she is still a professional working in broadcast. of course she is sensible enough that she won't outright say anything racist. that would mean death sentence to her career. however, if you listen closely, you will get the sense that if there is any contention, she gets more excited when it comes to non-Chinese players. and more critical of Chinese players. she would jump out of the chair if a Danish or other player wins, but would calmly congratulate the Chinese player if they win. the bias is only subtle but as mentions, she knows what is the right conduct when it comes to a professional commentator and only really shows small bias in her attitude and tone towards and against certain players. perhaps that some resentment over the years of seeing all the tactics that Chinese employeed, or maybe that they have been dominant for so long. it is not only her, there is a general anti-Chinese tone all over the world as the Chinese has slowly been brand the bad guy by the media, justified or not.
Well, she was bashing LCW non stop today, guess what LCW is GC's favorite player who just happens to be a Chinese. I think many of us are just too sensitive. That's all. Anyway, looking forward to tomorrow's games.
totally agree. It's so obvious. I am sure that the person opened this thread even doesnt play badminton
Well like the commentators pointed out, his shoulder was heavily strapped possibly preventing him from playing his usual smashes. I also have days where the shoulders hurt and cant smash well. For your theory to be true, the straps must have been a smoke screen. Anyway, he was very lethargic which was unusual and only came alive for the last few points.
When has CL not been heavily strapped? He may as well wear a full body suit in most of the matches he is in cause he's probably the most strapped player in the last year!
she is upset cuz chen long would be the easier opponent for lcw to beat. ld has the psychological advantage over lcw. she is critical of lcw cuz she wants him to be in best form to beat ld, which she doesnt want to see winning another world championship. i bet she will wet herself if lcw wins tomorrow.
Yes, anti-Chinese sentiment is on the rise, not just within the badminton community, but in a lot of places. Both Chinese and anti-Chinese need to work on the problem. I am generally a CHN fan and I don't like GC much. I think the commentaries in Mandarin and Cantonese are far more superior than the ones in English. (BTW, was Bao CL commentating today?) However, Chinese fans have a few things we can learn from Anglo-American culture: freedom of speech, intellectual honesty and tolerance for dissent. I am still learning. Add Oil.
I get the point you're making. Instead of saying GC is anti-Chinese outright, what you meant to say was she is biased against the CHN players and favour the non-CHN ones more as subtly evident in the way she gets very excited and gushing in praise whenever a Danish or non-CHN player beats a CHN player whilst she merely offers routine,standard words of praise or commendations to the winning CHN players in a matter-of-fact manner without much enthusiasm in her tone of voice. In other words, for someone hearing her comments/commentaries would sort of 'read between the lines' and over time sense where her heart really lies. Nowhere were you accusing her of being racist. Perhaps the misunderstanding or misinterpretation arose because you use a short and simple sentence to describe her as anti-Chinese without elaborating or qualifying your statement such that most people tend to read more into your statement and sort of fill in the missing details, esp for those who don't know you well enough. As always, the purely written remark, particularly when it is brief and also because not accompanied by facial expression and tone of voice cannot fully convey the speaker's intended meaning or its degree of intensity. In this post of yours quoted above, you've explained clearly how GC gave you that impression of her. Fair enough.
Sorry, what makes you think anti-Chinese sentiment is on the rise? If it's from this English-speaking forum, then I'm afraid it's certainly not representative of the world at large and therefore cannot be a true representation of the state of affairs in the world. I shan't say much except to, in a sincere and friendly manner, urge you to open your eyes,heart and mind to find out the truth; one way is to search deep in the Internet and analytically weigh the views from both sides as a scientist or philosopher would to get at the truth. The way we view other people,culture and nationality is influenced by ethnocentrism, the mass media, the books we read, our belief-system and the people around us which more or less define our worldview.
Yes, you may be right. I always respect what you have to say because you are a kind and honest person. I will now re-examine my worldview and belief system!
I don't know where on earth anyone gets the idea that Gillian Clarke is anti-Chinese. I've been listening to countless of her commentaries, and she's always practically orgasmic over the Chinese players or over any other talented player irregardless of his or her nationality. Just this week, she mentioned how rowing and cycling are dominated by the British, and hey, kudos to them for making those sports great for her to watch, but it can never be healthy for any sport to be dominated by only one nation. The same applies to the Chinese in badminton (I'm paraphrasing her here). If she is sometimes critical of the Chinese in badminton, again I don't think that that's totally without justification, because they have brazenly flouted the rules and done some crappy things in the sport from time to time.
Are you reading that correctly?? It says she doesn't say it (racist comments) outright because it would cost her her job but instead says it with an undertone through her match commentary . No need to sugar coat it ... Nothing like a CHN baddie match (commented by GC) to bring out the worst in Kwun /ruffle his feathers (what HK) Then again "people" like to/casually throw around the racism term these days whether it applies or not no matter which subject (sports, every day life) -.-
i have read through all comments and I found yours most realistic... The others are just assumption... Money really talks!
You guys are crazy and overly sensitive imo...GC has not once came across to me as anti-chinese. Stop spreading this nonsensical groundless hate, jeez. There were countless lin dan vs chong wei games that she commented on and a few times I thought she was going to bed with lin dan with the way she described LD's superhuman playstyle. Like mrinalini mentioned, I think she was right in being critical of the Chinese team at times because time and time again we have all known that the Chinese are more prone to 'team orders' from the boss, like it or not and you cant deny history. You cannot fault GC for her suspicions, because every China vs China game these days gets labeled a fixed match, actors, team orders, stomach flu and etc. I will admit that I too have that same sort of impression towards China vs China games. Its just not good for the sport of badminton.
I am sorry to prolong this thread, because it probably should stop while everyone is being so civil. But one point that no one seems to have mentioned is that every commentator/actor/public figure not only speaks from personal biases (we all have them), but also speaks to their target audience. The BWF broadcast is available worldwide. But a caucasian commentator speaking English might assume that many, if not most, Chinese-speaking fans would be watching another broadcast. Therefore she would have foremost in her mind's eye an audience from Great Britain, the Commonwealth (eg. Malaysia, India) and Europe. So I agree that in any given match GC tends to speak more from the perspective of a Saina, LCW or JOJ. That may be a bit lopsided, but it is probably the same slant as much of her target audience has, and therefore a sound 'business' position. She certainly could be more even-handed. But I don't think she means to dis-respect individual Chinese players nor China as a nation. It is more a matter that she believes that parity in international badminton is more interesting than dominance. She (and the BWF) wants the sport to grow worldwide. Therefore it is important to inspire youth all over the globe with local idols who can succeed internationally. We hard-core fans respect talent whencesoever it comes ( as I type, there is a Chinese and Malaysian flag flapping on my backyard clothesline --much to the consternation of my neighbours here in 'WhiteyMcHonkyville', Canada ). But to get the global grassroots to fall in love with the sport --and believe they can prosper at it -- they need to see success by people from close to home. I think that is Gill Clarke's bee in her bonnet. ____ With greatest respect, hope everyone enjoys the Finals.
Now she has her male counterpart in Steen Pedersen, a match made in heaven. Hope they do not plan on replacing John Burgese with this guy.
