Not flawless?

Well, you probably guessed I might rant about this. I must confess that I’m not really into the Olympics extravaganza. Didn’t even go to the Sydney Olympics. I of course admire all the athletes and the enormous energy and dedication they have. And the opening ceremonies are usually spectacular although I did find Beijing’s somewhat mechanical. What really incensed me of course was the turfing out of 7-year old Yang Peiyi as the singer of Hymn to the Motherland during the Opening Ceremony. Let’s have a look at Yang:

Either my eyes are getting really bad with old age or this girl is cute as a button. But some idiot from China’s Politburo, who popped in to watch rehearsals, ruffled feathers when he wanted a face to match the songbird voice he was hearing. The suggestion was that Yang’s face wasn’t flawless – yep, she has slightly crooked teeth. Yeah, well Chinese dude, most people do have something wrong with their choppers unless they’ve popped off to the dentist for a Hollywood set of straight, blinding white choppers (that frankly look oh so fake). Her face was apparently deemed to be “chubby”. What the? She’s a 7-year old girl – girls this age are allowed to have some puppy fat.

But here is China criticising poor Yang for not being flawless. And so they replaced her with 9- year old Lin Miaoke:

who is of course also cute and apparently considered far prettier than Yang. Has anyone thought of the emotional damage that Yang might suffer as a result of this stupidity? Being told you’re not pretty enough and having the whole world know about this is bound to have some impact on a poor 7 year old girl attempting to establish her identity. And Lin will probably go through life being referred to as “that girl who did the fraudulent lip-synching during the 2008 Olympics”.

The chief music director for the opening ceremony said: “The audience will understand that it’s in the national interest”. What is China’s national interest? To show the world that the women there are Barbie dolls? I read somewhere that the girls hanging around to give out medals had to be a certain weight, height and show six teeth when they smile. Is there some sort of cuteness test that women have to pass in China? China is so intent on showing the world a flawless image that images of the city and fireworks were apparently digitally inserted into the Opening Ceremony.

All this reminds me of another time when a certain psycho wanted everyone in Germany to be Aryan, with blonde hair and athletic capabilities.

Dudes: the Olympics are supposed to be about excellence and competition in sport not aesthetics. It’s not about cuteness and desperately trying to show the world that you’re full of flawless Asian dolly birds. For the sake of your reputation China, I would suggest you allow Yang to sing in the Closing Ceremony and be seen- allow the world to enjoy the songbird voice and image of a cute little 7-year old girl and help to boost her self-esteem, which surely must be suffering because of some idiot who decided she’s not cute enough. And while you’re at it China: trot out the Politburo dude who suggested Yang wasn’t pretty enough. Let’s see if he has a six-pack and a Hollywood smile rather than being some 40+ years guy with a pot belly who’s seen better days. Shame on you China is what I think.