Olympics ban skate 'porn'

January 17, 2002 10:51 AM

Olympics ban skate 'porn' I was so looking forward to the Olympics, and they had to do this. ;-( (link courtesy of Daily Rotten)
posted by a3matrix (48 comments total)

that's ok to me, a3. i mostly watch figure skating to see people fall down. plus the ensuing commentary:

play-by-play analyst: ooooh.
color analyst: oh oh. that's too bad.
brian boitano: that'll be a half-point deduction.
posted by moz at 11:00 AM on January 17, 2002

I wonder if there is any connection between between this sudden burst of brow-furrowing morailty and the fact that the Olympics are being conducted in the only state of the union openly run by an organized religion?

Good thing it's not the summer Olympics. That would entail days of nothing but close-ups of straining gymnast's faces...

-Umberto
posted by umberto at 11:10 AM on January 17, 2002

And big baggy boxer trunks for the men's swim team.
posted by luser at 11:25 AM on January 17, 2002

Good thing it's not the summer Olympics.

<cheap gag>
But look on the bright side, syncronized swimming would be blacked-out entirely.
</cheap gag>
posted by jpoulos at 11:37 AM on January 17, 2002

You said it, umberto. I'm sure this has nothing to do with the Mormon church whatsoever.

On a semi-related note, my girlfriend works in the box office at the Cleveland Play House, which is currently showing a play called "The Amen Corner", by James Baldwin. It's gotten wonderful reviews so far. She told me there was a phone call the other day from a family that went to see the play and left about 15-20 minutes into the first act because the word "goddamn" was used. She said she couldn't believe that such profanity was being used on stage, and that by allowing that to be said the Play House had "morally raped" her daughter. Yep, they were Mormon,alright.
posted by starvingartist at 11:39 AM on January 17, 2002

I had a girlfriend whose family was Mormon. *shudder*
posted by adampsyche at 11:54 AM on January 17, 2002

Wow.. so you met a real live mormon? Incredible!

Sorry Adamspsyche.. I don't want this post to seem like an insult to you. I don't even think it needs to be addressed to you. Uhh.. Let me explain a little more.

The town I grew up in had a very large mormon population. Consequently, about a third to half of my friends back home are mormons, and in my experience I have found them to be almost universally open-minded, very often moderately progressive in political leanings, and when not in agreement with something, at the very least extremely polite about it.

Now, these could and might in fact be isolated cases not indicative of anything at all. But that's really the point, isn't it? We can theorize that the complaints about 'obscenity' in figure skating come from mormon sources. Even that they come from officials in the church. Even that the majority of mormons would have things like this censored. What we can't do is take these generalizations to the extreme, and start insulting an entire group of people for their 'backwards' thinking.

Not saying that's what anybody here is doing, though the day is still young. Certainly it's an easy trap to fall into, and I would caution that we be aware of it.
posted by Hildago at 12:16 PM on January 17, 2002

Hey !! I never slammed the Mormons.
I was just pissed that my favorite moves in figure skating are being banned.
posted by a3matrix at 12:32 PM on January 17, 2002

Most of the Moes I've known have also been pretty easygoing, genuine sorts of folks, faithful and devoted but not in-your-face pious. For control freaks, though, I'd have to hand the award to some Baptists I've met -- including that drum majorette back in high school who not only turned me down for a date (I was raised Catholic) but also informed me that I was going to Hell anyway.
posted by alumshubby at 12:36 PM on January 17, 2002

I too lived in a town with a large mormon population... none of whom are now my friends. I found them to be cliquish. The parents typically altered between overpermissive and overbearing. Clarification: They were overbearing when anything was coming from a non-mormon, such as a sex-ed class. Where their kids were involved - well, let's just say that I know mormon kids who came to class drunk every day their seinor year. "It's just a phase... she'll grow out of it..."

Working for a mormon was the final straw. I may be biased, but that's their own damned fault. I have yet to meet a mormon in this area that I really liked.
posted by SpecialK at 12:37 PM on January 17, 2002

My experience with Mormons is that, outside of Utah, they're exactly as Hildago points out. Open-minded, progressive, and polite. Here in Utah, where 90%+ of our state Legislature is Mormon and "The Church" has a heavy influence on everything, it's a different story. The opinion pages of the local paper are filled with my favorite quote: "If you don't like the way we do things here, why don't you leave?"

I'd be willing to bet it's pretty much the same in the rest of the country, depending on the dominant religion (Baptists in the South, Catholics in Boston, whatever). Once you're out of the majority, you tend to keep your head down a little more and try harder to fit in.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 12:41 PM on January 17, 2002

Ok, sorry if my post sounded unnecessarily biased. I have nothing against Mormans per se, I guess it was these people. I guess the shudder had more to do with them being my ex's parents, and their bass-ackwardsness. The "beating a child is discipline" thing, the racist stuff, and all the rest. I know that it isn't a part of them being Morman, I concede that. However, we were constantly lectured about how we shouldn't be dating (though we were both adults) unless we planned to get married, how we were going to hell because we didn't go to temple, bla bla bla.

Again, apologies for sounding admittedly ignorant. It had more to do with them personally, but I guess the bottom line is that whenever a person takes any belief system and crams it down your throat, acting holier-than-thou, it is ugly. This ugliness just happened to be southern Mormon flavor.
posted by adampsyche at 12:49 PM on January 17, 2002

Cheese and Rice! What the frick do you people have against Mormons?

I, personally, hate the fact that they never swear.
posted by hellinskira at 12:53 PM on January 17, 2002

My husband used to be a mormon......actually the more he tells me about the organisation (not the individual people)
the more i am glad he is "former".....my dear adam, you do realize you were a target of "missionary dating" which is how a great deal of men are dragged into the organization......

I realize I am opening myself up to charges of paranoia but they really do want to Take Over The World........
posted by bunnyfire at 12:59 PM on January 17, 2002

I wonder if there is any connection between between this sudden burst of brow-furrowing morailty and the fact that the Olympics are being conducted in the only state of the union openly run by an organized religion?

Apparently not, since the accoding to this story, the move comes from the International Skating Union. Even if Utah has a delegation, I suspect they don't control the organization. Unfortunately, I've been unable to find an adequate news article on the matter.
posted by mikewas at 1:15 PM on January 17, 2002

The problem with Mormon faith, which is certainly not exclusive to Mormon-ism, is that, when the faith is combined with a certain type of person, it can be dangerous (maybe not dangerous but a better word escapes me). Someone very close to me had a marriage ruined partially because his wife "rediscovered" the Mormon roots that her wacko family kept tellin' her about. It wasn't the only factor but it certainly put things beyond repair once they went down hill with teachings like only getting to certain levels of heaven when you don't marry within the faith. Between that and the self-reightous door to door "missionaries" I don't have a glowing opinion of the faith. Am I biased? Yup. Do I think there are Mormons out there that are not wackos? I'm sure there are. It could be worse, they could be seventh-day adventists, or them snake-handling rocket scientists.

I do find it hard to not leave out that second 'M' though...
posted by srw12 at 1:16 PM on January 17, 2002

I doubt that this has anything to do with Mormons, the ISU has made "decency" rules before; the most famous of which is the Witt Rule that laid down strict guidelines for how "sexy" a competition costume could be. I can't remember whether it was 84 (Sarajevo) or 88 (Calgary,) but in either case, it had nothing to do with the religious base of the host city.
posted by headspace at 1:19 PM on January 17, 2002

Back to the original subject. . .in pairs it HAS gotten pretty risque. . .but these routines are so rehearsed and repeated that I find it hard to believe that there is any real pleasre in all the fondling and the dry humping going on. . .now if only she skated pairs. . .we'd have something to look forward to!
posted by Danf at 1:24 PM on January 17, 2002

I'd be willing to bet it's pretty much the same in the rest of the country, depending on the dominant religion (Baptists in the South, Catholics in Boston, whatever).

Is there another state in the country where a single religion has as firm a hold on the government as the Mormons do in Utah? There may be some small localities, but I'm not aware of any major cities or other states. I'm not saying anything about the Mormons in particular, I'm just wondering.

In any case, olympic and other sports governing bodies have frequently shown themselves to be be plenty cliquish and bizarre without any help from organized religion.
posted by anapestic at 1:35 PM on January 17, 2002

Um.

Mormon guy, here.

First things first... the ban has nothing to do with the venue of this year's Olympic festivities, and more with the comfort level of officiators and the like with the current trend. The best quote of article:

Nancy Meiss, a US judge, said: “If I want a young man waving his partner’s assets in my face, I can rent a porn movie.”

Personally, I've never been offended by a routine. I don't doubt that it was going in that direction... so I'm glad they're addressing it.

If they really want to address such issues, though, they should look at wrestling. It's not exactly gynaecological (more proctological)... but there's more going down on the mat, than in the rink.

; )

As for all this not-so-pent-up anti-Mormon sentiment.

I'm not sure what to say... Utah is horribly provincial. But show me a rural, largely homogeneous place that isn't. And cliquish? Well, the Church is the center of many member's social lives. Given the social short-hand that ensues, which only enforces the bonding. Voila! Cliques. I'm not forgiving such exclusionary practices... just suggesting that its a product of the environment.

Bunnyfire... we do not want to take over the world. Why just yesterday, Putin, Bush, and I were talking, and the subject never even came up. Furthest thing from our minds.

Really.
posted by silusGROK at 1:42 PM on January 17, 2002

Anapestic: Utah is a state of some 1.5 million... 70% tops are LDS. If you don't restrict the issue to just religion, I could show you plenty of places with a similar demographic problem: entrenched homogeneity that has lead to systemic apathy for minority issues.
posted by silusGROK at 1:46 PM on January 17, 2002

Let's alternate posts about Mormonism with posts about figure skating. Here's one on figure skating: The sport/art form can only be helped by setting limits on gential exposure. Once an activity starts moving toward competitive explicitness, it spirals into boredom and anal-fixation. Skating should be a little coy and clean. That's where the real sexiness lies.
posted by Faze at 1:57 PM on January 17, 2002

Cheese and Rice! What the frick do you people have against Mormons
Any group that is "hell" bent on taking over the world by pushing their strict beliefs on others bothers me a little.

If you think that Mormons had nothing to with "cleaning up" figure skating you are a fool. This type of skating has been going on for a long time, it could have been banned last winter Olympics or even before that. Why now? Besides, this type of act is right inline with he M.O. of the Mormon Church.
posted by Bag Man at 2:03 PM on January 17, 2002

*sigh*

Whatever...

And of course the Sun -- Mormon-sympathisers, all of them -- just missed this juicey, paper-selling morsel. Make sure you e-mail them, and clue them in, Bag Man.
posted by silusGROK at 2:13 PM on January 17, 2002

Bah, Ice Skating is such a chick sport.

On a related note, there is an effort to get cheerleading included in the olympics.
posted by DragonBoy at 2:16 PM on January 17, 2002

fnord!
posted by adampsyche at 2:17 PM on January 17, 2002

Vis10n,
"Why just yesterday, Putin, Bush, and I were talking, and the subject never even came up. Furthest thing from our minds."

If I were you I would have been too busy making pretzel jokes.
posted by DragonBoy at 2:18 PM on January 17, 2002

My girlfreind loves to watch figure skating. Me, I'm always hoping a hockey team will charge on to the ice and body-check everybody into the boards.
posted by jonmc at 2:40 PM on January 17, 2002

Pretzels never came up... of coarse, that was the problem, wasn't it?

No, I was teasing Putin how ironic it was that a track on "THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER" was titled "PUTIN'S DEMISE".

He didn't think it was funny... but he's like that.
posted by silusGROK at 2:44 PM on January 17, 2002

What we can't do is take these generalizations to the extreme, and start insulting an entire group of people for their 'backwards' thinking.

Oh, yes, we can, and we will continue to do so.
posted by mischief at 3:12 PM on January 17, 2002

Wow, this thread is disturbing on so many levels.... It is redeemed only by the sight of bunnyfire promoting intolerance of religion.
posted by rushmc at 3:17 PM on January 17, 2002

to further redeem it rushmc, i'll chime in. Vis10n and i have clashed..ummm...Several times...mostly my ex-mormon cheap-shot sarcasm and his polite defense.

i'll tell you this, mormons Love ice-skating. [something about jello?] my mom does anyway. And unless there is serious grinding and thrusting going on rather than ice skating/dancing whatever the hell you call it, i've never seen her so much as blink at a skimpy costume or legs-spread-wide dance routine. You would have a hard time finding someone More conservative than she.

would the mormons change all sorts of things if they could? hell, sure. But to think some stupid ice-skating rule has come about just because of the olympics being held in utah is just plain silly. If they were held in nevada instead, would they have hookers on ice?
posted by th3ph17 at 3:34 PM on January 17, 2002

I didn't say i was MEAN to Mormons........
posted by bunnyfire at 3:39 PM on January 17, 2002

my favorite mormon was jesse james strang. he broke with the tribe and wound up on beaver isle(michigan) he proclaimed himself king of america, won a seat on the legislature. he also made his flock were knickers and took liberties with mens wifes. His kinda shit may have flown in nevada but not michigan.(actually the mormons banished him) He was assassinated aboard a u.s. naval vessel,on deck, by two shots (still lived for three days:( and everyone just looked away. the beauty of america is that we dont stand for scum like Strang for long. i see hippocrits everywhere, mormons arent excluded. I do think they tend to be peace-loving people whom have strong ethics....like alot of people.
posted by clavdivs at 4:06 PM on January 17, 2002

Do you believe in miracles? Yes!!
posted by braun_richard at 6:26 PM on January 17, 2002

My LDS pals were always scared of "The Utah Mormons." They were convinced they "sacrificed goats there." And these were good Mormon fellas talking! Of course, they drank an awful lot of Mountain Dew....
posted by yourpalbill at 2:31 AM on January 18, 2002

*Mrs. thatwhichfals posting here*

I am a Mormon, my husband is not, and despite my efforts to take over the world, I doubt he ever will be a "good little Mormon boy."

My parents are VERY religious, my daddy was Stake President (basically, over most of Central Washington's Mormon religious activities) and my mom was Stake Relief Society President (Over the women's group in most of Central Washington).

I have also lived in Utah, Provo for four years, and Salt Lake City for three years, then Delta (small-town Southern Utah podunk) for two years.

Do I think there are Mormon hipocrites? Yes, I do. Do I think there are Mormons who shove their beliefs down other peoples throats? You betcha. Do I think this is an exclusively Mormon phenomena? Heck no! I've met hippocrital Catholics, Baptists, Agnostics, Atheists, Born-Ahains, Seventh-Days Adventists, ect, ect, ect.

And when it comes to religion, most people are anxious to share what speaks to them, if they feel it brings them joy.

My mom loves ice skating, BTW. I am due to have a baby any minute now, and she came to visit for the last week, and forced everyone to watch the Nationals the first weekend she was here. She's pure EVIL! (I am not a skating fan, but it has nothing to do with the twat shots.)
posted by thatwhichfalls at 5:55 AM on January 18, 2002

Maybe we should switch to making fun of Amish folk? There are just too many Morman's here defending themselves.
posted by srboisvert at 7:56 AM on January 18, 2002

srboisvert... well, per capita, Utah is the most wired state in the Union (well, it was as recently as this last summer).
posted by silusGROK at 8:39 AM on January 18, 2002

How can that be? Mormons don't drink coffee....;-)
posted by bunnyfire at 9:13 AM on January 18, 2002

Groan... re: Figure Skating, I will add one rather tremulous comment--it's always bothered me that the men get to cover up and that the women are wearing something close to a bathing suit--bare legs, crotch on display (and see the outfits prescribed for female gymnasts--even more so). Is all that frilliness and skin a way to disguise the athleticism of skating? Anybody remember Midori Ito a number of years back at the Olympics? You may tie ribbons on it, but it's still a huge display of muscle and power. Uh... what were we talking about? Oh, yeah, sexy ice dances. Oh, what the hell--where's the harm? Do I contradict myself? I am Vast, contain multitudes, blah blah etc.
posted by jokeefe at 2:20 PM on January 18, 2002

An interesting addendum: downtown SLC is bedecked with mega-posters as owners of various highrises unveil multi-storied Olympic banners.

Guess what sport is hanging from the world headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?

You guessed it: Figure Skating.
posted by silusGROK at 9:11 AM on January 21, 2002

Figure skating clothing was in bad taste well before things went obscene. Aparently the trait of "tacky" is on the same chromosome as the one which allows people to succeed at this sport; it's staggering.
posted by ParisParamus at 10:25 AM on January 21, 2002

Vis10n, she looks like she's wincing in anticipation of being whacked on the head by his horn.

On the other hand, she could be squinting to see if he's wearing anything under his robe.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 11:31 AM on January 21, 2002

*sigh*

No. Not the best photo... but it gives some idea as to the shear _size_ of these posters.
posted by silusGROK at 11:41 AM on January 21, 2002

I see that giant poster hanging there when I step outside for a smoke break and look to the east (I work in the Triad Center). It is amazingly huge.

Also, if you look out to the west, there are three almost-as-large American flags hanging between some smokestacks out towards the airport on North Temple, I think.

We do make a grand statement when we want to.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 12:36 PM on January 21, 2002

Mr Crash Davis... I tried to find a photo of downtown with the handful of banners already out, but couldn't. Shame, really, it is beautiful... I bet it's even better with that lavendar light we get this time of year at sundown.

Guess the adoring fans will just have to wait until they see them on TV.

: )
posted by silusGROK at 1:37 PM on January 21, 2002

For What It's Worth Department (and considering the source, this is a temporary link):

LIVES OF THE SAINTS

by Lawrence Wright

At a time when Mormonism is booming, the Church is struggling with a troubled legacy.
posted by y2karl at 5:56 AM on January 26, 2002