At a bar downtown this past Thursday night, my friends and I were invariably exposed to some televised Olympics.
I usually don’t tune into the Olympics, but this particular moment of winter competition grabbed my attention, because I am a fan of U.S. figure skating phenomenon Johnny Weir.
I only learned about Johnny Weir earlier last week, when a wine-induced YouTube session had me captivated with clips from his new show on the Sundance Channel, “Johnny Be Good.”
The title is appropriate because of what Johnny Weir provokes — PETA hates him for his fur coats, and he draws ire from social conservatives for his unapologetic gay confidence. Johnny makes just as many headlines for his bravado as for his ice skating prowess — two qualities that come together to create the ultimate desired effect: His performances are arresting.
I hadn’t expected the chance to cheer for Johnny on Thursday night, and I had been working on a pitcher of beer with my neighbor, a fellow Weir fan — so you can imagine our excitement when we unexpectedly saw him on TV getting ready for his final free skate routine.
I am flawed in my tendency to become overly excited, and I indulge in it often. I imagine this will one day prove fatal, when, in an enthused frenzy, I become the next weird-zoo-accident story on nightly news after jumping into the tiger moat at the Smithsonian.
No lives were in jeopardy when I gave myself high-fives and shouted “GOOD!” as Johnny showed the Olympic judges, and the world, his talent.
My reveling in Johnny’s skating sorcery proved too much for another guy at the bar, who grabbed my attention to whisper, “Calm down, you’re making people uncomfortable.”
I was too completely bewildered by this statement to react as I now, in retrospect, wish I had.
Rather than yelling, “Really? Well take a look at this!” and then promptly exposing myself, I instead allowed for a less awkward silence by avoiding eye contact and permitting my feelings to fester.
Moments before Johnny began his final Olympic free skate that would determine whether he’d get a medal, the announcers relayed advice that his parent’s had given him: “You must always be yourself.”
In an interview Johnny once said, “Even when I was little and playing on a soccer team and running the opposite way pretending to be a zebra or an ostrich, it was OK — I’ve always been like this.”
His free stake was breathtaking. Confidence and vulnerability metastasized into a beautiful work of art — carved ice, muscle, glitter, blades and will.
Had Johnny amended his backwards ball kicking in soccer, stopped envisioning himself as an animal or decided to appease those made uncomfortable by his happiness, he might not have been able to share his skills and compete among the world’s top athletes.
Johnny Weir placed sixth in the 2010 Olympic Men’s Free Skate. He did not receive a high enough score to medal, but the points lost on the soccer field and from the judges’ scorecards transformed into a standing ovation.
If Johnny were to “Be Good” he wouldn’t be where he is today.
I’m a little embarrassed I took my own order to “calm down” to heart, but probably less embarrassed than I would be had I exposed myself.
Perhaps one day I’ll find a new way to channel my talents to enthuse, and my solo high-fiving and shouting will serve in retrospect as indicators for future excellence.
It is important to respect one another’s comfort, but never let it barricade dimensions of yourself, or your happiness
A version of this article appeared in the Feb 24 issue of the Collegiate Times.
Leave a comment 13 Comments Write a letter to the editor
All letters to the editor must include a name, e-mail, daytime phone number and affiliation to Virginia Tech. Affiliation includes: year and major for students; position and department for faculty and staff; current city for alumni and parents.
Great article and I LOVE Johnny, but um...how do you high-five yourself? Isn't that just clapping your hands?
Reply to this Top
With all do respect Chris, where are you getting at? This article just shows you being pretentious in showing a lack of respect for others in the bar. Johnny Weir himself acts in such a pretentious way that contrast with the ideals and quality behind the Olympics. This is why he has gotten so much media attention. It is not because he is gay, but because he is acting un-Olympian like. In the beginning of your article you say you usually don't tune into the Olympics and you didn't even know about Johnny Weir until the previous week. Do you only care now for he is gay and likes to get attention for himself? Isn't LGBTA about equality? Does being gay give you an excuse to stand out just because and to ignore your own manners? Just a few things to think about.
Reply to this Top
"With all do respect Chris, where are you getting at?"
I think it's fairly obviously stated in the last line of the article:
It is important to respect one anothers comfort, but never let it barricade dimensions of yourself, or your happiness.
And showing lack of respect for others at a bar? Seriously? If he had done the same thing for, say, a televised football/basketball game no one would bat an eye. Someone him being the only one cheering this time makes it pretentious?
As far as Weir himself, I hadn't heard of him until a week ago either, and yes, he's flashy and flamboyant, but that tends to be the case in figure skating in general.
And I think the author said "I hadnt expected the chance to cheer for Johnny on Thursday night, ". He happened to be at a bar when someone he considered to be entertaining came on TV and he cheered for them. Perhaps the "uncomfortable" one was merely the one who said others were uncomfortable. Just a few things to think about.
Reply to this Top
I'm not trying to spam the site at all, and this link is not questionable. Johnny scored low on both his performances in the short program and in the free skate, and Johnny Weir's fans believe that this was done purposefully so that he would not be invited to skate at the Olympic gala this Saturday. He is an extremely talented skater with artistic abiliies unrivaled by any other male figure skater today. Please if you would, post the link to this petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/johnnygweir. It is basically a fan movement to get the USOC to invite him to the gala this Saturday. Usually they only take the top 4 or 5 skaters but Plushenko has already stated that he doesn't want to skate, so we are hoping that with this petition and a little bit of luck, we can get them to cede his spot in the gala to Johnny. Once again, this link is not spam, is is an ACTUAL petition with over 3,500 signatures from people all over the globe. We will be submitting it Thursday and we are hoping that we'll reach at least 5,000 signatures by then. If you could repost the link, his fans would be extremely grateful! Thank you for your time!
Reply to this Top
Every time I see Weir on TV I cringe.
I don't mind that he is flamboyant, I mind that he pushes it in my face.
Reply to this Top
So don't watch him. Anyway this "pushing it in your face" stuff is way overblown - plenty of the male skaters wear glittery outfits - the "more masculine" Lysacek wore feathers!
Top
"I only learned about Johnny Weir earlier last week, when a wine-induced YouTube session had me captivated with clips from his new show on the Sundance Channel, Johnny Be Good."
Just wanted to say that the name of Weir's Sundance show is actually "Be Good Johnny Weir." Fact-check, fact-check, fact-check!
Reply to this Top
We all know that is Christopher had been cheering on the Boston Celtics at the top of his lungs, the only people who might have been annoyed would have been Laker fans.
I watched Johnny skate for the first time as well last week. My reaction was complete shock and awe. He made an instant fan of me. Johnny will be loved & remembered for a long time, and for a lot more than his beautiful skating.
Cheers!
Reply to this Top
Hey, it's cool someone at Tech ran an article on Johnny. If I were at the bar with you I would've hammed it up with you! There was a homophobic guy in the room when I was watching and I was just like "I love him! He's such an amazing skater!" =) It really sucks he wasn't able to skate at the gala, but fans around the world know that he was a true winner in Vancouver and he knows it too so screw what the establishment thinks. They fail.
Reply to this Top
It's too bad Weir doesn't compete in a real sport. Any activity that depends upon the opinion of judges isn't a sport.
Reply to this Top
Tell that to fans of most snowboarding events (snowboard cross as an exception).
Most any athletic event, at some point or another, depends on the opinion of another person in determining an outcome. Yes, figure skating and other heavily judged events are more controversial, but I wouldnt say that makes them any less of an athlete.
And, just to clarify, you consider darts, bowling, and curling as sports, but not most snowboarding, (parts of) ski jumping and freestyle skiing, or figure skating? Interesting.
Reply to this Top
Not to mention summer Olympic sports such as gymnastics and high diving...
if those aren't sports let's see you get out there and try them!
Top
Photo manipulation is as old as photography itself, contrary to the idea of a photo having inherent verisimilitude. Though not obviously visible to human eyes, image manipulation can be detected by some sophisticated tools, like <a href="http://www.pskiller.com/">Photoshopped Image Killer</a>. Which tells you whether your image has been Photoshopped given the image or the image's URL.
Reply to this Top