How Do Olympic Judges Sleep at Night? Writing Through It
I expected the Chinese government to show their true colors and do anything in their power to cheat and make themselves seem grander and greater than they are in the games. I expected them to cheat. Nothing against the Chinese people - I believe one day they will find a way to fight free of the oppression. Maybe rock and roll, skateboards, and MTV can do it for them. Jesus, their government stole the irrigation water from rice paddies for miles around to create a place for athletes to Kayak, and for Phelps to make history…while people starve as a result. The seats are padded with people who don’t want to be there, but have been ordered to be to prove they can sell out. They put girls their own State-run news agencies have reported as underage on their gymnastics team…and suddenly mediocre weight-lifters and swimmers all over the place are Gold Medalists. Right. Try that one on some other country, we INVENTED better living through modern chemistry…
So…that said, I expected all of that. What I didn’t expect was that it would find a way to infect the judges. I mean, it’s not like they are all Chinese…so how do they take that nearly perfect vault by Nastia Lukin and mark it down without blinking an eye - then turn around and, when the Chinese girl is on the balance beam, watch her try to catch her balance FIVE TIMES - including the simple jump on the beam mount - and grade it like she was Nadia? Do they think no one can see? Don’t they understand the world is watching?
On the uneven bars, the same thing. Very strong performance by Nastia, much weaker performance by the Chinese girl - in particular a handstand that barely got past a 45 degree angle, and the scores were down for the US and up for China. Did they threaten someone’s family? Did they pay everyone off? There has to be a reason.
It’s bad enough that gymnastics scoring is so difficult to understand from the start - it makes people easily confused when the judges do something untenable - except this time it was so blatantly obvious that you had to wonder if they thought no one was watching. Thankfully both Nastia Lukin and Shawn Johnson hit floor exercises that left no question. The margin should have been much larger.
I wonder how many people understand that the great majority of gymnasts go in with degrees of difficulty that preclude their ever winning a medal? The fact that they all perform the same apparatus, but some can get a higher score because of what they are going to attempt to do, not JUST because of how well they do it, is difficult to “get” on the best day. When the scores go loopy on top of it, it’s a nightmare.
So what does this have to do with writing? Well, a lot, actually. There are fascinating character sketches here. Put yourself in the mind of an Olympic judge, or an athlete who knows she’s done her best routine ever and gets a ridiculously low score. Try to imagine the men and women behind a government that cares so much more about their “appearance” of greatness than their honor that they will do literally ANYTHING to further their cause - a government that cares so little for it’s people that it snatches toddlers and forces them into an Olympic “machine” whether or not it’s their own dream - just because their parents have tested properly for the genetics to produce a champion.
It sounds like sour grapes, but only a fool believes that. Their world is not our world. Their thoughts and minds are alien to our mindset and our lifestyle…to write about characters you can empathize with so poorly is very difficult. Sometimes, though, I am happy to be a writer - to be an observer of people with the ability to bring versions of them to life through my work, because I really think it’s possible to increase my understanding through such work. If and when I write the two Olympic tales I mentioned yesterday, all of these things will color them. The different countries, attitudes, mindsets and disciplines…at least my perception of them…will be my way of working through it all.
Right now I’m glad that particular competition is behind us…and I’m very proud of the two American girls who won.
If I had a beer, I’d say “This Bud’s for you,” but instead I’ll sip coffee, daydream, and work.
DNW
08/15/08, 7:10 AM |
Thanks for your commentary on the Olympics, which I haven’t been keeping up with, and reflections on the ongoing existence of and threat from Big Brother … Writers must address this stuff for the pen to be mightier than the sword.
The Tor Books twitter account linked an interview with Cory Doctorow on a related theme. In case you haven’t seen it:
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=312390192&blogID=424187579
08/15/08, 7:49 AM |
I’ve been fairly vocal about the fact I think China and the Olympics are a VERY bad pairing…they just lack the integrity to host it…half the time the lack the integrity to participate.
D