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The Russians Love Their Too
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The Russians Love Their Too This was going to be a sentimental little post about how I cried buckets watching the closing ceremony of the winter Olympics. But I have had to add an opening paragraph, because I know there is a chance someone will want to start a discussion about homophobia. As a result I am forced to use what was going to be the opening line of my next post – "In honour of my friends in the No Filters February Group, for the first and last time ever I am going to do politics on this blog." The funny thing is that I know the person most qualified to do so also was captivated by the games and isn't going to be upset by what I have written here – because that person knows that as far as I am concerned<b> homosexuality </font></b>is like the sunrise. Beautiful if you are up for it, but otherwise unremarkable. But I don't want to be misunderstood so I will say this - Of course some people will say the Russians are homophobic. Maybe some of them are. But in the light of a current scandal here in the UK about an organisation which campaigned for the rights of a certain group in the 1970s ( I probably can't mention the group or this post will be denied, ) I would like to point out that although I was alive and living in this country then, I don't subscribe to that point of view. In fact if I remember the dates correctly,<b> homosexuality </font></b>may still have been illegal in this country when I was born. Yes, if we have the luxury of voting in a democracy then we must take responsibility for being careful who we elect. But at the same time, if we are going to start to blame everyone for the decisions of their governments then no one is above reproach. Anyway, back to Dreamer's blog: I am not ashamed to admit that I had a tear in my eye, just like the bear in the Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony. There were echoes of the Soviets' 1980 Moscow closing ceremony, and I remember thinking then that despite all the cold war rhetoric I grew up hearing, despite all the dodgy east west politics - the automatic taking of opposite sides in any international dispute - the Russian people must love their too. How could they not? How could the producers of these two extravagantly dramatic shows have such a sure touch, such an acute sense of the fine line between moving imagery and cheap sentimentality if they didn't know the meaning of love? And we loved the games. I loved the camaraderie between opponents – frequently waiting for crashed out rivals to make it to the finish, checking they were okay before celebrating their own success. I loved the BBC total coverage – every event live or nearly live as it happened. And some of the quirky commentaries, especially by the snowboarding guy who said freestyle snowboarding was like trying to write "Ulysses" with your left and right hands at the same time, described one cold eyed athlete as having "a stare like pickled onions," and said when a ski half-pipe run went wrong it was like someone had thrown a matchstick model of an aeroplane into a ceiling fan. The breath taking beauty of the ice skating, and the awful disappointment for the young Russian skater star who fell twice as nerves got the better of her, and yet still produced the dance which everyone will remember. Top class sport is often so poignant. The amazing desperate last ditch stand by the Canadian ice hockey women, mirrored by heartbreak for the Americans. I just put the tv on and let it run while I worked each day, just turning down the sound to take the odd phone call. And now I miss it. I feel like someone I was close to has gone away and I won't be able to see them again, at least not for years. But I guess I should be used to that feeling by now. |
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Beautiful post Dreamer, I think lots of people are in post olympis withdrawal. Even with all the politics and everything I too still see the olympics as representing the best of us in physical pursuit, but as a Canadian the Winter Olympics hold a special place in my heart, and as an individual human being one of my favourite stories from my childhood is olympics related, my papa had a workshop in the basement, and he was actually quite good at wood craft. I was 3 and watching the olympics at my grandparents' house, skiers were on and I was enthralled, I could do that I said,...and my papa made me a pair of skis with his very own hands so i could see if I could. Obviously I'm not an olumpic skier, I'm not even a skier of any kind today, but that belief in me and that very personal show of support stood there as a corner stone of support in our relationship for years. The olympics always inspire me, to remember to always try your best, to hold nothing back to go for it completely til the absolute end, bacause being beaten is honourable giving up is cowardly. Good girls go to heaven,....Bad girls go EVERYWHERE! I love to travel  Come visit my blog tigger678902
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I definitely think skeleton looks more fun than luge, although, I don't know about you, but whenever it snows here and I get my super fast home made sledge out, I always go luge position - face first seems too scary! Maybe I'll try it next time. Putin was heavily covered from all angles on the news in the run up to the games, but during the actual coverage of the events they stayed completely out of politics, as they always do.
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Beautiful post Dreamer, I think lots of people are in post olympis withdrawal. Even with all the politics and everything I too still see the olympics as representing the best of us in physical pursuit, but as a Canadian the Winter Olympics hold a special place in my heart, and as an individual human being one of my favourite stories from my childhood is olympics related, my papa had a workshop in the basement, and he was actually quite good at wood craft. I was 3 and watching the olympics at my grandparents' house, skiers were on and I was enthralled, I could do that I said,...and my papa made me a pair of skis with his very own hands so i could see if I could. Obviously I'm not an olumpic skier, I'm not even a skier of any kind today, but that belief in me and that very personal show of support stood there as a corner stone of support in our relationship for years. The olympics always inspire me, to remember to always try your best, to hold nothing back to go for it completely til the absolute end, bacause being beaten is honourable giving up is cowardly.
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I could write gibberish with left and right hands at the same time  (only joking! I did give up reading it though...) I saw very little of the coverage and I'm not sure why. I'm totally against criminalisation of homosexuality in any country. I believe it goes contrary to good common sense but I think there are many more pressing concerns about Russia than that one law. There might even be room for debate over how much of Russia's problems stem from their genuine internal problems and how much comes as a reaction to the perceived gloating and unnecessary commenting from their "former" enemies. I've met quite a lot of Russians. They were all nice decent people and, yes, they loved their children.
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Indeed, it's not an excuse with any real credibility but it often seems to be that way. Countries often seem to act like little children who lack restraint and the requisite self control.
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