Chad Hedrick, USA. He used to be an inline skater. He recently switched to speed skating and now hopes to win gold here. I’m only commenting on this because of the cheesy, manufactured drama injected into his “backstory” tonight:
He cried earlier today because, well, it’s the anniversary of the death of his best friend, his biggest supporter.
Yes, people, THIRTEEN years ago today, GAMMY died. HOW can he go on?? HOW will he even see the track through his red, Gammy-puffed eyes??
I swear. If he wins and says he felt Gammy’s presence, I will hurl all night and I will still not feel purged.
UPDATE: He won. And he said it: “I know she was looking down.” She died of “bane cancer,” according to Chad. And afterwards, he had to talk even more of how he cried, egged on by the reporter, of course.
I hate this kind of manipulation. Deeply. Can the event not be allowed to have DRAMA on its own?? Must everything turn into a wretched Hallmark Hall of Fame movie?? The very fiber of competition IS drama. But it’s not enough anymore. Any little maudlin bit that CAN be added, WILL be added, crammed into our hearts by whatever means necessary. And the more it shouts at us HOW to feel, the less we’re actually capable of feeling. Genuine, spontaneous emotion is stolen, replaced with showy, clanging fakery.
I remember my drama professor in college teaching me this very principle. I was in “The Fantasticks,” a show with a potentially tear-jerker ending. My leading man and I were prancing about, messily emoting — ACTING, dammit! — and my professor, from the dark at the back of the theatre, in a giant, you-will-NOT-question-me voice, boomed, “STOP THAT!! STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!!!” We stopped. We were scared. (Well, actually, I wasn’t that scared yet because I was sure it was my putzy leading man, screwing up somehow. It certainly wasn’t ME. I was brilliant. I mean, I was crying with the emotion of it all! It was sheer liquid poetry! SEE how REAL I am?? Wait. Hold on a sec. Here’s some even BIGGER tears!)
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!”
Then he said this: “Simplicity, kids. SIMPLICITY.”
See? The same thing is at work here. Let the event — skating, skiing, bobsledding, whatever — play itself out. It has dignity of its own; it has a DRAMA of its own. Don’t decide for the audience how they MUST feel. It’s condescending. It’s thievery, really. I hate it. And when you “beat them about the head with it,” they’ll end up feeling NOTHING.
DON’T — as my brilliant, now departed professor said — rob them of something priceless — the right to decide how to feel.
I think it’s a legacy of what they were planning to do a couple Winter Olympics ago with the “Dan Jansen and his sister’s death” story, except he kept messing up the storyline by falling. It’s also a legacy of when ABC used to have the games and injected all that “Up Close and Personal” stuff. It’s a nice idea except when “there is no ‘there’ there,” which might well be the case with a guy who was casually watching the previous winter games while gambling in Vegas.
Tracey, off topic:
Michelle Kwan withdrew grom the games. Now, go turn on your TV.
I had an acting teacher who said to me once, “If you DON’T cry, the audience will.”
Truer words …
Great post, Tracey. I mean, the dude’s just an athlete – he can’t help it that he is being manipulated – I’m sure the Olympics are incredibly emotional to be involved in – dreams come to fruition, the long years of work, the family supporting you, etc. But the overdoing of the coverage is nauseating and such a turn-off.
EXACTLY, red! “If you don’t cry, the audience will.”
I don’t mind when they cry because they did well or because they won a medal or when they’re receiving their medal and the National Anthem’s playing — I cry, then, too. But that’s REAL. It’s not conjured up. It’s not manufactured into a “moment” by the people controlling what we see and hear. It just HAPPENS — and you know what? I think more of us cry in those moments than any other the Olympics have to offer.
Alex — I’m not surprised at all. She’s been putting her story together on this for WEEKS.
Tracey, your intense disdain for their attempt to manipulate our feelings makes me completely disdainful of their tactics.
Tracey – this is why I no longer watch the Olympics. Sick of people trying to manipulate my emotions. Let folks keep their privacy, please.
I’d heard that about acting – if you say it, I’ll accept it as fact. (Got drafted to make costumes again, for One-Act play. I LOVE doing this – have I found my calling late in life?)
Oh, Sal — Costumers are SO important. The way an actor feels in his costume makes all the difference to his performance. I’ve worn costumes that were so, um, wrong for my body that I felt I had to act AROUND them. You just don’t FEEL right when that happens.
I remember one costume in particular that screamed for every moment I was onstage: “HELLO! THESE ARE TRACEY’S BOOBS!! LOOK! LOOK AT TRACEY’S BOOBS!!”
I tried to out-act them, but I don’t think I did. Anyway ….
All that to SAY — your role is VERY vital!!
I missed the rest of speed skating. I watched Apolo lose his preliminary and that was it for me. I couldn’t stand more disappointment.
*begin tears of sadness*
“I hate this kind of manipulation. Deeply. Can the” [service]”not be allowed to have DRAMA on its own?? Must everything turn into a wretched Hallmark Hall of Fame movie?? The very fiber of” [worship and struggle with God’s plan] “IS drama. But it’s not enough anymore. Any little maudlin bit that CAN be added, WILL be added, crammed into our hearts by whatever means necessary. And the more it shouts at us HOW to feel, the less we’re actually capable of feeling. Genuine, spontaneous emotion is stolen, replaced with showy, clanging fakery.”
Exactly why we have not found a home church.