Something a bit different... (Ambivalent about the Olympics)

Normally, I don't go off the topic of crafting very much. But there's an issue that's been growing in my mind for the last few weeks, and in a few days’ time, I won’t be able to ignore it any longer. The Olympics are coming.

Now, I don’t like sport. I hate it. (Other than tennis, but that’s my own eccentric little hiccup.) Except for the Olympics. In the past, I had an unbridled enthusiasm for it. You might even call it a mania. It didn’t matter if it was the first round of the Handball or an elimination kayak race, I was totally there. In 2000, when I worked in a call centre, my shifts coincidentally left me with 8 free days of 24-hour Olympic madness. I would sit up until 2 or 3am watching the telecast. I would get up the next morning, switch on the TV, and watch it all again. Roy and H.G.’s wrap-up show The Dream provided me with my only link to normal human interaction. I did concede to have lunch with a friend at one point though, but I insisted on going to a foodcourt where I knew a TV would be on, and travelling by a route where I knew the telecast would be on display in shop windows. After the Olympics finished, I bought The Dream on video and watched it over and over until the tape died.

In 2004, I had more work commitments; my mania expressed itself in eating nothing but souvlakis for 16 days. This is true. I lived on my own, so I could get away with it. It didn’t matter if it was Molvania vs. Kraplachastan in the initial round of the Graeco-Roman wrestling, or if it was an Australian actually winning a gold medal in a sport other than swimming, and missing the first half because the broadcaster didn’t realise what was happening until it was almost too late. For 16 days, once every four years, I believed. I was a naïve and trusting devotee to the Olympic dream. Everyone is invited, everyone gets a go, everyone has an equal chance. Or do they?

I’m sure just about everyone has heard about the controversy in the lead-up to the 2008 Beijing Games. China was only allowed to bid for the Games because it promised to make improvements to the human rights situation in that country. Many people think it hasn’t kept this promise. Tibet isn’t free, millions of people are being summarily evicted to make way for dams and sports stadiums, Buddhist monks are being attacked, people are having their kidneys stolen while they meditate (if you believe that). And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There’s also the undetectable drugs, swimsuits which are more machine than garment, lung-damaging pollution, propaganda and restrictions on journalists, political positioning, histrionic withdrawals as athletes injure their little toe, and just today, there has been a suspected terrorist attack against the Chinese police.

The commercial television coverage just gets worse and worse every time. I don’t know how much more I can take of Bruce McAvaney verbally masturbating over some Aussie swimmer who came seventh in the qualifiers. And let’s face it, the opening ceremonies are pretty crap. (Except for Athens. That was brilliant.) I had a quick look at the state of TeeVee for this Friday night - Channel Ten are putting on Star Wars Episode 1. Whoever would want to watch that has already seen it. And SBS are giving it a go with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. At least that’s relevant! I however, have RSVP’ed to a friend’s birthday dinner, and it would be rude to pull out, wouldn’t it? Thankfully the Opening Ceremony is being repeated on Saturday morning. Saved by the blanket repeat! Phew!

I have to admit, I did start to get excited about this Olympics, and imagined myself plonked on the couch for a straight fortnight glued to the box (Boy withstanding), but then I started to feel bad about it. Is it wrong of me to watch it on TV when there are people wrongly imprisoned, tortured and beaten? I’m torn. How should I feel? It would sicken me to hear the slick banter about our Aussie’s chances in the pool, and what a shame Kieren and Cathy aren’t still around.

I think I’ll watch SBS’s ‘complementary broadcast’ (which I’m sure is just the leftovers of what Channel Seven doesn’t want). But at least we won’t be subjected to gushing descriptions of Australia’s valiant struggle to stay in the first round of the Softball. I might get to see other countries and hear balanced commentary. I might get to hear real sports journalists, who take the efforts of developing nations seriously. (Remember Eric ‘the Eel’? I feel so bad now!) Or I might even turn the TV off for a bit.

The Beijing Olympics:

Days to go: 4
Days to go until it’s finished: 20

And just to keep things craft-related, here is a site with Olympic Crafts! [defunct]