Raygun

[Mandy]

Kind of old news by now, but still finding the whole thing quite fascinating. I definitely appreciate the humor, but I think she's inspiring,  think the hate is so strangely misplaced and tip of the iceberg of a much, much deeper issue. 

 

https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/15/sport/video/australia-raygun-breaking-olympics-digvid

https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/raygun-olympic-cheating-rumors-dispelled-by-ausbreak/

 

How is it that most people started believing that she cheated? What makes the difference between the crowd rooting for an underdog or totally mocking someone? 

 

What's the difference between genuine humor, and laughing at someone in a judgmental way? Is there a difference? Is judgment ever truly funny? Can people BE absurd? Or is the idea of people absurd? 

 

If you were in her shoes, what would you do? What would you make of it? 

[Kevin]

I haven’t been following the situation too closely but from what I understand she was pretty bad so people were wondering how she made it to the Olympics.

 

I read somewhere that her bf or husband was on the committee that selected her for the Olympics. Not sure if that’s accurate but if it is it’s kind of messed up. I definitely don’t condone anyone bullying her though.

 

Do people think of her as an underdog? I think to be an underdog you have to be really good still. To be fair I’m not a breakdancing expert but I saw some of her performance and I don’t believe it was good.

 

I personally would never compete at a high level in anything unless I was very very good. I hate losing.

[Mandy]

12 hours ago, Kevin said:

I read somewhere that her bf or husband was on the committee that selected her for the Olympics. Not sure if that’s accurate but if it is it’s kind of messed up.

No, that wasn't accurate, but a widely spread rumor. 

 

12 hours ago, Kevin said:

Do people think of her as an underdog? I think to be an underdog you have to be really good still. To be fair I’m not a breakdancing expert but I saw some of her performance and I don’t believe it was good.

They made a whole movie about a Jamaican bobsled team, comedy and all. Definitely not the same thing, but Australian (low population) women (even less represented in the sport) breaking (first and only so far year of being part of the Olympics) and the fact that they had to pass requirements to compete in the Olympics like, having a passport within a certain time frame filtered out some really talented people made her fairly the person who was chosen to represent her team.

 

12 hours ago, Kevin said:

I personally would never compete at a high level in anything unless I was very very good. I hate losing.

That's what was so comical AND inspiring about the Jamaican bobsled team though, is that they did it even though they weren't well practiced or prepared. 

 

[Kevin]

7 hours ago, Mandy said:

No, that wasn't accurate, but a widely spread rumor. 

 

I fell for the fake news.😂

7 hours ago, Mandy said:

They made a whole movie about a Jamaican bobsled team, comedy and all. Definitely not the same thing, but Australian (low population) women (even less represented in the sport) breaking (first and only so far year of being part of the Olympics) and the fact that they had to pass requirements to compete in the Olympics like, having a passport within a certain time frame filtered out some really talented people made her fairly the person who was chosen to represent her team.

 

That's what was so comical AND inspiring about the Jamaican bobsled team though, is that they did it even though they weren't well practiced or prepared. 

 

Jamaican bobsled team is hilarious. I hadn’t heard about that until now. The Raygun situation seems cool. Sometimes I’m just a massive hater. I guess I was wrong about the situation.

[Mandy]

@Kevin It's all around a really interesting situation. She's being accused of cultural appropriation and white privelledge, of being somewhere she doesn't belong. I guess that her thesis was written on making breaking accessible, mostly to women. It's hard to read, and people have made the point that maybe this is what happens when something is intellectualized more than practiced. The day I posted this thread I went to a birthday party and someone there was talking about it and how she in a way really got what she wanted, and maybe it was more intended, or accidentally successful than we know. This is a really good article on it that I couldn't find when I posted the thread. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gl34v4r98o

 

Doesn't this get to the excuses that we don't dance, sing, play, innovate, that we feel we don't belong where we want to be? What happens when we globally bully someone on this scale? 

 

 

[Kevin]

3 hours ago, Mandy said:

@Kevin It's all around a really interesting situation. She's being accused of cultural appropriation and white privelledge, of being somewhere she doesn't belong. I guess that her thesis was written on making breaking accessible, mostly to women. It's hard to read, and people have made the point that maybe this is what happens when something is intellectualized more than practiced. The day I posted this thread I went to a birthday party and someone there was talking about it and how she in a way really got what she wanted, and maybe it was more intended, or accidentally successful than we know. This is a really good article on it that I couldn't find when I posted the thread. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gl34v4r98o

 

I think the idea of cultural appropriation is really dumb. Bring against cultural appropriation, if taken to its logical conclusion, leads you to some really silly places. Like Asian people can’t wear cowboy hats. Or Jews aren’t allowed to eat burgers.

 

Also I’m surprised that people are accusing her of that and white privilege. I was hating before because I think if you suck, you should be in the Olympics. Definitely bullying is not cool though.

 

Just playing devils advocate but maybe the negative publicity is makes sense because people see the Olympics as such a elite event that it seems like she’s making a mockery of it?

3 hours ago, Mandy said:

Doesn't this get to the excuses that we don't dance, sing, play, innovate, that we feel we don't belong where we want to be? What happens when we globally bully someone on this scale? 

 

 

 

[Orb]

On 8/30/2024 at 11:27 AM, Kevin said:

I think the idea of cultural appropriation is really dumb. Bring against cultural appropriation, if taken to its logical conclusion, leads you to some really silly places. Like Asian people can’t wear cowboy hats. Or Jews aren’t allowed to eat burgers.

The irony is that it perpetuates separation and racism. Dictating what cultures people should adhere to seems kinda sketch to me.

[Phil]

When I was a kid my brother & I took a breaking dancing class. When my mom picked us up we showed her our pop & locks and moonwalks. Both my mom and brother said I don’t know Phil, this might not be ‘your thing’ and though I gave it my best I agreed. But they can both eat shit now cause it was orders of magnitude better than the Olympics. 

[Mandy]

😂