When I clicked on a video in YouTube earlier today, I was forced to watch a Visa commercial that included the dramatic claim, “Over the next 17 days, athletes will become legends,” spoken by none other than God himself (aka Morgan Freeman) before I could hear the song I chose.
That’s exactly the kind of commercialism and hyperbole that has soured me on the whole Olympics thing.
I guess it’s sacrilegious to pooh-pooh this EXTREMELY IMPORTANT ATHLETIC EVENT mere hours after Queen Elizabeth II opened it and Paul McCartney performed “Hey Jude” for the 27 millionth time. My own mother took exception to my “Olympics Scholympics” status update in Facebook.
I tried to explain myself by commenting:
I like the idea of top tier athletes from around the world coming together to compete in an atmosphere of goodwill. I don’t like the fact that the Olympics has become a multi-billion dollar opportunity for corporations to flex their muscles, politics and myopic patriotism to trump international tolerance, and Bob Costas to prattle on ad nauseum as if his perception is worth more than gold. (Does that guy ever shut up?!) And didn’t Robotron Romney head up the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City? ‘Nuff said.
Speaking of Romney, apparently he’s in London to watch the Olympics and embarrass Americans by insulting the British prime minister, calling perceived preparation mistakes “disconcerting” and publicly revealing that he met with the head of Britain’s MI6 secret spy agency (a clear no-no to intelligent world leaders who know when to boast and when to use discretion). This caused London Mayor Boris Johnson to slam Robotron in front of 60,000 people in Hyde Park and James Chapman, political editor for the Daily Mail – the United Kingdom’s second biggest-selling daily newspaper – to famously tweet, “Do we have a new Dubya on our hands?” The answer, sadly, is apparently so. (See video below.)
Anyway, my friend Mark Richardson posted a compelling response that shut me right up:
I think there is still room for the Olympic spirit somewhere underneath all the corporate logos. When the teams parade into the stadium, you see the looks on the faces of the athletes. Most of them are people you will never hear about, and you can just tell they are embarking on the most awesome experience of their lives. Imagine being a wrestler from Togo, or a swimmer from Samoa, and walking into that place. I think the Olympic torch still burns brightly for them.
I do like the fact that the Olympic Games feature competition in several sports, including but not limited to beach volleyball, gymnastics, archery, swimming, basketball, boxing, cycling, soccer, fencing, table tennis, weightlifting, blogging and synchronized sewing (just kidding about the last two). And it’s cool that one of this year’s competitors, 17-year-old champion gymnast Jordyn Wieber, hails from DeWitt, a small city 20 miles north of my home in Holt, Michigan. Go Wieber!
So I guess I won’t prohibit my kids from watching some of the Games of the XXX Olympiad since they’ll be on television until August 12 and my son in particular has been eagerly anticipating them. But there will be no flag-waving, dammit, and I’ll be fast-forwarding through the Visa commercials.
And if you're not watching tonight, you're missing yet one more great slap in the face to the racist right: The first African-American women's all-around gymnastics champion.
ReplyDeleteI'm watching. Go Gabby!
ReplyDelete