Olympic Coverage

You kind of don’t want to miss Alex’s ruminations on the opening ceremony. I actually saw only a little bit of it – I saw the giant ski dude being created by 500 little Italian Oompa-Loompa people, which was pretty amazing. But I was out at David and Maria’s, and we were watching Only Angels Have Wings and – as always – Howard Hawks and Cary Grant pretty much take precedent over all else. But I loved Alex saying:

The lighting of the torch. I have no words. The fact that all those athletes were standing in the same place, some at war with each other, made me sob. Again. Their eyes. The fact of them. The sight of them all in one place. All the work they put into just getting to that place. It just made me weep thinking how hard they all worked, and when that torch was lit and the fireworks went off, their journey had really begun. For some of them it was the last time, and for some of them it was the first time. Amazing. The history was a bit overwhelming.

And then we have Tracey’s brilliant analysis – comparing the coverage of the Olympics (as opposed to the events themselves – but the actual COVERAGE) to inexperienced actors over-acting and emoting – because they don’t trust that the audience will “get it” if they don’t over-act.

But my professor strode up the aisle — it seemed in one colossal step — and stood before both of us, eyes blazing: “When you cry and emote and ACT like that, you alienate the audience. You take their feelings away from them because they are too busy watching you SHOW yours. You rob them of something priceless — the right to decide how to feel. It’s not that you don’t emote,” he said, “but you don’t beat them about the head with it, for God’s sake!”

Brilliant.

Go read it.

Oh, and by the way, just so I am perfectly clear:

Yes, the coverage is annoying. Yes, the personal stories are annoying. Yes, the sepia-toned “ooh, I lost my grandma 20 years ago and I feel her looking down on me now” interviews are so sweet that they could give you diabetes just by watching them.

HOWEVER:

I love.

Every.

Stinkin’.

Second of it.

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7 Responses to Olympic Coverage

  1. Lisa says:

    Dude, when Chad Hedrick won and he was talking about his grandmother dying, I was BAWLING. . . even though I already knew he had won! (Oh, and thank you, CBS and ESPN, for spoiling the results. Jerks.)

    Tonight when he gets his medal, I may have to take to my bed.

  2. red says:

    hahahahahahaha

    Yay for emotion! And for Olympic athletes thanking their dead grandmothers left and right!!!

  3. amelie says:

    Kwan has withdrawn! oh happy day!!

  4. red fish says:

    I thought the highlight was the oompaloompa skier, and the low point the dancers with the cow-spotted dresses. (I fell asleep before the torch lighting.)

    I LOVE the drama of the Olympics. For a lifetime of dreams to boil down to one event makes me teary-eyed for even sports I usually could not care less about. The look after they cross the finish line. The look of those in first place waiting for the scores of those who follow. The look on the podium as they hold their flowers and grin, or cry, or sing their national anthem (or all three.) I can’t stand it. Sniff!

  5. tracey says:

    Sheila — I KNOW! I LOVE ‘EM, TOO!! We are total hypocrites. But hypocrites with STANDARDS, dammit!!

  6. red says:

    red fish – it’s the podium moments that get me, too. such a big big moment. It’s why I love the Oscars, too. I love to see people reach some kind of pinnacle – I feel like I live it vicariously. It’s so joyful and emotional!!

  7. dick says:

    I think the time Dan Jansen won the speed skating title finally was the highlight of all the Olympics for me. That summed it all up as far as I was concerned.

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