He isn’t a “national” figure skater and no woman lost a competition spot. This was the opening ceremony and the Finns decided to make the performance about “inclusion” and have skaters who aren’t seen in competition be part of the opening. Of course that includes trans skaters, disabled skaters performed as well. I am just shocked 1) they couldn’t find anyone better, and 2) he’s been skating for 9 years and still skates like he just walked onto the ice. You’d think he’d get some intensive coaching for a few weeks so he could skate while standing up straight.
Finnish boys grow up playing ice hockey and are usually fluent skaters at an early age, so it’s surprising that Antikainen should be so hesitant and wobbly. The commentator is obviously reading from a prepared script as he ignores what’s happening on the rink and yaks on about the skater’s career. At the end a female voice says that the slogan for the competition is “tule sellaisena kuin olet” – “come as just what you are” – which is perhaps exactly what Antikainen did.
I remember in high school at an assembly (probably for a football game) that some boys (mostly football players) dressed up as girls, complete with wigs and makeup, and did a little skit with music. The whole gym roared with laughter. This was back when we had a sense of humor about such things. There are a couple photos in my yearbook where you can see everyone having a good time.
The performance above reminds me a little of that, minus the humor, and I wonder how these people can take themselves so seriously. Like the runner a few posts back, along with Willy Thomas, Rhys McKinnon, et al, it might have been comedy 40 or 50 years ago, but now these displays are simply pathetic and a perverse insult to women and girls, not to mention an insult to everyone’s intelligence.
I think it is clear that Antikainen has physical problems of some sort, quite apart from his problems with skating. I notice that, when he falls over, he cannot stand up without help. I don’t know why anyone thought it was a good idea to put him on the ice but, in fairness, it was brave of him to attempt to perform.
twiliter, I remember those days, as well. I didn’t think it was funny then, either. The boys were drawing out a huge stereogype, and most of the girls in the assembly were cringing with embarrassment. I have never understood why it is so funny to see boys (or men) dressed as girls (or women). It is usually insulting to women.
I agree ikn, I didn’t find it very funny either, but I was fairly dire in high school anyway. ;) I understand how sexist it was now, but back then it was a bunch of kids having fun (mocking girls as you say). I never understood the popularity of drag to be honest. It actually bores the shit out of me. Sorry Ru.
@3: I generally lurk here, but I figure skated when I was growing up, and one thing to note is that figure skates and hockey skates have very different shaped blades, so if you’re used to skating on one you’re likely to have trouble switching to the other. It’s not just a matter of toe pick vs no toe pick, though that is almost always the first thing that catches hockey players out – hockey skates have fairly rounded blades, while figure skates have much flatter blades, though not as flat as speed skate blades.
Good grief. _I_ could skate better than that (not now, but 40 years ago), and I was a pretty bad skater.
Anyway, this provides a rather feeble excuse for talking about something I’ve been thinking about recently. I have been a member of the (British) Biochemical Society since 1973. When I joined it was clearly a learned society for biochemists, run by biochemists, and “administrators” were nowhere to be seen. Over the years it has become less and less a learned society and more and more a business run by administrators.
A few months ago my wife (also a member) and I were asked to complete questionnaires about “diversity”. We were reluctant to answer questions that had nothing to do with the purpose of the Society, but we didn’t want their summary statistics to be biassed more than necessary by woke answers, so we did.
It started by asking me if I was male, female, trans, non-binary, etc. None of your business would have been the honest answer, but I answered anyway. Later they wanted to know about sexual preferences: again, none of your business. The 10 or so possibilities were in alphabetical order: bisexual, gay, homosexual, lesbian, queer etc., with “straight” in 8th place (for some reason they forgot to mention necrophiliac and zoophiliac: maybe they thought that a truly diverse society wouldn’t allow such people). My wife (whose native language is not English) asked me what “straight” meant, so I told her that it meant heterosexual. So why didn’t they write “heterosexual”, she asked. We decided that that was probably because that would place it too high up the list, rather than in 8th place to emphasize how freakish it was.
The struggling looks fake, like a choreography. And at the end the young skater who helps her (or him) up is the one carrying the Finnish flag and hands over the flag. In my opinion the handover is a giveaway that it’s a performance. And it’s not that hard to stand up wearing skates.
I hadn’t even considered that this could be choreographed, a little morality play about the struggles of Trans people and how women should help them up for the glory of Finland. So I watched again and, though I could see it, the biggest clue it’s not deliberate is the face of the skater when given help. If it was a performance we’d likely see a huge smile, gratitude and relief as they triumphantly took their rightful place as standard-bearer. Instead, it’s just awkward confusion and the look of someone who doesn’t want to be there.
@Sastra Look at the semi pro young woman skater who helps the trans woman get up and hands over the flag. There is no asking what’s wrong, if she needs help, or anything else. And no discussion about giving up the flag, no protest, just a choreography. And she calmly skates away.
These are not actors, so the facial expressions aren’t theater quality (or any quality).
And the staying down on the ice looks very fake.
Also the commentators don’t react at all to the fall. This is understandable if they actually know the script. Otherwise they would almost certainly comment on a skater staying down until helped up from a fall that looks like it’s totally soft.
I would guess the moral of the story is that if we fall, we help each other get up again, no matter our differences and competition. Competition as in figure skating as a competitive sport, not trans vs natural. I wouldn’t read a trans taking over narrative into it. But I could be wrong about the narrative. I’m quite confident about the choreographed fall though.
The staying down on the ice bit is the dead giveaway for me, especially after being able to do the 2 half-pirouettes(?). Standing up unassisted on ice is lesson 0. I think he actually coerced the performance, either spontaneously or a pre-skate “I’m so nervous I might need help” something something.
The woman skater did exactly what someone would do if there was a mishap during any performance: come in with no fanfare, ask no questions, cover it up as discreetly as possible, move on. Same for an announcer seeing something embarrassing. It was an exhibition skate, not a competition. If it had been planned to make a point then everyone would have been in on it and we’d expect to hear and see heavy-handed expressions of surprise, alarm, relief, and joy. It’s ice skating, not experimental theater. And since when has anything rallying for pro-trans been understated and ambiguous?
My impression was that the trans skater was experiencing or was putting themselves through the motions of a panic attack and their ability to function went predictably downhill.
He isn’t a “national” figure skater and no woman lost a competition spot. This was the opening ceremony and the Finns decided to make the performance about “inclusion” and have skaters who aren’t seen in competition be part of the opening. Of course that includes trans skaters, disabled skaters performed as well. I am just shocked 1) they couldn’t find anyone better, and 2) he’s been skating for 9 years and still skates like he just walked onto the ice. You’d think he’d get some intensive coaching for a few weeks so he could skate while standing up straight.
Maybe by “inclusion” they actually meant “including people who can’t even skate!!”?
Finnish boys grow up playing ice hockey and are usually fluent skaters at an early age, so it’s surprising that Antikainen should be so hesitant and wobbly. The commentator is obviously reading from a prepared script as he ignores what’s happening on the rink and yaks on about the skater’s career. At the end a female voice says that the slogan for the competition is “tule sellaisena kuin olet” – “come as just what you are” – which is perhaps exactly what Antikainen did.
@3: Maybe he has destroyed his body with hormones and surgeries?
I remember in high school at an assembly (probably for a football game) that some boys (mostly football players) dressed up as girls, complete with wigs and makeup, and did a little skit with music. The whole gym roared with laughter. This was back when we had a sense of humor about such things. There are a couple photos in my yearbook where you can see everyone having a good time.
The performance above reminds me a little of that, minus the humor, and I wonder how these people can take themselves so seriously. Like the runner a few posts back, along with Willy Thomas, Rhys McKinnon, et al, it might have been comedy 40 or 50 years ago, but now these displays are simply pathetic and a perverse insult to women and girls, not to mention an insult to everyone’s intelligence.
It’s drag, but not the fun kind.
I think it is clear that Antikainen has physical problems of some sort, quite apart from his problems with skating. I notice that, when he falls over, he cannot stand up without help. I don’t know why anyone thought it was a good idea to put him on the ice but, in fairness, it was brave of him to attempt to perform.
twiliter, I remember those days, as well. I didn’t think it was funny then, either. The boys were drawing out a huge stereogype, and most of the girls in the assembly were cringing with embarrassment. I have never understood why it is so funny to see boys (or men) dressed as girls (or women). It is usually insulting to women.
I agree ikn, I didn’t find it very funny either, but I was fairly dire in high school anyway. ;) I understand how sexist it was now, but back then it was a bunch of kids having fun (mocking girls as you say). I never understood the popularity of drag to be honest. It actually bores the shit out of me. Sorry Ru.
@3: I generally lurk here, but I figure skated when I was growing up, and one thing to note is that figure skates and hockey skates have very different shaped blades, so if you’re used to skating on one you’re likely to have trouble switching to the other. It’s not just a matter of toe pick vs no toe pick, though that is almost always the first thing that catches hockey players out – hockey skates have fairly rounded blades, while figure skates have much flatter blades, though not as flat as speed skate blades.
Good grief. _I_ could skate better than that (not now, but 40 years ago), and I was a pretty bad skater.
Anyway, this provides a rather feeble excuse for talking about something I’ve been thinking about recently. I have been a member of the (British) Biochemical Society since 1973. When I joined it was clearly a learned society for biochemists, run by biochemists, and “administrators” were nowhere to be seen. Over the years it has become less and less a learned society and more and more a business run by administrators.
A few months ago my wife (also a member) and I were asked to complete questionnaires about “diversity”. We were reluctant to answer questions that had nothing to do with the purpose of the Society, but we didn’t want their summary statistics to be biassed more than necessary by woke answers, so we did.
It started by asking me if I was male, female, trans, non-binary, etc. None of your business would have been the honest answer, but I answered anyway. Later they wanted to know about sexual preferences: again, none of your business. The 10 or so possibilities were in alphabetical order: bisexual, gay, homosexual, lesbian, queer etc., with “straight” in 8th place (for some reason they forgot to mention necrophiliac and zoophiliac: maybe they thought that a truly diverse society wouldn’t allow such people). My wife (whose native language is not English) asked me what “straight” meant, so I told her that it meant heterosexual. So why didn’t they write “heterosexual”, she asked. We decided that that was probably because that would place it too high up the list, rather than in 8th place to emphasize how freakish it was.
This has become the case with colleges and universities, too.
Also my playwriting collective. It’s no longer about playwrights, it’s about the business of the festival they run.
The struggling looks fake, like a choreography. And at the end the young skater who helps her (or him) up is the one carrying the Finnish flag and hands over the flag. In my opinion the handover is a giveaway that it’s a performance. And it’s not that hard to stand up wearing skates.
@OlliP #12;
I hadn’t even considered that this could be choreographed, a little morality play about the struggles of Trans people and how women should help them up for the glory of Finland. So I watched again and, though I could see it, the biggest clue it’s not deliberate is the face of the skater when given help. If it was a performance we’d likely see a huge smile, gratitude and relief as they triumphantly took their rightful place as standard-bearer. Instead, it’s just awkward confusion and the look of someone who doesn’t want to be there.
@Sastra Look at the semi pro young woman skater who helps the trans woman get up and hands over the flag. There is no asking what’s wrong, if she needs help, or anything else. And no discussion about giving up the flag, no protest, just a choreography. And she calmly skates away.
These are not actors, so the facial expressions aren’t theater quality (or any quality).
And the staying down on the ice looks very fake.
Also the commentators don’t react at all to the fall. This is understandable if they actually know the script. Otherwise they would almost certainly comment on a skater staying down until helped up from a fall that looks like it’s totally soft.
I would guess the moral of the story is that if we fall, we help each other get up again, no matter our differences and competition. Competition as in figure skating as a competitive sport, not trans vs natural. I wouldn’t read a trans taking over narrative into it. But I could be wrong about the narrative. I’m quite confident about the choreographed fall though.
The staying down on the ice bit is the dead giveaway for me, especially after being able to do the 2 half-pirouettes(?). Standing up unassisted on ice is lesson 0. I think he actually coerced the performance, either spontaneously or a pre-skate “I’m so nervous I might need help” something something.
I don’t see much reason to think it’s fake. The trans skater looks like a complete fool, and I don’t see why he would want to do that.
@OlliP;
The woman skater did exactly what someone would do if there was a mishap during any performance: come in with no fanfare, ask no questions, cover it up as discreetly as possible, move on. Same for an announcer seeing something embarrassing. It was an exhibition skate, not a competition. If it had been planned to make a point then everyone would have been in on it and we’d expect to hear and see heavy-handed expressions of surprise, alarm, relief, and joy. It’s ice skating, not experimental theater. And since when has anything rallying for pro-trans been understated and ambiguous?
My impression was that the trans skater was experiencing or was putting themselves through the motions of a panic attack and their ability to function went predictably downhill.
That’s because you’re reasonable, and TiMs are not.