Mmmm...tasty...

Whilst Robin takes Maine by storm, diving for her own lobsters and picking blueberries by the light of the silvery moon, I bravely hold it all together during a sports collision like no other. Every game on the diamond for those in the hunt is like a playoff game, football is so close I can smell the leather, and the Olympics, well, let’s just say they are the most compelling and complex in decades. If it turned out that the 2008 Olympics were finely crafted movie shorts directed by the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Woody Allen and Martin Scorcese I would be not surprised.

Hollywood loves to take a simple premise and wring it out till it no longer seems simple, but instead, disturbing. The white picket fence leads you inside a well-kept home with dinner simmering on the stove, the dog, bandana tied around his neck, curls up on his very own bed, and the children, all 2.5 of them, sit quietly at the kitchen table doing their homework. Mom and Dad are probably reliving the night he proposed as they sneak some romantic moments in front of a crackling fire, undisturbed.

Except the fence has termites, the dog has lymes disease, the kids aren’t virgins anymore and both Mom and Dad are having extramarital affairs.

Cut to Beijing and the story isn’t much different. Just ask Yang Peiyi, whose breathtaking voice entertained us during the opening ceremonies with a performance of “Ode to the Motherland”, but whose face was deemed not pretty enough to entertain us visually. The New York Times reports that, “under pressure from the highest levels of the ruling Communist Party to find the perfect face and voice, the ceremony’s production team concluded the only solution was to use two girls instead of one.” Apparently, Lin Miaoke was prettier. And that ruled above talent. Because appearances are more important than the truth.

This is not a trend in China alone, but the world over. Except with such a spotlight shone so brightly on a country so unwilling to admit its faults, China’s obsession with appearance versus truth smacks you in your face, whether it’s pretty or not. And it stings. In China it is not just about a pretty girl on the cover of a magazine or a computer-generated screen shot of fireworks for the television cameras, it’s about creating a facade for the world that covers all the ills, beyond the scope of the Olympics. You can paint the moldy wall, but the mold doesn’t go away - it just becomes more toxic.

We are fortunate to be able to celebrate the Olympics, to gather from all points on the globe to honor sports in all its forms with a global competition that allows athletes who have worked so hard to be lauded for their achievements and to have their near miraculous feats viewed by upwards of a billion people. That, in and of itself, is an achievement of which we should all be proud.

Olympians are chosen for their ability to perform their sport at the highest level, far exceeding the performances of all others who have tried to forge a path to the storied Games. The spirit of the Games is that in a nut shell: you are the best at what you do so come to the global stage and perform for the world.

Except for Yang Peiyi. Yes, she was the best to sing “Ode to the Motherland”, but she wasn’t pretty enough to be on camera. I beg to disagree. Actually, I don’t beg at all. I simply think the ruling party in China has their heads firmly planted up their derrieres.

Yang is a beautiful 7 year old girl with perfect little bangs, an adorable smile, and wisdom radiating from her eyes, which is why I am not surprised that she still smiles. Perhaps she does not know exactly what went down when she was used for her talent but pushed aside because her face did not meet the standards of beauty as designated by a ‘ruling party’. (Where is Tyra Banks when you need her?) But one day this girl will do something to alter the landscape of our judgmental society. To me, her work has already begun.

Yang Peiyi (L), Lin Miaoke (R)

So, here we have one child who has learned that her talent will never be enough, and another who has learned that one need have no talent if one is beautiful. How tragic. How utterly tragic.

Simply stated, focusing on appearances is a complete waste of time because what lurks beneath will always emerge. It is also destructive, leads to dishonesty and prevents progress.

Wouldn’t it have been less complicated to have selected the girl who sang the best given that the focus of the performance was singing? Wouldn’t life have been less complicated and tragic for Tang Yongming, the man responsible for killing Todd Bachman and seriously injuring Todd’s wife, Barbara, before plunging to his own death from the Drumm Tower, if he was raised in a land where trust and truth rise above appearances? Wouldn’t we all celebrate China’s gold medal in women’s gymnastics if it weren’t completely clear to you, me and basically every living creature with sight that He Kexin is not, by any stretch of the imagination, 16 years old?

Words of wisdom from my mother: Life is not complicated until you complicate it.

China must have never met my mother.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 13th, 2008 at 9:34 pm and is filed under Fantoo Blog Home. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.