Seriously, a sigh of relief from me that someone got this out.

Racist commentary aside, NBC just has bad commentators. During the men's gymnastics final, one of the Japanese members was caught smiling on camera after he did badly on a routine and the ex-gymnast commentator said something to the affect of, "I don't like it when I see a gymnast smile after not doing well. I don't like it at all." And then a female commentator was talking about how the Japanese team was taking pictures and videos of each other while they were not performing on the floor and she said, "You just don't DO that at the Olympics!" all the while while the American team would shout frat boy lines into the camera every time the camera panned over to them.

It's amazing how evident it is that these people are just so not aware of the implications of what they're saying. It makes me sad.

I wouldn't say ranting, more-so stating the truth.

OMG!!!!!!! I Feel the exact same way! I too had no intention of watching as much of the Olympics as I have. My daughters and I have been up past midnight glued to the TV.
We've recently moved from Houston to the "Burbs" and and encountered the kind of racism that comes with a smile. You know the kind that declares "One of my best friends is a ......." or "My sister used to date a ........, he was a really nice guy". ARG!!! What's really more frustrating is when they're surprised that you can actually articulate you words and can speak without an accent.

Javabeans, great writing. I love your witt and frankness.
Well, better get my Mexican-American ass to work.

That's one way to put it. HAHA. I also heard those words from the commentators as I have been steadily tuning into the olympics every morning and night. And let me tell you, at first I really didn't take any offense to it because I thought they were trying to lighten the mood in all seriousness.

To me, as an asian american, I'm not so discontented. I just firmly believe these commentators are trying their best (partially failing) to give as much background information on the coaches and team members.

When I heard the wedding dress comment, I simply laughed thinking, "How can a wedding dress tear and a broken ankle be the same?" And yet, my father thought otherwise saying, "You know, he's right!"

All in all, it's the olympics that comes every 4 years. Who says we must listen to these fine (sarcastic) commentaries. Rather, let's just focus on the games instead. It truly is a pleasure to watch when you do.

Right on javabeans, right on. Thank you for articulating it so well, it needed to be said.

I know javabeans, I know...The women stuff hasn't bugged me as much as the race comments. Especially the gymnastic commentary has been terrible! Amy, the comments about the Japanese gymnasts made me mad too! Last night I watched the women with the sound turned down low (in fact I was listening to korean101.com podcasts instead haha), and wow it was awesome!! Our US women were amazing under such big pressure! I love the Olympics and will be watching even if I have to hit the mute button. Thanks for your rant javabeans. I really appreciate it!

Yeah, I heard the wedding dress comment and I thought how stupid .. what an idiot.

I also heard what #1 Amy mentioned about the commentator basically saying the Japanese were unprofessional for smiling after a disappointing performance. Anyone who has ever watched a Japanese dramas/movies or read any of Donald Ritchie's essays on Japan knows that smiles can indicate more than "I am happy." in other cultures including Japan. That judgmental comment embarrassed me as an American and it wasn't the only one to do so.

When NBC's China correspondent/expert took a break during the opening ceremony when the athletes were entering the stadium, I had to listen to Bob Costas repeatedly point out how "nonsensical" it will seem to the audience the order in which the athletes were coming out. And that was after he explained
they were coming out according to how many strokes it takes to write their country's name in Chinese. He still seemed to think this made no sense... like the Chinese just thought it would be cool to do that for a change.

And don't get me started on Bob Costas' interview with Bush. Some Americans are so condescending to other cultures it is so embarrassing to me. I guess it's not just Americans either - that Spanish basketball team photo - wtf?!!!

Here's my rant on something not as important . Why can't ANYONE at NBC pronounce Beijing correctly or just closer to correct? (I'm not talking about the tones and granted the Chinese pronounce the "j" in a way which has no exact equivalent sound in English)
But people it's more like a "j" as in "just" or "jingle", not like the "s" in leisure. I hear it mispronounced a hundred times a day now from every single commentator and that plucks my nerves.

I don't know... the Olympics make me happy for the world/humanity in so many ways but they also point out how much more we need to learn about each other!

You wouldn't believe some of the comments floating around the web. Some people are actually so ignorant to make comments like, "Shawn should have got the gold because she is the true American." What the heck is a "true American?" Being in this country for a few years has really been an eye-opening experience when it comes to race and prejudice.

Are all commentators over the world the same? No I think only the ones from "civilized" country. I'm from France, and I was not so surprised to read your topic today. Because here it's more or less the same atitude they have. I was watching the opening ceremony and already wanted to kill the guy speaking behind the image. He couldn't get one phrase out that doesn't insinuate how bad China is: politics, human rights, ecology, even the traditional costumes. At the end, I couldn't maintain my calm any longer, had to go on their website to leave a comment. And believe me I was not the first there, nor the most angry one.
I am not saying I'm all pro-China, but hey, I don't put on the olympics to hear people talk about politics or human rights. What if we give the athletes their due attention? Also the ancient Olympics was a mean of truce during war times. Please let us enjoy the sports!

THANK YOU SO MUCH for writing this post.
The Olympics have been driving me nuts for these past few days, and yesterday I finally gave up--- I just didn't watch them. After I looked at the All Around results for the female gymnasts on the NBC website, I decided to go to bed because I couldn't bring myself to listen to the commentators and their stupid remarks.

I was out this week on business and like yourself Javabeans, spent more time watching the Olympics then previous planned. In any case, my conclusion after a week of watching the media and reading all sorts of ramblings here and there is that:

Olympics = Ignorant Nationalism

It's not new of course, but for the media to be that blatant?? I guess my assumption that they cater to the lowest common denominator is in fact correct.

@ Alyssa

> To me, as an asian american, I’m not so discontented.
> I just firmly believe these commentators are trying their best
> (partially failing) to give as much background information
> on the coaches and team members.

I know a lot of people who think this way...

So imagine if the commentators talked about the black athletes that way.

For example, the flag bearer was a Sudanese immigrant. Can you imagine if the commentators said, "Even though he's from Sudan, don't worry he's on our side!"

Or about the number of black athletes competing for us, "Isn't it amazing that our country has all these African Americans to represent us? My how progressive we are."

You can bet if they said that there would be a many protests and boycotts of NBC and its sponsors.

TOTALLY FUCKIN TRUE.

THis is a RAVE about YOUR RANT.

Couldn't agree with you more! In face, I've been feeling and hearing the same thing and I'm getting tired of it. So after seeing your post, I think I'll do the most rational thing. Send an angry email to NBC. Toodles!

Why does nationalistic pride often translate into borderline xenophobia? Why does supporting your country mean saying bad things about other countries? Its this very reason why I chose not to follow the Olympics. Its understandable that coverage of the Olympics in America would be America-centric; but I dont know why this is synonymous with bashing the athletes from other nations. In fact, its the reason I choose not to watch any news broadcasts (or things in the news family) from local television - if I want any attempt at objective, informed, intelligent reporting, I wont find it there. I also find it particularly ironic that they are actually pointing out the ethnic backgrounds of some of the American athletes - do the commentators need to be reminded that America is a nation of immigrants? Should someone point out how unlikely yet admirable it is that a (Polish/Irish/Italian/German/Dutch/etc)-American commentator can be *so supportive* of the American team despite their foreign heritage? Or does this over-developed sense of Other-ness only apply when its accompanied by a racial deviation from "the norm" (said norm, as Javabeans pointed out, being the blond blue-eyed Caucasian). It takes away from everything these wonderful athletes/coaches have and will accomplish that their loyalties are even a conversation topic - I guess they are American enough to add to the medal count, but not much else. That said, I very much doubt America is the only nation that has such ridiculous Olympic coverage.

I've been following very closely to the gymnastics and swimming competitions (because they air late at night) and I actually like listening to the commentators. Without them, I wouldn't know what was going on. I now know how the gymnastics scoring system works. I didn't catch them saying anything like what y'all are talking about up there, probably cuz my mom likes to make her own commentary while we watch.

Still, I always love your ranting!

P.S. I am SO happy the US women gymnasts beat China last night. I'm usually all for China, but they really should think about choosing ELIGIBLE athletes with more experience next time.

lol

Haha, it's a bunch of Americans on NBC anyway. Did you see any other race besides White?

That aside, it doesn't really matter to me b/c I clearly don't think I listen to what they say. I only watch the swimming, gymnastics, and beach volleyball part.

According to what you say, yes they are very unaware of what they are saying on television and because of that i find their rantings a bit annoying.

"Haha, it’s a bunch of Americans on NBC anyway. Did you see any other race besides White?"

popcorn, that's exactly the problem. "Americans" doesn't equal "white." The non-white people they're putting down or treating condescendingly are ALSO American. It's like when Tara Lipinski won the gold over Michelle Kwan and the news headline read "American Beats Kwan." WTF?

Here's my suggestion...watch CBC coverage. I'm not sure if you get CBC in the States but I avoid NBC coverage like the plague!

The one thing I like the most about CBC coverage (other than the Canadian athletes), is that they are really, really good a presenting the event from the angle of the event, not by whether or not there is a Canadian in it. The commentators are always really supportive of whomever is competing well (as indicated by the recent coverage of the gymnastics competition) or sympathetic towards the ones who are not.

Granted, there are times when they might cut short one event to cover another that does have a Canadian athlete/team, but they usually go back and continue the coverage. Since there are so many events going on at one time, I would suspect it's a scheduling nightmare. They do, however, have streaming video on their website at http://www.cbc.ca.

I'll be interested to see what kind of comments arise with the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, considering many Canadians train in the US and many Americans train in Canada...hmmmmm...

(Personally, I'm not looking forward to the traffic nightmare *sigh*)

The reason why I hate watching the Olympics on NBC is because it's all about the "americans" and how great they are.

You've got it right on the dot javabeans!

omg, i thought i was the only one addicted to the olympics since everyone around me seems to be just watching it "here and there"...i've been following it like crazy! :) this summer's olympics has been so good. all your rants are funny but thank god i have selective hearing and zone out all the senseless talking! i've caught some REALLY idiotic comments from the commentators and just laugh cuz they're so stupid!

yeah this topic was bound to come up sooner or later...at first i thought the wedding dress comment was just stupid, but when i pieced it together with other remarks i'd heard over the course of a few days about chipped nails & a female volleyball player's lost wedding ring...not to mention the astoundingly dumb one about "every woman's worst nightmare" being the tragedy of showing up wearing the same colors...i came to the conclusion that these commentators are sexist as well as racist...it's an ugly combination...

before i even bother to get pissed about it...let me just say the remarks related to nationality and ethnicity have left a bad taste in my mouth...really bad...all of the comments about americans of chinese heritage "returning to their homeland" are just nauseating...the commentator who emphasized how shawn johnson's coach is "a man born in china"...making a big deal about it as if it's unheard of for him to coach a fellow american because of his asian ethnicity...the photo of the spanish basketball team making chink eyes at the world...and the crowning glory has to be the age controversy over the chinese women's gymnastics team...all of which amounts to a slap in the face as far as the level of cultural sensitivity goes in this olympics...

if americans want to give the world the impression that they're unprofessional, unintelligent, ignorant, prejudiced, racist, sexist and nationalistic..i would say they're doing a pretty good job of it...the olympics are supposed to an inspiring event, but i must say the idiots who are on the sidelines blowing foul wind out of their arses are turning it into a three-ring circus and making fools out of themselves in the process...

some things just never change...i can't believe they actually made beef about nastia liukin not being a "true american"...their constant references to her russian birth place made me wonder...so would they call americans who have immigrant parents russian american or german american or whatnot? you don't hear of that...but you hear italian american, jewish american, chinese american, etc. it boils down to non-white ethnicity & you're automatically labeled a foreigner...

well, once the olympics are over i'll be hauling my korean american keester to school...lol @ blkrose...racism with a smile...you hit the nail on the head...

Wow. so many comments were said from NBC. I was really close to watchin the olympics on NBC because I just came back from overseas and watched the entire opening ceremony to an entire week's olympics.

I'm actually glad I watched it there, i just wished i was overseas longer so then I could finish the rest of the olympics.. J/K. I was over there because of family.

Thanks for giving us the heads up! :)

I just love this article. That's all I can say.

It would be impossible for me to describe just how much I agree with you. I was having this discussion last night with a friend of mine about how much I hate NBC's coverage of the Olympics and most specially the condescension and blatant xenophobia that is being displayed.

I just cannot stand it, the female reporter who does the annoying cultural reports, how I would love to meet her in the streets. There are a number of them but she and Bob Costas just stand out for saying the most ignorant and insulting things I have ever heard from so-called broadcasting professionals.

Okay, I commented earlier and have been checking back in to read alot of good comments today. I just stumbled across this youtube video clip posted on SUBlimesFansubs' channel. I think it speaks to the one of the subjects here today - ignorance and racism and people just not "getting it". It's a clip of a recent Chinese talk show where a young actor/singer paints his face black and then pretends to be Kobe Bryant playing basketball after he says, "chocolate, chocolate" ?? Omg, I'm just stunned that almost 900 people have watched it and everyone seems to think it's funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RalBDkJIR-o
Am I the only one who finds it offensive? I can imagine the replies I'm going to get to the comment I left. I'm really disappointed with SUBlimesFansubs too.

What I really find sad is that all these commentators lack such professionalism. The blatant bashing of other countries is also. However, I do enjoy sometimes their more detailed explanations which differ from some commentaries I have seen of BBC's broadcast and Hong Kong's. For example, the background story of why that little kid was next to Yao Ming in the parade of nations and how he saved his classmates from that tragic earthquake. But, the unnecessary little extra personal commentaries are often unneeded.

What I find truly amazing is the professionalism of the athletes. During such intense competition and rivalry they make an effort to accommodate and acknowledge each other. For example, in the gymnastics portion the men often return forgotten equipment or slippers to other countries and shake hands and acknowledge all the other athletes and coaches, whether they may be winning or losing. It's just a pity how the commentators mar this, and I'm really glad that the athletes don't have to hear all of their terrible remarks.

@ suzy: i can totally see why people find it offensive. it can come off as pretty racist and ignorant, but i don't think it's meant to. in the video, when they darkened his skin, they weren't exactly trying to make him "black." before ah ben came out, they would often times mention how he looked like some other asian artists like hiroyuki sanada. they didn't even mention that he looked like kobe bryant until he finally came out and he didn't pretend to be kobe until they mentioned that he looked like kobe bryant. and what surprises me is that if you look closely at him with his darkened skin, he actually looks like an asian kobe bryant...like seriously. i'm not even trying to be racist or stereotypical. if you look at ah ben's face's profile, he legitimately looks like kobe bryant. i think that the whole darkening the skin concept wasn't meant to be racist, but it could definitely come off as a bit racist especially to americans, who are very race conscious.

anyways, back to javabeans' post, i couldn't agree more. i find some of the nbc commentators quite ignorant and some times offensive and racist. like, this one time, the main guy in the studio and that lady who talks like a man were talking about chinese food and they just seemed to mock chinese food making it seem disgustingly delicious. it was like a back-handed diss. it seemed like they were complimenting chinese food, but in fact, were kind of dissing it. the nbc commentators lack true cultural awareness and a bit of tact.

SUBMIT THIS TO NBC!!! YOU MAKE GOOD POINTS AND NBC SHOULD HEAR IT!!!

Blue-eyed, blonde-haired, white people relates mostly from North-Europe, so there goes the whole "true-American-thingy" out the window, don't ya think? Perhaps NBC should start being suspicious when it comes to white people of scandinavian descent? Who knows, might be a big conspiracy between all the other nations!! Oh noes!! XD

NBC's coverage of the women's individual all-around gymnastics last night was the last straw for me when, dissatisfied with the lower-than-expected scores that Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin were receiving (to which I agree), the commentators deliberately made a point that just because China is hosting the Olympics doesn't mean there are more Chinese judges. As if all Chinese people have no morals and will do anything to get gold. Hmph.

HAHA, you just took the words out of my mouth (and made it a whole lot better while making some actual sense).

It always bothers me when I'm watching an Olympic performance, and I hear people in the background who just can't shut their pie holes.
I swear, commentators talk so much, they should just hide their sorry little selves away from NATIONAL television and go talk to a wall or something.

so true...every word! I vaguely remember watching the olympics and hearing their really stupid and biast commentary (in which I ranted about to my family) and so I simply turned it off :D

definately true
it got on my nerves as well! way to speak the truth!

Honestly, I think that American commentators are racist and stereotypical in general. They cannot give praise when and where it's due (unless it's to America) and they can't keep their mouths shut on trivialities. But that can sum up the general outlooks of racism and sexism in America to this day.

and that is why i watch the olympics while running on a treadmill, music from my mp3 blasting into my ears =D

but also since im in china, the commenting is a bit different
indeed those comments are enough to drive me insane

woooo u go girl~

haha i cant believe how blatantly racist and sexist the commentary can be... even hearing the comments second hand is making me see red.

Awesome rant.....send this to NBC.

And I love everyone's discussion about it...although we could have saved ourselves from this irritation if NBC wasn't so xenophobic and WASP-y.

never thought about it that way before. They always were a little bit annoying before, but you bring up a lot of good points. And unfortunately I can't tune in to all the coverage, I had no idea they said half the things you mentioned.

The thing that _really_ bugs the crap out of me is seeing Dubya running around playing with the athletes. I can understand if he took the day off to go to the opening ceremonies because all the countries are there and blah blah blah. But then to go hit volley balls with Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor or meet up with the male beach volley ball players or join in the huddle with the basketball team or watch Phelps get another gold medal etc. etc. is just annoying. I'm not paying taxes so that he can have a freakin vacation in China! And I hate how the commentators at NBC are simply tickled by the fact that he gives cute nicknames to the players he meets or whatever. If you wanna go have fun at the olympics wait 4 years in London AFTER you're done playing president. >=(

I think this is a bit over-exaggerated......

although having ur dress ripped and hurting yourself is not the same, the correspondent was simply stating the fact that a whole bunch of preparation is put in to amount to one single defining moment (whatever that moment may be) and in the seconds b4 it happening.......BAM sumthing happens...................................

And about the racial thing........

as a person born in Brazil, but an American citizen, i can VERY MUCH understand what the commentators were saying..............i don't know if i would be okay training an athlete to win in the US and not Brazil ......ESPECIALLY if Brazil and US were to go head-to-head in the event.............................

So, it is possible to have your heart torn in between 2 countries......and loyalties sometimes do waver according to situation..........having 2 "home countries" isn't as concrete as being just AMERICAN..............

I think it woudl be rude NOT to mention the "second nationality" of the coach/trainer......since it is such an important aspect of the person's life and personality...............

If i were training for example the American volleyball team and if they played against Brazil........i would be VERY offended if no one payed attention to the fact that I am Brazilian myself.................

so...to each, his own

Java, totally agree with you!! Thanks for putting this sentiment out there because I know a lot of people feel the same way. It helps that you write really well even when you're feeling a bit hot-headed. :]]