| Scott using the tried and true. "It's not you, it's me. You're great!" |
What happened to family members who were all over the other facebook ventures? No Moir, Virtue or friend of is willing to be a surrogate and type a line on his facebook every other week or so? Did they all get super busy?
We all know how high profile people maintain their facebooks themselves.
He used to have so much time to pose for photos for facebook and to Jtaime someone he doesn't even like, and all for us. What happened? Was it something we said?
Here, he ripped off www.virtuemoir.com and stuck it in the first paragraph. It was the reassurance, fan compliment part. The rest is sort of - ALRIGHT I SAID THANK YOU!! I SAID IT A LOT! SEE YA!
Doubt that he means to sound so "There, I said it, HAPPY?!" but it makes one wonder why they are so determined not to engage even minimally with fans on social media unless there's a lie to sell.
I can't help remembering how they shoved Jessica and Scott in our faces while Tessa and Scott TMI'd their fake intimate stories about themselves, marketing so many elaborate anecdotes about their relationship that they totally made up, but when it was time to declare Jessica a former girlfriend they snuck it in using a third party so they didn't have to deal with it themselves. I think any reveal is going exactly that way. Lies they can do. The truth - they find a place to hide.
_____________________
Further thoughts:
Fans don't fit into any Virtue Moir present-day or long term business plan.
I am interested to see what comes out after Sochi that's being banked now for a pay off then and how they come out flashing dimples and smiles when it's time to sell it, eager and able to share. I can't wait. This is money.
P.S. "Especially not the fandom" puts "All of Canada on the ice with us" in perspective, it puts the avalanche of Jessica/Scott obnoxiousness in perspective and most of all, the reality that fans aren't worth a breath Scott or Tessa take if there's no profit for them.
And P.P.S. - another thing that kind of niggles at you when reading Scott's message is the word "unable". That's a really nonspecific word.
As bad as they are with social media, it really would be easy to keep that page going with one post a month and the occasional picture. He's set the bar so low fans would appreciate even that much contact.
So is this good'by to fb of Scott's in the spirit of Carol's profile shot that had Grandpa Mac flipping the bird? IOW, rather than "cave in" to calls for him to be sincere, he pulls the plug? Stand your ground, Scott.
Otherwise, why is it necessary to absolutely limit all interaction when the minimum could be done by a third party with nobody the wiser? What are their post-Sochi intentions?
It's all because of the baby... they have no time, expecially if it's for the fandom. They can't handle any other lie, so better to shut down every facebook page.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised when I see fans who are disappointed by their behaviour.
It makes me think about what their reaction will be after Sochi. It's interesting.
Scott and Tessa really can't use the fandom as an excuse. They crossed way too many lines.
DeleteThey have no time to say thanks for the happy birthday? Thanks for coming out to CNE - hope you all had the fun we did? Maybe twice a month? Upload a shot from the i-phone from somewhere? Octomom has that kind of time, and that sort of facebook outreach isn't lies. If they literally have no time, did Alma's typing fingers fall off, or Carol's? Or Cara's?
Well, I think the fact that they "don't have time" it's just because they don't care about the fandom anymore, not, as you said, if they don't use fb as a "propaganda" to tell what they want.
DeleteWhen you care about something, you find the time, even if you are very buisy.
Reading my comment it isn't very clear, but I agree with you on the fact that facebook was useful only as a propaganda.
DeleteP.S. these points:
ReplyDeleteI'm not arguing they should engage fans or are obligated to engage them. I'm contrasting the effort they put into lying on facebook and every other back door venue they could think of, to how unwilling they are to make even minimal exertion for something that's genuine with no agenda. What does that say about these role model, nice people?
Unfortunately they went a long road towards scamming fans. It went way beyond what was necessary to keep that "barrier" up and became demeaning. At many points along the line it was clearly sport. Setting fans up became entertainment for those putting it in action. They started looking for reasons to do it even more.
Now, when they can't put any more lies out there and all that's left to share is the occasional no-agenda thank you or non-incriminating photo, they see that as some kind of problem. They are experts in making "issues" where none exist. A thank you isn't a lie, takes no time (a surrogate can do that and upload the occasional photo) and reveals nothing of their true circumstances.
Heh dude, that's why I am a fan of their skating, not a fan of them off the ice.
ReplyDeleteWell Tessa IS a psych major and Windsor IS well-regarded. :P
ReplyDeleteHere's my view and the view of the blog: They weren't obligated to engage fans. They really weren't. Everyone has their comfort zone.
They are however obligated to be professional and be respectful, and they failed at both.
Here's what happened, in its basic outline: Skate Canada, at the time newly taken over by incompetents bloated with self-regard, felt the best way to market figure skating was marketing its skaters in a personal way. Market stars. Tessa and Scott were their biggest potential stars. Tessa and Scott didn't want to market their personal lives and personal story.
No problem. Make it up.
There it is. Shams have been done before, but I don't think ever before has a sham been set up in reaction to a moronic marketing plan by an inept skating federation, a stupid, ridiculous scheme rooted in untested, bullshit premises.
With Scott and Tessa you had a team with a palpable connection, so of course you want to market that but they don't want to market it so let's set it up to work both sides of the street. Invent platonic passion between Scott and Tessa and swoon over that while spamming with all your heart on facebook the information that he's in an intimate relationship with a teammate, and coordinate that spam every time he and Tessa tease their potential romantic involvement in the legitimate media.
Who decided that last was necessary? Why on earth was it necessary to "counterprogram?" What on earth would have happened in the "fandom" if they didn't? It was a having it both ways scheme in the first instance. In the second, they started getting their rocks off hoaxing the "fandom" and sought new pretexts to mock them. The sham started driving the train.
The premise was bad enough but the method and execution was worse. There's no ability to reason logically. There's no ability to examine assumptions.
Even the remark up above to wit: "they have no time. They can't handle another lie."
What does being unable to handle another lie have to do with saying thanks for the happy birthday and for coming to the CNE? How much time does it take to type seven words or so twice a month on your i-phone?
That's not why he's closing it down - time and no more lies - which is why I'm really interested in after Sochi. They sure do run from the mess they made. They sure do like having others do the uncomfortable stuff.
Finally - what defines the "fandom" that they're not going to spend time on? Their idea of fans is so fluid. The fans who side eye or the fans Scott sticks his hands in his pockets to avoid and how does Scott know which is which? What about the fans he knows know about him and Tessa, the fans he and Tessa tease and wink to, the fans he appears to address when he subverts the official lies - what fandom - how is that defined, what's the concept in the eyes of SC? All of this was for message board and internet people?
The one thing Scott and Tessa have gone far too far down this road for is blaming fans. No "I understand BUT" bullshit. No fans have trouble understanding but as much as we appreciate we had to bullshit." This is not on the fandom.
What exactly do you want from Scott and Tessa? Since you've now succeeded in chasing them away from all means of communicating with fans, I'm just curious. (I'm damn sure, since Scott's note neatly addressed all your critiques of his behaviour, that this blog played strongly into the recent developments.) I think it's a shitty thing that Scott did and I'm not impressed but I just want to know what would make you happy. In the meantime, thanks. I guess this is why we can't have nice things.
ReplyDeleteoh what a crock. I chased them away how? Called them out when they lied and manipulated. Is that what you miss? Is that what you consider "nice things"? Because that is ALL you ever got on either one of his facebooks. If you miss it, I'm not going to apologize if you think I'm responsible for losing it.
DeleteIf what this blog is saying isn't true it wouldn't have caused a ripple in their world and all the facebooks would be operating precisely as they were two years ago, as propoganda staging areas selling you a fabricated version of Scott's life.
If you can point out one "means of communicating" used by Scott and Tessa that was authentic and shut down because of this blog please name it.
I'm sorry you miss being played and treated with contempt, and I'm even sorrier that to anyone that's "nice things."
Anon 3:52
DeleteExactly what do you want from the VM fans who didn't like the lies? This blog has been the only place anywhere saying they were wrong to do what they did and give fans a place to comment on that. The fans otherwise have played along nicely and really did focus mostly on their skating in all other places such as internet fan boards, at meet-and-greets, when interacting with them at competitions, etc. In fact, there isn't a report anywhere of any fan being inappropriate at the meet-and-greets; on the contrary, the tone from fans has been all that is respectful. The random weird posting on Scott's facebook doesn't count, since it was not at all the tone of the general fandom out there. All public figures will get some weird crap once in a while, there doesn't have to be some blog somewhere for that to happen. So no, it's not fair to blame this blog for Scott's actions. It's been evident for a long while that VM are not at this moment interested in lots of fan outreach and/or interaction similar to what other elite skaters are doing. Any blog/fan pushback in that regard has been from VM hinting or saying they would engage in fan outreach and then not following through.
I can't help but be a little glad Scott has taken down his facebook page(s). It had all been tainted with the lies; I prefer not having the pages around where fans really weren't ever totally sure they're not being fed some b.s. If VM decide to try facebook again, it would be nice if it were like a fresh start, with no residues of lies/previous shenanigans and in a completely different context. Maybe when this all blows over and they're in a place where they're not all about protecting themselves or protecting past lies they will feel free to be themselves and engage with fans (professionally and appropriately, of course).
Scott's fan facebook was set up to cover his tracks when he purged his sham facebook of a bajillion fans.
DeleteThere was his opportunity to do "nice things." I wasn't stopping him. First thing he does is put up a bunch of inane photos. A year in he has to be shamed into putting up a profile photo of himself and Tessa - a professional one, not even a candid from an event - and then only because he was caught dead to rights being a dick.
Prior to that, he thanked people for the birthday wishes because he and SC had a Jessica sting planned and hell, why not use his fan facebook. Again, both ways. They purged the other facebook but were missing the big audience for the sham, so let's recruit the fan facebook. They were pre-emptively called out on that so another birthday rolls around. Here it is, a chance for nice things, untainted. Fans were just about begging. A thanks for the cne. A thanks for the birthday. Something that's not tainted, something that shows that he does think they're more than dirt under his skate blades - or actually, not as low as that. Completely irrelevent, not worth a second of his time if they're not available to be used and exploited.
That's the nice things we're missing out on on his facebook.
He ignored the fans, ignored the birthday wishes, ignored the sold-out turn-out for the cne, ignored the excitement over his programs because, again, how fans feel is of no consequence to him and not worth his time if they can't be exploited.
And that's why he's shutting down his facebook. It's of no use to him now. He has no interest in giving "nice things" - a/k/a - recognition that the fans exist as something other than patsies.
Even his farewell was recycled.
"It's been evident for a long while that VM are not at this moment interested in lots of fan outreach and/or interaction similar to what other elite skaters are doing."
DeleteThat's true. But they still want to profit from it.
Honestly this is a situation that only looks worse in hindsight.
It would have been less rude/conspicuous if they just shut the page down with no fanfare.
ReplyDeleteAs a group, fans behave the same with each other and vis a vis the object of their devotion pretty much the same across genres - figure skating, music, movies, television, etc. I'm sure everyone in the public eye can categorize the different types, recognize them all a mile away and are well accustomed to dealing with them. Some smarter high profile people have turned around and reinvented the relationship between subject and fans by coming up with inventive and fun ways to engage that works for both and yet creates the necessary zone of privacy. Other celebs stick with the tried and true - turning on the charm to the fan faces with the repertoire fans are convinced is genuine (self-deprecation, "natural" reactions and comments on what the fan says, laughter and follow up, etc.) and the entire time the inner clock is ticking because it's WORK, it's fake and no matter what a fan tries there's very little they can do or say that isn't already wearying to the celeb. The celeb doesn't enjoy it, is getting through it with everything in his/her arsenal, and it's one-sided. That's the reality.
DeleteA lot of popular celebs feel the same way Scott and Tessa feel and are just as "false" in the way they interact in person. It's not personal; it's built into the dynamic when one set of people are strangers who feel and behave with familiarity with another person they don't actually know, yet the dynamic is necessary to the job.
But, the difference is that Scott and Tessa behaved unprofessionally. They didn't hide their contempt. They were unnecessary. They went out of their way.
(more below)
If you want somebody's support, you need to treat them professionally and walk the talk. Whatever your private feelings you keep them for when the people you want something from aren't around.
DeleteScott and Tessa never did this. They flaunted their hypocrisy over and over. They were lazy and careless, set fans up, led them on, left them hanging, didn't deliver on promises (Scott repeatedly on his fan facebook) and never had the garden variety respect enough to keep their stories straight in the face of the people they were scamming.
Long before this blog, it showed. Many fans felt it. They played games with people's feelings. They were cruel to people they already considered beneath them.
Here's an example. Tessa, Scott - everyone involved with the sham knew damn well the entire existence of Scott/Jessica was disappointing to many fans. A lot of fans accepted it, wished for more - all the pitiful vicarious things that people like Scott and Tessa both exploit for all its worth and mock at the same time.
They knew that many fans were actually sad about the lack of romance between Scott and Tessa.
So of course, Jessica's facebook stings were jammed with exclamation points. Xmas 2010!!!! with my fabulous boyfriend!!! wink wink wink wink mwah mwah. Going to Mexico!! Hearts wink wink.
He's not her boyfriend and wasn't. This is a lie. So why are they adding exclamation points and flaunting the lie, rubbing it in fan faces with GLEE, pretending this is wonderful when the intention is to make fans hurt? What's with the mockery? They knew it was disappointing and they were nasty on purpose.
Haha - aren't Scott and Jessica the BEST??? Everyone is so happy! They're the best couple on EARTH!!! yah yay my boyfriend!!!
Who was that pitched towards? Everyone they knew who ached a little bit that Scott and Tessa weren't together, whose hopes they baited. Who the fuck does that? Who runs around playing with possibilities, feeding into it - interviews Scott and Tessa gave even used the tease in promos - the better to slap them down?
Somebody strategized this. This wasn't an accidental pattern or coincidence. This was the strategy.
As it went on and went OTT, their sweet insincerity about all things Canadian became nauseating.
Who repeatedl sets up fans to hope something is happening as Scott and Tessa did constantly only to mock them with it?
The "Maybe" video. The repeated "not yets". The hints, bait, the smirks, the winks.
Then to turn around and do a Jessica blast like it was all in the fucking minds of the fans, like fans had imagined it. To gaslight them. The gaslighting they started and couldn't even keep straight - even the most credulous fans started balking at that one. George Clooney my ass.
What kind of mind thinks this is a good time and a way to handle the people who are affected by them and moved by them and can't help connecting? Are Tessa and Scott so spoiled they believe they're entitled to something no celebrity EVER gets - all of the perks of fame and success and absolutely none of the pain in the ass? A complete one way street? Fans are toys?
I could go on, but they were beyond awful and frankly unprecedented in their combination of sanctimony, superiority, and stupidity.
I actually don't mind that Scott has decided to take down his facebook page. Like others have indicated he hardly kept up with it. V/M's official website if well maintained until Sochi should be sufficient. I don't think all athletes need to use twitter - yes some athletes use it better than other and you can converse with fans but at some point it can be annoying - ie. Piper and Paul's tweets and even I have to say that Alex Shibutani's somehow giving me vibes of hey look at me look at me...there should be quotas...
ReplyDeleteThey always do like this. I understand now the reason why their website is so well-done and constructed: they knew they would have closed scott's page.
ReplyDeleteEverytime, when we get good news by them, we have to expect something weird is happening, immediately after. We should be used to it.
True.
DeleteAnd they are always wonderful to people's faces and they can and have been vile hiding behind social media, but it's still them.
Looking forward to the new picture of the month on www.virtuemoir.com. We should get it any minute now.
It's so great that they have such an informative and awesome website. How exactly are we supposed to look for news and developments on it? Oh right, links to old articles.
DeleteAnon 3:45
DeleteTheir website is well-done?
True, it looks professionally constructed. Nice photos from professional photo-shoots. Nice remarks from Tessa and Scott. But where is the place for any candid photos? For fan messages? For continual updates about the skating or anything related to their status as public figures (the business stuff they say they enjoy so much) and any accompanying photos from those events? They can't even stay on top of putting up ONE new picture at the same time every month.
To me it looks like their website is constructed to give out as little information as possible (even that which is already widely known by skating fans!) and to have as little interaction as possible with the public.
Their pr pretty much comes down to deflection. Even their website deflects a great deal (links instead of onsite - please don't stay - let me direct you somewhere else).
DeleteThis is a big promotional year for Canadian figure skating. Worlds in London. Scott and Tessa are Londoners. I look forward to them beating the drum.
I'm also kind of perplexed about Scott calling www.virtuemoir.com a "new" website. It's years old, it at one point expired, they mustered up the Myra Klarman photos and promised photo of the month and the latest photo is already obsolete. We should have asked what month. Is August the photo month?
DeleteAs he raced away from facebook, Scott directed us to www.virtuemoir.com for all updates and pictures. That's pretty funny.
One photo a month seems like a slap in the face. Like, drudgery for them that they have to post something. It would be more real if they let stuff out piecemeal, not on a schedule. I have seen other celebrities "promise" that they're going to start posting regularly, starting a new blog, or writing about a new area of interest, and it never lasts. We'll probably get 2-3 photos of the month before Scott gets bored and says F it.
Delete11:37
DeleteThe feel of drudgery is right. And why the heck did they ask for emails? They really don't need to pretend to have a system to "alert" anyone to updates if the website itself could be counted on to be updated and kept interesting. By now, it's pretty obvious the gathering of emails was another tease (and not necessary). It looks like something SC would think of. Like that ridiculous Above the Crowd only available to those who still want to get "news" through email. That's the kind of thing that should be on the website, no need to make like the email list is special and/or their latest-technology PR venture.
Having criticized the website, I want to clarify I agree with those who say VM don't owe the public anything and it's perfectly fine if they want to stay in their comfort zone when it comes to fan interaction.
But. I'm sure I speak for many in saying that the frustration with their PR is not about being "owed" something. It's more about caring for this wonderful team and desiring all the good things for them that come with professional and competent marketing. That's all. IMO if they had that kind of management they could be as unengaged as they want with the public and still have great PR and all of its corresponding benefits. That kind of stuff would be taken care of for them and they wouldn't have to be drudged with the task of changing one website picture once a month nor continually coming up with new "storylines" of a fake life. It would be a win-win.
It seems so obvious, you have to wonder who convinced them otherwise. I would put all my money on that bastion of qualified experts, Skate Canada. One more thing they have to answer for.
DeleteI'm Anon 3:45. I was talking about the fact that everyone were surprised when the new website came out because it was well-done, compared to the others in that period and given the fact that, before that, it had completely disappeared for more than a year. They already knew they were going to "shut up" the fb page, and so they did, after a while (or better, they'll do).
I agree on the point that now, as we would expect, they don't take care about their website as they should, but probably they think it's a good deal for the fandom.
I personally don't understand them, and never will.
Anyway I was referring to the "new-born Tessa and Scott's website". It was well-done and well-constructed at the time. After a month, they aren't really proving that they care about maintaing a good mediation between them and fans.
Anon 3:45 - I figured you were being sarcastic so I did get your point the first time - that it was deceptively well-constructed but looking past the slick exterior - empty.
DeleteThe emails - I think they just want to delude fans that their input is welcome. They don't want messages on the site. But just saying - comments and emails here - there those messages go into the ether but fans feel like they've closed a loop and connected. It's cosmetics.
"Don't email us, we'll email you."
DeleteHah. At the same time, the web page can't possibly be dependent upon either Scott or Tessa. They each have an enormous extended family that is, to different degrees, involved in their skating. They have Skate Canada, they've got professional management and affiliations. There isn't a single point person who can switch out the virtuemoir.com photo of the month? It's not dependant on Scott or Tessa's level of boredom. If it's not switched out, what the hell is the rationale?
DeleteThey can't post more than one photo per month? Perhaps a group of photos from the same session? Other skaters on twitter post photos daily, with no fanfare. It's not like VM are professional painters and it takes them an entire month to come up with, and compose, a single work of art.
DeleteWe all know it doesn't have to be them and is unlikely it is them who'd have to change the photo. That makes the neglect even more intentional.
DeleteI just can't wait til they come to the "fans" for something. Get in front of that camera and sell a tour or a competition, book, documentary, etc. and tell everyone why we should come see it.
oc, not logged in
I hope you are correct in speculating that a reason for Scott removing his facebook account is, "to wit: "they have no time. They can't handle another lie."" I agree with you that VM had used social media for propaganda and to prop up their lies, and that the way they did it was outrageously contemptible.
ReplyDeleteI think a major indicator of their intentions as far as the lies will be the upcoming documentary. One of my questions is whether they are capable of relating to the public without lying if they don't experience a fundamental change in their POV about fans, the celebrity-fan connection, the purpose of social media re. celebrities. If they continue spinning in this new season's interviews, or the documentary even implies a lie, without actually saying it outright (for ex., that they don't live together), they will communicate loud and clear if they still have the same mindset of not only regarding fans as idiot children but as unnecessary for a public career.
For now, I want to take the deletion of the facebook accounts as a good sign of sincerity....I hope.
Except as a reason that doesn't make sense. I'm shutting down my fan facebook because I can't handle another lie?
DeleteBasically that = I am disinterested in facebook and fans if I can't use it to lie. Because there's no need to handle another lie on his fan page - just don't fucking lie. Say thanks for the birthday - can't believe I'm 25! A month prior to that he could have said "Thanks for everyone who came out to CNE - hope you had as great a time as we did!" In between he could upload a photo of him and Tessa goofing with one of the acrobats backstage. Then he could have taken a rest from all that effort until Finlandia.
Where's the need to handle lies? It's not a choice between full confession and continuing the scam. It takes no time at all. Be a fucking human being. Like Sarah said, just shut the thing down. That would have been real. This oh I'm unable and you deserve so much more! - please. They can't stop being hypocrites. They can't own anything.
As far as we've seen so far, the Paris photos they simpered about at TEB have yet to surface. I'm wondering about the fate of this documentary at this point.
I'm also curious about other things such as - did Steve Milton know they were lying or did they lie to him and allow him to put his name on a book crock full of lies, such as the section about how everyone in the world wants them to be romantic but they never have been? That was Steve Milton speaking as the author and he was either lying FOR his sources, or his sources lied to him. Did they let him write, without him knowing it, a book that was helping to hoax the public?
With the documentary - is it entirely training facility and talking heads and the competition rink, no at home stuff, nothing implied or said about their lives away from the rink? If there's the latter, is what's in the movie true or a lie? Are these documentary filmmakers in on the truth and consciously participating in a propoganda project? Or did Tessa and Scott put them in a situation where unbeknownst to them, they're putting out fake in the guise of a documentary?
Scott and Tessa have no problem making stooges out of people. They did it with some of the fans they kept on Scott's facebook, knowing these fans believed the lies and would insist on them to people who were purged from the facebook. Worse, these people felt special when the real reason they were kept was because they were easy to hoodwink.
I don't see the deletion of the facebook as a sign of sincerity. I think he (they) were cornered and had no choice. There's no point in having it up when you are obviously unwilling to deal with it. It just made it super obvious how useless it was if it couldn't be a scam staging platform.
It's more than a POV about fans, it's their character. Who gets off on an ugly mixture of contempt and hostility channeled through a lot of mockery, and then bats eyes and is sanctimonious to people's faces - i.e., on camera. How does that become the character of not just Scott and Tessa's public relations, but a lot of people connected to Skate Canada and how do so many fall in line?
DeleteEverywhere you look at it, they were mean. They went out of their way. If they were natural born jerks then okay, everybody needs to grow up. These are people who pride themselves on how they present to the public, how well spoken and self-possessed they are, how they're nice people and the people around them are proud of them for it.
I feel that the mean quality of what was done with social media should really fly in the face of most people's normal, natural instincts. These people embraced it and I don't know what to think about that.
It's hard to refute what you say with the title banner full of photos showing exactly what you've described, Scott (and really all of VM and Co.) rubbing the fans faces in gross mockery.
DeleteThat doesn't mean these guys can't have a change of heart. And I mean specifically Scott and Tessa not Skate Canada.
they'd have to think about it to have a change of heart.
DeleteTessa is a woman who says she limited her blackberry contacts to 7 people during the Olympic year. So, let's see - Scott, Marina, Mom, Dad, Jordan - that's five right there - Mary Branagan has to be six - who was the lucky seven? Did either of her brothers make the cut? No Meryl? No Fedor (She and Fedor posed in front of The Inn at St. John's in October right before TEB).
So I think seven is a white lie and she has her own definition of "just seven" with a lot of "except fors" in it.
Not sure why I went into that except to say that I don't believe they'll change their minds because Tessa is a resolute person who will not let anything in that disrupts a course she is already determined to pursue. It's not going to trouble you if you don't know about it and don't want to know about it.
I don't just mean the blog itself, but the methods overall that they use to interact with the fans won't be re-examined unless there's a real cost, and I don't see how there will be.
Anon 12:30 it's not just the photos themselves, or even mostly the photos. It's the wall conversations, the loud announcements on Jessica's wall and the walls of Scott's family, how the whole gang would chime in to agree there was nothing more romantic, happier or divine than the relationship of Scott and Jessica, while hardly being able to conceal how hilarious they found the whole game.
DeleteThis routine would go down immediately after Scott and Tessa had purposefully teased the fans about the prospect of a romance between the two of them. Pull the rug out was the method they CHOSE.
They knew it was hurtful, and they knew that fans felt stupid or as if they were somehow not getting it or they were missing something, and that is how Virtue Moir & Co. wanted it. They made sure to keep fans feeling off balance and weird. As I said in another comment - it became sport to them.
The whole program that culminated with Jessica celebrating her relationship on her public facebook wall in front of the thousands of fans on her facebook and Scott's facebook happened because they knew the more they piled on, the more distressed fans would was intentionally designed with fan discombobulation as end game.
Now consider that all the while they were mocking people, they were making fun of them for suspecting, believing in, or hoping for something that was actually true.
The photos suck, but the neon signs they hung out to get fans to come check out the photos, and the running commentary on the photos from family and friends, pretending to be obtuse about the effect it was all having on fans - hurting them, making them feel stupid and confused - that was what was nasty.
None of the Moirs or others who engaged in this ugly game post on facebook like that normally. This was a demeanor they adopted for their fan fun.
I wonder if the Prince of Monaco knew they had Jessica along as a decoy or did they also deceive him.
DeleteI'm Anon 10:43 and I see you were not saying Scott shut down his facebook because they couldn't handle another lie, but you were quoting someone else.
DeleteThat's what happens when you quickly skim something instead of reading correctly. Sorry about that.
And I'd like to say I appreciate how you back up your opinions with specific examples. I get tired of some others' name-calling of the blogger and general complaints about what you write about but without presenting anything to back up their own opinions as to why you should not be believed.
I've posted before that I ran this situation by a few friends (separately)and was startled that, among a sophisticated group familiar with image management techniques and the public/private divide, they all thought this scheme was insane and obnoxious. I found myself playing devil's advocate, arguing Scott and Tessa's point of view. I wasn't justifying the methods - I wanted to see if anybody would say "I get how that would happen." The response was more vehemently thumbs down than I expected. I'd barely get started when I'd get: "No.'
ReplyDeleteI think what confuses me is it's clear that Debbi and Barb don't know what they're doing and William Thompson wasn't far behind. Just the entire "tough" scheme had so many blatant fallacies it has to be instantly rejected by anyone with a modicum of actual life experience. Forget the values it reflects - it makes no sense. Every premise is absurd.
But, look at all the people who signed onto the Jessica/Scott scam and actively promoted it and endorsed it. In the ridiculous particulars, not just the sham itself. Let's take the biggest problem - Jessica herself. Jessica is a bad idea you can see from space. Having her the female face of a sham with Scott Moir is guaranteed to raise a lot of questions. The public is WAY ahead of SC's spin about Jessica, and the only way to justify Scott being with her makes Scott look bad.
But set that aside. Let's say everybody couldn't see past Bryce, was too close to the situation, didn't realize that all of us stupid people could see in Jessica what those smart SC knew about her.
But. The freaking Ilderton Celebration buggy. Scott, Tessa, Alma, SC, all the Moir cousins - nobody said - guys, that is really asinine. A presumably sophisticated litigation atty, a woman - Kate Virtue - that Tessa brags is all that - they all went - yes, let's do that. How many brains have to be basically a load of half-dead slop for nobody to raise a hand and say "uh - people?"
So many! How did the SC and VM family groupthink become so similar in its insanity? Yes, the Virtues want their daughter (shins, temperment, etc.) protected. The Moirs are hurray! Skate Canada. Debbi is a moron who doesn't know what she doesn't know. How did this all converge to say "Yeah - buggy!" "Yeah - babies and Jessica!" Yeah - Dominican photo shoot forever on the web and email!
How? It's like something out of Harry Potter. What stupid potion did they drink?
OC 2:17
ReplyDeleteAll of that post.
It's very interesting how VM had so much time for social media when it was all about a hoax. This blog entry and the comments remind me how it was when VM on facebook was really all about Scott/Jessica. When you think of the detailed scheming that went into it, including the traveling to and from Western Ontario to the Montreal/Quebec area in addition to all the $$ that went into making sure Jessica was along for the required beach vacation photos with Scott and his family, it's not really believable when Scott now says he wishes he had more time to keep up a fan facebook page.
So, when it was about mocking the fans with Scott/Jessica, many famiy members and friends thought it was just hilarious to post comments and teasers and being all OTT about the photos and the "darling" couple of Scott/Jessica. Now that VM could genuinely benefit from someone helping out with keeping a fan page updated, all of a sudden they all have such busy lives and such an aversion to social media.
They really are not endearing themselves to their public. You know, the ones who are willing to fork out $$ to buy tickets and books.
"So, when it was about mocking the fans with Scott/Jessica, many famiy members and friends thought it was just hilarious to post comments and teasers and being all OTT about the photos and the "darling" couple of Scott/Jessica. Now that VM could genuinely benefit from someone helping out with keeping a fan page updated, all of a sudden they all have such busy lives and such an aversion to social media."
DeleteYou know that Mitt Romney quote (don't like him, for the record) "corporations are people, my friend." When Tessa mentions how interested she is in business it's always a WTF to me. Why so hostile to the public, when most of the public is on social media, when the market for their book was likely ubers familiar with social media, when basically their "business" is based on being public figures, so shouldn't they connect with the public instead of becoming more and more rote, more and more practiced in the art of saying nothing, less conspicuous about keeping the whole enterprise at arm's length?
And less freaking self-serving. "I'm private - oh wait, there's a profit element - I'm not private now! I'm private again - no time! Oh wait - scam time based on stupid ideas - all the time in the world!" They have tons of time for ugly and no time for nice.
So let's say the rationale is that the social media scam was for those they consider to be the OTT segment of the fandom - I don't know how they define that. The fans who knit? The fans who accost them as if they're best friends? Those on the internet? Compared to the general public, that would be a small segment of the public. Yet the ridiculousess that was Scott and Tessa's pr after the Olympics was aimed at that small niche? They shot a mouse with an elephant gun?
It doesn't add up.
BTW, Jessica is on her facebook bellowing how she can't WAIT to go back to Monaco, like it her visit there was about her, and not about VM with her as a prop. And I keep wondering - really Jessica? You're going back? On whose dime?
"Yet the ridiculousess that was Scott and Tessa's pr after the Olympics was aimed at that small niche? They shot a mouse with an elephant gun?"
DeleteActually, the elephant gun began the summer of '08, what I consider the beginning of the avalanche. When they and theirs posted those precious photos of Scott and Jessica as each others dates at family summer weddings. Yep, the beginning of the sharing of their oh-so-private-loving-selves. A full two seasons before the Olympics and continuing after the Olympics.
I can't wait to hear what the new spin is regarding VM's personal lives, beginning now and into the next Olympics.
"really Jessica? You're going back? On whose dime?"
ReplyDeleteYou don't think these people would try bringing it all back do you? Creating a "back together" story for Scott and Jessica, whether because it's so convenient for letting Scott and Tessa hide, or simply out of spite that the fans aren't believing their made-up stories.
Well nothing would shock me....Jessica in the crowd at Skate Canada...recovering from injury...yet there to support the Canadians and give an update on her injury and say how they will be ready for Nationals in January...barf....
DeleteShe's also being weird with photos. One of her friends has been putting photos of herself with Jessica up as her facebook cover photos. Her friends, including this one, have always pitched in with Jessica's social media p.r., including the fake, so when select photos with Jessica are featured and public to non-friends I'm always - what are they trying to communicate? That Jessica's weight changes by the day? She's much wider than the norm in the CTC photos, and thicker. She looks over-stuffed in the photo where she's in wedge heels, and in another group shot. In a bunch of newly posted "we're bff's partying!" she appears more her normal weight.
DeleteShe's certainly not working hard to present herself as someone who is dealing with ankle rehab or working to get it together for the GP.
I seriously wonder what happened with her and Sebastien this summer prior to her putting on the pounds. Did her sulk after Worlds persist into the summer so she refused to train, and vacillated about continuing? Or was she facing a drama-free season, the end of the sham and a deficit in attention so cooked up another Jessica drama?
This blog has talked quite a bit about how much attention and prestige Jessica received from being known as Scott Moir's GF. I wonder if the newest Jessica photos on facebook are her trying to show how her life is "so fun" and she has so many friends,and there's no need of any Moirs to give her "popularity."
ReplyDeleteShe certainly seems to like being seen in the role of party-girl right now. Maybe partying makes ankles heal faster.
She was giving that impression when she went to Paris with her friend last year. Life couldn't be happier or better. She was up up up. Two seconds after she got back from Paris - boom, turns out she dropped Bryce like a hot rock and gave those remarks about how his injury gave her the spark she needed to rediscover her love for skating that presumably had been missing with him.
DeleteShe had dumped him shortly before going to Paris, so all of the hearts, flowers, I love life, children and grandma were meant to counterprogram, IMO.
Now she's me and my friends, friends, friends! I have great friends! I'm happy with my friends!
So there's another shoe. She's not a hard read and her MO is primitive. So we just have to wait for the flip side when her status this year is addressed.
Skaters that have their way North...
DeleteKaitlyn Weaver. What a beautiful team:):)
Piper Gilles. Wow what an inspuration...
Any more?
Meant to say made thier way North
DeleteIt is only my opinion, but I find both W&P and G&P exhausting try-hards as media figures. There's got to be a better way than unending contrivance.
Delete