Help me find an old insightful email commentary (one that did the rounds on email) on the chauvinism of American network coverage of the Olympics in mid-90s.
I believe it was during one of summer olympics in the mid-90s. I remember receiving (from a friend; this was one of those emails that got forwarded between friends very quickly) an email commentary (details on that below), which commented very insightfully on the chauvinism and pettiness of American mainstream media network coverage and commentary during the games.
The email itself was purportedly written by an ordinary person - an English person - who was visiting the US during the Olympics and was watching American coverage on American major network television (probably NBC or ABC).
She - the English author - wrote this email back home (perhaps to her mother). She basically says very wryly, that American commentaries during the gymnastics and other parts of Olympic events, are chauvinistic, absurd, maudlin, overly sentimental, and jingoistic. She doesnt use such words though; she merely describes it.
For example, one part that I remember, she's writing about how every American athlete the news anchors cover, has recently recovered from cancer and has some other maudlin story attached which they highlight extensively; these athletes have apparently overcome major odds in their personal lives. However, when the same commentators turn to foreign athletes and do human interest pieces on them, the tone and content is very different. One example she gave was (if I remember correctly) of a chinese gymnist; in the commentary on her, the American anchors focus on the repression in China and how this girl probably was 'indoctrinated' from birth to become a gymnast and other such stereotypes (esp from mid-90s) of life in China.
The author of the email dryly notes at this point that the Chinese gymnasts mom back home probably couldnt care less about whether her daughter won or lost and probably loves her just the same either way; ie, that the imagined picture of unadulterated coldness and brutality of this athlete's background was probably overwrought, just as the unadulterated maudlin stories of American athletes were probably similarly overwrought.
Stuff like that. Its a fairly long email; but on the whole it really summed up many complaints people have had on American network coverage of the Olympics, which is in many ways very different from the kinds of coverage one finds in other (especially European) countries. The email summed up some of these differences quite accurately and with a dry sense of humor.
I thought I had saved a copy of it... does anyone else remember this, and does anyone know where a copy could be found? If you happen to have one, I'd love to get a copy...
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Helen,
Right now we are suffering through American coverage of the olympics. Mark it is beyond a joke. Aside from being extremely biased the commentary is horrid. It is boring, offensive (Axel tries to be PC and call it culturally insensitive) and nauseating. We watch entire swimming races knowing only that Todd (Team USA!!) is in lane 5 and that his wife is dying of cancer.
We have come to the conclusion that you can't go to the olympics unless you have a) lost a close relative to breast cancer, b) your wife/husband is in a coma and c) you either had a baby within the last eight years or are making a comeback (having retired two weeks before).
They have these little mini movies about the atheletes they usually show them when there is a race with no americans or if it's gymnastics and the chinese are preforming. If the little movie is about an American you hear about their dedicationand hard work, how they have a teddy bear named Fuzzy (she's just your average all American girl) and their mother, grandmother, or neighbours uncle is suffering from complications following an operation for an ingrown toenail and the gold medal is in honour of this poor sick person.
If however the athlete is chinese then we hear about how at age seven the chinese government noticed her talent and her mother gave her up for the good of the nation. Yes the mother sacrificed her daughter (this is a quote) and sent her 1500km away. Then we have a series of rhetorical questions "Does her mother know that little Mo Chee Wee Fan has a friend called Wee Mee Wong?" " Does she know who her daughter is, her fears etc?" " Does her mother know that Mo has a 200 sisters at her new school" And they drawl on and on like a funeral dirge. You hear a piano sadly plinking in the background.
Meanwhile when you do see the chinese team you have never seen a happier, healthier looking bunch of girls. The Americans on the other hand look like they all need a dose of Prozac and suffer from bulimia. You can see STRESS written across their forheads and see their parents and you know they are living the dream of some maniac parent who never made it. Meanwhile Mo Chee's mother is busy bringing in the rice harvest and although she probably boasts about Mo's achievements she probably doesn't really care whether Mo was a gymnast or not and would love her just as much if she had an injury and would never tumble again.
The American coverage brings out the worst on us. You sit with your friends and wish hateful shit on americans. We will them to drown, to trip, to break their necks and hope that the fucking soft ball jams in their throats and chokes them.
The fucking Dream Team is playing against Angola (no doubt we shall hear the tragic war stories of each of the Angolan players). We were watching gymnastics before but a few Americans fucked up and they are now unlikely "to medal" (yes, " medal" is a verb now) so the coverage has switched to this basketball game which the Americans are bound to win. We shall probably not hear a thing again about the men's gymnastics.
Then there are the medal ceremonies or should i say lack of them. One of the nice things about the Olympics is being able to see the different medalist on the podium. You know the pride as their anthem is played, the tears etc. Well fuck that! We've had nothing but the bloody star spangled banner!! They don't show the medal ceremony unless an American has gotten gold. That way we can all clutch our hearts and sing "Oh say can you see".
I'm telling you even when they get silver or bronze they don't show it. Well not the part where the gold medallists anthem is played.
Then there was the opening ceremony:
African nation enters - "Well here's another of those small African nations with no hope of winning a medal". (Did it ever occur to them that the vast majority of the 600 and how many atheletes they sent have ab-so-lute-ly no hope of winning a medal!)
Cuba enters - "Wonder how many of them will be going back to Havana"
Iraq enters - " This is that country which we fought in the gulf war....suspected of using chemical weapons"
China enters - " Well i wonder how well they will do this year..now that they've cracked down on the drugs"
Bolivia enters " Yes here is bolivia...this country was the last refuge of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"
Then about the fantastic costumes in the opening ceremony." These costumes were made by Peter minshall who lives on a small island called trinidad where he makes them for the local carnival"
Then at the end some paper doves are brought in " THESE DOVES WERE MADE BY WHAT'S HER FACE FROM CALIFORNIA, YES SHE DESIGNED THEM HERSELF, TOOK EIGHT WEEKS TO MAKE THEM!!!" then we get her entire resume, where she got her inspiration from etc. Eight weeks!!!!! Minshall was making his costumes since last year!!! Over a year it took him. All the costumes were made in Trinidad. The main dancers and preformers were from trinidad, but we got more commentary on those stupid chrome pick-up vans!
Helen i could go on and on. All romanians are described as hungry waifs, mind you the American gymnasts who are just as stunted are cute and bubbly. Chinese athletes bear the weight of their nation on their shoulders the Americans are doing it for "Mom who died last year" or "my wife who almost died last year". "Since i was seven my dream was to win olympic gold" That's not their fucking dream!! Nobody dreams of that when you are seven for fuck's sake!!! you dream of icecream and playing with your friends the next day when you are seven. That was obviously their parents dream!
These Americans really haven't got a clue about the Olympics it's all gold medals for them or "medalling" as they say. They think they've got the human side covered when they show these little movies and tell us these stupid stories. it's so forced! just show us the races or whatever. Just tell me what the gymnast is doing, what is that move called, how difficult is the routine compared to the other one. I don't want to know that he has a twin brother who he speaks to every night. I don't need this information when he's in the middle of his iron cross on the rings!! When there is a race we like to know what is going on in ALL the lanes. we want sports commentary not fairy tales! The stories will make themselves. Show me a variety of sports and people from different countries winning. Forget the bloody medal count!
This is seriously putting me off the Olympics... What i would do for some BBC coverage. OK they are a bit biased too (you do see an inordinate amount of equestrian events) they have to cater to their own, I don't blame NBC for that although they take it to the max. but the BBC gives you proper sports coverage like they would cover any other meet. I mean when you see a horse race you expect racing commentary (..and as they approach the five furlonge mark it's Red Rum out in front with Nirvana close behind etc). We don't expect to be told what the fucking horse was like as a foal and what he eats for breakfast, and what his favourite colour is.
With the BBC you see practically every medal ceremony. And they interview the winners at the end all of them, yes even if they are not british. And they tell you who is in each lane...yes even if it's only a heat. And the miracle of it all...no advertisements!
Christine
posted by googly at 6:38 AM on September 28, 2006 [3 favorites]