Can we as Canadians truly be defined as “blah” or “very ordinary” and how is this applicable in relation to the Olympics? During the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, we as Canadians certainly displayed great enthusiasm by supporting our athletes and as a nation had something in common to celebrate. The 2010 Olympic Games have provided Canadians with a chance to showcase our pride to the world and it certainly cannot be considered dull by any means. After all, we won 14 gold medals and that in itself deserves acknowledgment and pride. Nonetheless, there are certain other events that took place during the Olympic period that deserve a more critical and closer look. Even before the Olympic Games began, an unsafe track design led to the death of Georgian luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili, after his high speed collision with one of the poles outside of the track. If we, as Canadians, want to show the world that we are ready and equipped to host such an important and massive event like the Olympics how is it that we have allowed the possibility of such mistakes to result in fatalities? How does this incident reflect on who we are as Canadians? Do we take everything lightly and forget about these events soon after, without reflecting back on how we could have executed certain things differently? Why was this incident blamed on an inexperienced driver, while precautions were not applied, which resulted in further injuries of other athletes? These questions, at least as a Canadian, arise in my mind.
Mordecai Richler as a Canadian writer, in his book The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, constructs a Canadian experience through a Jewish community living in Montreal. He chose to create flawed Jewish characters that are part of an alienated minority group. In an interview, Richler discusses that the Jewish identity relates to the-identity crisis of Canada. Canada as a country is the minority within North America just like the Jews are a minority in Montreal and ultimately the minority of the world (lecture, Feb.). How can we define our Canadian identity? Can we now merely be defined by our flaws and nothing more? During the time of the Olympics we have certainly shown nothing better than average. Instead of representing to the world a flawless performance we have allowed too many mistakes to occur. I personally cannot get over the death of this athlete at a time when these events should have only brought the best of memories for the entire Canadian nation. Do we as Canadians take these actions too lightly and dismiss important information that may have led to preventative measures? I believe that this lack of action caused the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili on that fatal February day. It has been discovered that despite the known dangers of the sledding track, Canadians Olympic staff that were in charge of safety dismissed additional precautions and measures that should have been in place to avoid injuries. Even after the death of this young athlete, the same track was kept open which resulted in further serious injuries to other individuals. What I question is, if room for improvement was in fact needed why was it dismissed not only prior to the death but after injuries continued to occur to other athletes. I personally think that as a Canadian it is a shame and an embarrassment for the entire Canadian nation that this fatal accident, which could have been prevented (with installments of some sort of a shield or guard) had in fact occurred.
Another example of carelessness during the games was in the opening ceremony when the fourth pillar malfunctioned and did not fully rise. It would seem that after spending 6.1 billion (Briarpatch magazine) dollars on Olympic events everything would have been thought of or considered to avoid such mistakes. From how things were executed it would seem that insufficient testing lead to unfortunate outcomes such as the ones mentioned above. Canadians were not only ill-equipped but made too many errors that jeopardized lives. And yes, in the closing ceremony we decided to poke fun at the initial mistake but that does not cover the fact that we messed up.
During the Olympics we had a chance to show the world how great we can be but instead we have presented our flawed side. Despite awing the crowds around the world with our ceremonies we have showed our carelessness for safety and preparation. Drawing from these mistakes we in fact can be defined as stereotypical Canadians, and deserve the name a “bunch of ordinary folks”. For some mostly young Canadians the Olympics served as a chance to continually party, with the presence of alcohol of course, for the entire duration of the games. We did show off our pride but through the masquerade of drunken loud, white and red dressed folks walking down the streets. After picking up the tab for our Vancouver party, we may still stand proud of our mediocrity or we may improve from our mistakes.
Works Cited
Richler, Mordecai. The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. New York: Washington Square Press, 1959. Print.
“Boosters’ millions: Better ways than the Olympics to spend $6.1 billion” Briarpatch Articles. Vancouver 2010. 5 January 2010. <”http://briarpatchmagazine.com/boosters-millions/>.
Self-criticism is an interesting concept because it means that a person or society as a whole is always thinking of ways to improve themselves. It is a function of drama to have a character experience anagnorisis, the Aristotelian idea of recognizing ones errors or faults, which leads to the finale of the narrative. In Lucy Maud Montgomery’s novel Emily of New Moon, the titular character experiences this change after confronting her Aunt Elizabeth. Emily experiences her anagnorisis when she realizes the “sharp, bitter things” (Montgomery 312) she wrote about her Aunt were exaggerated. Applying this process to the Olympics, and in turn national identity, is valid and shows that Canadians do have a certain measure of self-criticism.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there is a strong opposition to the argument of self-criticism. Many Canadians are incredibly proud of the performance of Canadian athletes and the Games in general. The opinion page that I used in my article (http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/story/2010/03/01/spo-your-view.html#socialcomments) is full of comments on they enjoyed about the Olympics. Canadian citizens are voicing their happiness about the Olympic proceedings, even though there were visible problems. This mindset is similar to the actions of Louis Riel in Chester Brown’s Louis Riel: A Comic-strip Biography. Riel proclaims that he does not renounce his political or religious ideals (Brown 228-229), even though it could save his from the gallows. Riel is not criticizing his views, because he believes that they are right and just. His viewpoint is mirrored in the posts on the CBC.ca article. What is shown is a strong sense of pride from Canadians, which is contrary to self-criticism.
Essentially, what this dichotomy shows is that Canadian identity embodies both pride and self-criticism. We show our patriotism to support our athletes and we reflect on the problems that can be fixed. I believe that this mix is great for building our national identity.
“How can we define our Canadian identity? Can we now merely be defined by our flaws and nothing more?”
ReplyDeleteThis comment struck a chord with me, because if one of the features of Canadian identity is self-criticism, then we become in danger of being defined as constantly flawed. Self-criticism only works if it acknowledges that improvement is needed and desired, as Giovanni stated. Although the closing Olympic ceremony definitely poked fun of all the errors, it may have been a little too late because where does the improvement come in once everything is finished? Well, there are always the next Olympics in twenty years. :P It also poses another question as to whether we were making fun of ourselves to demonstrate our need for improvement, or whether it was an attempt to acknowledge the mistakes first, so critics would not have anything negative to cling to (a manner of deflecting the enemy before it strikes first).
Self-deprication seems to be natural to Candadians so it is not suprising that the few mishaps and a tragic death would become focal points of criticism. I do believe that the death of the Georgian luger was a horrific and tragic commencement to the Games. It can definitely be understood as a "freak accident" but I do not understand how one can blame the fault of a few on an entire nation. As for the technical difficulties with the cauldron, I felt that VANOC's mocking of the mishap during the closing ceremonies was a humble way of recovering. As for the drunkenness, I spent a lot of time downtown and for the first time in my life, I felt safe on Granville Street. People may have been inebriated but it did not invoke crowds of dangerous buffoonery but rather the crowds donned in red and white were embracing the moment. There was a sense of unity that I have never felt before in Vancouver. Of course, when hosting a major event as the Olympics, there will always be errors and there will also be a few people whose actions will be questionable. I guess what I am trying to say is - cut Vancouver some slack!
ReplyDeleteIf we are discussing criticism of the Olympics, then we should discuss the image portrayed by the protestors who vandalized various buildings. Those protestors are just as Canadian and therefore just as responsible as VANOC for their actions.
That last comment was posted by Justine.
ReplyDeleteEchoing the comments of Justine, I too don't see how the death of the Georgian luger is a poor reflection of Canadians. I feel like that is an unfair comparison. That entire accident is more so a poor reflection of the track designers, the International Luge Federation, VANOC and the sport itself. Canadians (and the entire world) displayed a great deal of compassion, sorrow and empathy.
ReplyDeleteAs for the malfunctioning cauldron, I think that VANOC's mocking of it was not just a humble way of recovering but a reflection of our ability to make the best of a situation, laugh at ourselves and move on. With an event at a scale such as this, errors are bound to occur. It's how they are dealt with that is most important.
And I don't think Canadians celebrated mediocrity because these Olympics were not mediocre. They were fun, passionate, loud and rightfully patriotic even while Canadians cemented their image as polite and helpful hosts. The atmosphere was energetic, events were largely well run, security was unbelievably good and people were friendly. I'm not saying it was perfect and I'm not saying there weren't any problems but for a country that does practice a lot of self-criticism and often falls in the shadows of a more powerful neighbour to the south, the Olympics provided us an opportunity to shine on the world stage. They allowed people to embrace an inner nationalism that rarely comes out to the scale that it did. A couple of articles I read after the Olympics compared the experience to a coming-out party for Canadian identity and nationalism. This was Canada's coming-out party and the people celebrated it well.
I think that it is important to look at this topic more closely. And I think if we do so, we'll be able to identify some emerging trends. The comment made by Karen, “I don't think Canadians celebrated mediocrity because these Olympics were not mediocre,” seems to be a common thought amongst most Canadians. This being said, it is important to define what made the Olympics successful. If we are looking at this from a purely wins – losses, medals won approach, clearly, the Olympics were a success for Canadians. If we are defining success based upon the experience and the image we created for ourselves then I think we have to examine this further.
ReplyDeleteLet's take a look at what the perception of the Olympics was from other countries. The Americans loved the Vancouver Olympics! Whenever I would tune into any American coverage of the Olympics, the common themes were that they loved the celebrations and the party-like atmosphere in the streets of Vancouver and in the athletes village. They could relate to Canadians, they were thinking hmm these Canadians are a lot like us! They're not only patriotic but also like drink, smoke, party, and have sex! A study was conducted as to how the American perception of Vancouver had changed after the Olympics and “the survey found an 11-per cent post-Games increase in the number of U.S. Residents who have a positive impression of Vancouver,” (Ogilvie, 2010); that's 25 million people! European coverage was less than impressed with the preparations, malfunctions, and party-like atmosphere. But still deemed the Olympics successful to a certain degree.
I think that it is important to understand that because we are such a young nation, with the increase of information and telecommunication technology, we are now living in the digital age where people all over the world have access to media coverage. So the world has been able to examine Canadians at an increased level. We showcased to the world our new brand of national character. So the image that we have posed may leave a long lasting impression in the eyes of people around the world. We have to understand that there may be repercussions associated with this, as we may be grouped under the same category of our neighbours south of the 49th parallel. Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend the Olympics in Vancouver but felt very much involved. One day I was watching the celebrations and was surprised by the commercialization of the Olympics in Vancouver; we were acting like Americans, and... I liked it? This new found competitiveness, self-interest, and self-promotion steers away from our traditional Canadian values which may have an alarming effect. I think that the Olympics were a success at the expense of our old national character. The definite line between Canadian and American culture is now slightly blurred, I guess we are more like our American neighbours than we thought... Scary eh?