree that the Russians were too thoughtless and chauvinistic to give a crap about other people. We can’t get inside their heads to know exactly what they were thinking when the choreographed it. I doubt it had anything to do with abusing the image of indigenous Australians. We can have our own opinions. I would hope we don’t push that on people outside our core group. It seems inflexible and somewhat puritanical.
So the Russians went to the Olympics looking like fugitives from the iPhone Pocket God app and got nailed for being inaccurate and kitschy.
And?? -
Violet Socks says:
I just don’t happen to agree with you that this is a violation of someone’s sacred feelings nor does it rise to the level of an international incident.
I thought the program was tacky and tasteless and I said so. I referred to the protests lodged by the Australians. How on earth does that equate to my being “strident” and talking about someone’s “sacred feelings,” much less claiming it as an “international incident”?
We can have our own opinions. I would hope we don’t push that on people outside our core group. It seems inflexible and somewhat puritanical.
Well, yeah. Which is why it’s so weird that you keep insisting nobody has a right to be offended. And calling me strident because I expressed my opinion that the program was tasteless.
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SKM says:
I’m Irish. My family came here during the potato famine. Should I be upset every time some ninny dressed up as a leprechaun in some bright green coat and top hat dancing some silly jig?
I’m Irish too. But NINA is no longer the rule here. Equality for First Nations folks in Australia is an ongoing issue.
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Adrienne in CA says:
I’m Italian, and I was utterly incensed by the Tarantella. Just kidding.
The debate here prompted me to do some research (well, really web surfing) on indigenous Australian dancing, leading to my own conclusion that it would have been impossible to create an authentic rendition of the dance that would also meet the aesthetics of a modern skating audience, let alone the scoring requirements for ice dance. Yes, the costumes looked ridiculous, reminiscent of some elementary school play where the kids made the outfits from oversized leotards and yarn.
But leaving aside that light skinned people portraying dark skinned people is likely to offend no matter what the intention, even if they’d had closer fitting garments and more accurately depicted body paints in the places meant to approximate skin (options here, here, and here – that last one totally cracks me up), it’s hard to see how the dances themselves could have been fairly adapted to a skating routine (video examples here and here). Violet, I’d be curious how closely these come to the films you’ve seen.
Anyway, ill conceived all around. I do feel sorry for the skaters, though, who took to carrying pictures of actual painted, be-leafed dancers to prove that their getups really were similar. Surely there was a Russian folk dance that might have saved them embarrassment.
*****A
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Violet Socks says:
That’s really a big part of the problem. Australian indigenous dance does not lend itself well to ice dancing at all. But Dom/Shab could certainly have tried harder.
Instead, what they did was basically like a Flintstones cartoon. He drags her around by the hair. They bop each other on the head. They make funny faces. They point. He stoops over.
It was just gross. The overwhelming message that Australians took was: this team wanted to do an idiot “caveman” dance, and so they thought that dressing up like Australian aborigines would be just the thing to do. Hence the elders saying, excuse me, this is not one of our dances, this is not a “folk” or “country” dance; this is a fricking cartoon.
Oops, I gotta watch this next team and then I’ll finish.
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SKM says:
I’m watching now…”side-by-side twizzles”? Twizzles is a technical term? I had no idea.
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Violet Socks says:
Okay, to continue:
I’ve thought about this since I’m really interested in world dance. It would not have been impossible for Dom/Shab to do something that Australians would have found acceptable. Difficult, but not impossible. If they had worked with Australians on it, tried to do genuine moves, and worn natural-colored suits with authentic body markings, it might have been okay. There are modern dance troupes in Australia that are taking that same basic path, but because they work with the indigenous people and try to get it right, what they come up with is acceptable. The ice dancing rules impose some severe limitations, but still.
But that’s not the road Dom/Shab took. I completely attribute it to naivete, not any malice.
By the way, if they really wanted to wear leaves, they would have done better to choose Tahitian dance. Tahitian dance is much more of a “discipline” with recognizable stylized moves, and also a solid show-business (as opposed to quasi-religious) history.
But still, they would have needed to do a decent job with the costuming and trying to get the whole thing right and authentic. And that’s clearly not where their heads were.
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Violet Socks says:
The other thing I feel compelled to point out is that Max Shabalin has serious knee problems. My personal suspicion is that they chose a “caveman” dance to conceal his problem, and thought that dressing up with leaves around the knees and everything else would help. I don’t think they were thinking at all about trying to do a genuinely authentic country dance, much less were they aware enough to realize how potentially offensive their shtick would be.
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Violet Socks says:
I should add, also, that it’s really their coach who should take the hit for this. I can’t remember her name, but she should have known better. These skaters really rely on their coaches to guide them.
There is no question that Dom/Shab had no desire to offend anyone. They’re ice skaters, they’re competing: they want everyone to love them. The last thing they want to do is make anyone mad.
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Kookaburra says:
I believe there was an actual (white) Australian team that managed a good rendition of Aboriginal dance on ice a year or so ago. They worked with tribal leaders and dancers to come up with a respectful tribute. I’ll see if I can find it on YouTube.
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Violet Socks says:
Woo hoo! Woo hoo! Woo hoo!
Virtue and Moir took the gold. Gracious, what a beautiful skate. I haven’t seen anything that smooth since Torville and Dean.
Davis and White with the silver — exactly right. They are fabulous.
And Dom/Shab took the bronze. Well, good for them.
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Swannie says:
The Ice Dancing was ecstacy ..with the exception of the offensive ” caveman/indian/eskimo” silly dance that was supposed to represent the Aboriginal people of Australia . You could have fooled me … even in ballet .. folk dance has to be representational of some real folk traditional dance. Same rules apply in ice dancing .. one would hope . It was offensive …and ridiculous.
Sensitivites evolve ..and if someone had done a black face dance to represent African dance would it have been offensive … of course it would have …
For me, this is in the same category as misogynist jokes about women passed off as humor, and “ok” . When people realise the reason they are not funny anymore; and the reason is the very same reason jokes about race or ethnicity are not acceptable … because they are offensive, and sensibilities have evolved to the point where it becomes obvious …to more and more people . -
Carmonn says:
Sorry for the derail, but I came across this comment at amazon:
The most offensive moment of the book occurs during the “world tour of meat” near the end of the book (again completely unrelated to everything that happened before). Ms. Powell describes with complete and offensive thoughtlessness a highly charged sexual incident with truly disturbing racial and imperialist overtones. It’s like reading “Passage to India” from Adele Quested’s unchallenged and untranscended perspective and is truly upsetting. Later, we are treated to Ms. Powell’s reveling in contemplation of her near-rape–an experience which catapults her to new levels of obliviousness.
And I kind of want to curl into the fetal position, now.
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Carmonn says:
I should add that it’s a review of a non-fiction memoir, “Cleaving,” by Julie Powell, where the author was almost sexually assaulted. In a terribly offensive, thoughtless, and imperialistic way, apparently.
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Nessum says:
“Dom/Shab” !? – but “Virtue and Moir”, “Torville and Dean”, “Davis and White”. Isn’t that offensive?
Besides, practically all the costumes looked pretty silly to me. Why pick only on the Russians’ ?
Most any of the costumes could have led someone to being offended; if they set their mind to it.
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Alison says:
This ain’t Russian Dressing. The photo above reminds me of the images in Amanda Marcotte’s book of which I will never read:
http://www.amazon.com/Its-Jung.....1580052266
Portraying indigenous populations in this way is a nod to colonialism. IMO this is about as bad as dressing up in black face.
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Violet Socks says:
“Dom/Shab” !? – but “Virtue and Moir”, “Torville and Dean”, “Davis and White”. Isn’t that offensive?
Please tell me you’re kidding.
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Sasha, CA says:
“Stridency”? I only wish you were being ironic. Talk about a cliche silencing tactic.
Indeed. Reminds me of the fauxgressive dudes (e.g., Booman et al.) telling us womenfolk we were just imagining the sexism of the Obama campaign and needed to chill. Clearly we were just looking for things to be offended about. It’s always great fun when members of a marginalized group object to the way they are portrayed or treated, and people who aren’t members of that group tell them it’s no big deal and they are blowing things way out of proportion.
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lambert strether says:
#48 Yeah, come on. Where’s your sense of humor?
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Sameol says:
Sasha, CA–word. Get over it type sentiments always end up being more irritating than persuasive.
Carmonn–I read Cleaving (which I wouldn’t recommend, necessarily) and all she does after the incident is beat herself up and marinate in guilt and shame. She makes it clear she wouldn’t have said anything if the guy hadn’t stolen her cell phone, which she wants back, is afraid she’s being a “castrating bitch,” worries that the guy might lose his job, downplays the attempted assault, worries that she might have done something to provoke it, and has to endure endless questions from the other guys about whether she did something to provoke it. That’s a horrifying comment that isn’t exactly overflowing with sensitivity to near-rape victims, but I can’t help wondering how the person would react if she’d wanted the man prosecuted, or something. What a world.
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Violet Socks says:
Get over it type sentiments always end up being more irritating than persuasive.
What’s interesting is that the get-over-it crowd is frequently much, much more upset than the people who were originally offended. That’s not always the case, of course, but this ice dance thing is a classic example.
When Dom/Shab first performed their routine, several Australian elders spoke out about it. One woman wrote an editorial in the Sydney paper explaining the aboriginal point of view. The First Nations hosts in Vancouver expressed concern. It was dignified and low-key.
Most non-Australian observers greeted the dance with winces. People like me, who rather enjoy trainwrecks, couldn’t resist snarking on just how incredibly tasteless and clueless it was. (Best joke was by Aunt Joyce: “There Is A God…Baby Jesus has brought us Max Shabalin skating in black face.”)
The real fury and outrage comes from the get-over-it crowd. You ought to check out the comments (there are thousands) at the Olympics site, or at the Sydney paper: incredibly angry, rude, insulting, hostile, etc. People just outraged that anyone could find Dom/Shab’s dance offensive. Furious people with no discernible sense of humor saying things like “shouldn’t you get a sense of humor???” It’s very interesting.
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Toonces says:
What a world indeed. This is extremely OT but there’s been a shooting at a middle school 3 miles from Columbine (high school). Apparently an adult male, wearing fatigues, shot into the entryway of the school as it was letting out. I can’t even begin to wrap my head around a reason why. The two kids he shot look like they’re going to be okay, the injuries are not life-threatening.
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Sameol says:
As Alison mentioned, look at Amanda. She obviously screwed up by using those images, but she made the situation a thousand times worse by becoming extremely defensive, casting aspersions on the motives of anyone who had a problem with them, and so on. I understand that being accused of being insensitive is embarassing, but it’s hardly a form of oppression or anything that justifies such an overheated response.
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cellocat says:
Before I read the post, I saw the picture and thought, “huh? Papageno and Papagena ice dancing?” That would have been odd, but ok. I tend to think, though, that if you’re not going to do something well, with close attention to detail and appreciation for your source or inspiration, don’t bother to do it at all.
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monchichipox says:
I really am enjoying the Olympics more than I have in a while. Well more than I have since Eric Heiden’s legs left the competition. I’d forgotten how much I loved those cowbells(at least that’s what I think they are) at the skiing events. I wish I had some people with cowbells following me along throughout my day to cheer me on. “And she’s rounding the corner, running to make the elevator so she won’t be late for her meeting in Finance. Yes she made it just as the door was closing” CLONG CLONG CLONG CLONG….ah dare to dream.
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Violet Socks says:
I really am enjoying the Olympics more than I have in a while.
Me too! I’m not sure why. But I’m enjoying it the most I have since maybe ’94 or ’92, I think. I’m really having a ball with it this year.
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Three Wickets says:
I missed the event. Did they at least lose the twig leaves. That by itself I find offensive on so many levels.
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purplefinn says:
Some of the reasons that I’ve found these Olympics to be enjoyable:
They are covering most sports – even the ones where Americans aren’t likely to win gold.
They are respecting all medals – not just gold.
They are doing background stories on athletes of different countries.
We are winning a lot of medals :)I was really disappointed in the past Olympic coverage that gave the impression that if you didn’t win gold you failed. And if you weren’t American your only value was to lose to one.
Before those years the coverage had been about the sports, athletes and the international aspect of the games. Then the coverage morphed into a “we’re number one” mentality.
I’d love to think that we’ve matured.
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monchichipox says:
Not only do I find their skating outfits and routine offensive but they just look like asses. A whole bucket full of ugly. Don’t they have anyone in their life to tell them that? I’m glad I have the three sisters I do because they’d all be on the phone saying “you know what. . . ? ” Then of course there’s my Old Lady Ma who still thinks it’s a shame for women to wear “slacks” out in public. She would have shown up in person.
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votermom says:
Completely OT: We are expecting snow AGAIN starting tonight.
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ghost2 says:
Violet,
Please start a new figure skating thread. There has been fantastic skating in this Olympics. Apart from Virtue and Moir, last night’s ladies skating was amazing. First Yu-Na Kim with her graceful and powerful skate, and then Joannie Rochette of Canada skating a flawless program. Joannie lost her mother suddenly just 2 days ago. As soon as the music stopped, she started crying. It takes true courage to go out and do that.
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gxm17 says:
I’m boycotting the Olympics. I only catch anything when I happen into my son’s room (when I try) to return my grandson. I might have caught half of a bobsled run. But damn, I’m pissed I missed the Bollywood routine.
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Toonces says:
Men seen as likely to be violent towards their wives could be forced to wear an electronic tag under a law being debated by the French parliament.
The tag would have to be worn by men who have received a court order to stay away from their partner.
The proposal is part of a draft law on conjugal violence. It has cross-party support and is expected to pass easily.
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Swannie says:
After watching the womens’ snowboarding and skiing events… I now know one reason why almost every winged being depicted throughout the entire history of humanity is represented as women ( think about that ) ..because women were meant to fly ………….
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RKMK says:
I’m fucking livid. The IOC is “investigating” the women’s hockey team because they had the temerity to – *GASP* – drink BEER and CHAMPAGNE after winning the goddamn GOLD MEDAL.
Surprisingly enough, they did not care when Jon Montgomery celebrated HIS win with a pitcher of beer.
