--- A comment from Youtube by "7827melody"
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| 2008 World Championships. Johnny Weir (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
For me, to say every man should be like a man, every woman should be like a woman, is almost like to say every Chinese should be good at Kong Fu, every American should be rich. Truth is, the reality often is much more complicated than we humans can categorize it. There are always plenty of exceptions and surprises that break human rules, give this world some diversity, which make this world less boring. Here comes a man, who on ice acts as gracious as some of the most beautiful women. His name is Johnny Weir.
As a figure skater, Johnny Weir struck me first with his natural beauty of feminine. I've seen lots of "feminine" male figure skaters, many of them only appear to be too "soft" to me. Their "softness" seems to be a quality of "less masculine", or "less powerful" than "regular" male skaters' style. But Johnny Weir is different. He is not "less masculine", because that's simply NOT what he is. What he is is FEMININE. He doesn't care about "masculine", instead, he freely expresses his elegant nature without a slight confusion. When you watch his moves on ice, the elegance is totally natural. What's even better, is that Weir's "feminine" quality is rendered by some "muscle power", which means better control on ice, thus as an art form, it is even closer to perfection.
Secondly, Weir impresses me with his artistic style (just like Sasha Cohen!). Different from many skaters who just pose some jumps and required positions, and in between fill with "nothingness", Weir moves along with music, as if his body is charged by melody and rhythm, each move comes with a full "blossom" of life.
Last, probably most importantly to my "philosophical" view, is that all Weir's performance displayed a great confidence. Not only he is naturally feminine, but also he is fully aware of it, and he intends to exhibit it with a giant confidence. I personally do not take this for granted, because for me, it is easier to gain confidence for those popular celebrities who easily receive approval from majority, than for those who are different, especially different by "nature", different from social ideology or "common sense". For the latter, being confident dose take a totally different measure of courage. That's why I have to appreciate Johnny Weir with extra respect.
In 2010 Vancuver Winter Olympics, Johnny Weir finished in the Sixth place. It was a huge controversial. For me, he deserved a silver medal, or at least a bronze. According to some source I read online, the reason he was so underrated was because his "performance score" (aside from "technique score") was marked very low. This obviously shows that judges indeed disliked Weir's style.
I heard Johnny Weir has announced his coming back for 2014 Olympics. He also came out as an openly gay. I am glad, because all these actions showed that he was not discouraged by the mistreatment he received from last Olympics. I wholeheartedly hope he gets what he deserves next year.
Good luck Johnny!
Johnny Weir "Dr. Zhivago"
I don't know much at all about ice skating but when it comes to dance, you can always tell who has a natural ability to move to music and who doesn't. So I totally understand what you mean. It's also similar with gymnastics, not everyone has a natural flow.
ReplyDeleteI hope Johnny Weir does return to prove his enemies wrong. There's nothing like negative attitudes to push you to that perfect score.
Thanks Rum-Punch Drunk! Yes, good dancers always have that "intimate relationship" with music.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this wonderfully insightful and beautifully written post. I’ve watched Johnny Weir and I think he’s magnificent! So graceful, a joy to behold. Frankly, I think he’s even much more graceful than some of the female ice skaters I’ve seen. Diversity makes the world so much less boring, I agree. I like your point about confidence too. It is so much easier to be confident when you have majority approval, but much less so when you are perceived as “different” and that makes me have even more appreciation for Johnny Weir. Yes, Johnny Weir deserved a medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics, I agree! I am excited that he’s coming back for the 2014 Winter Olympics and I wish him good luck! I will be watching.
ReplyDeleteThanks JerseyLil! I am glad we both like him. Let wait to see what happen next year!
ReplyDeleteI, too appreciate the artistic beauty that is Johnny Weir! I have followed figure skating for over 20 years and very few skaters can capture the artistic expression of the music on ice like he can. I really don't think the judges know how to characterize his art, the natural movement of his body and the fact that he is a man. But his fans get it! Good luck to him in 2014!
ReplyDeleteThanksBubblebabe3000! Let's all cheer for his coming back in 2014!
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