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| Fitness blogger Carolyn Berk Eriksen 4 days after giving birth. |
Eriksen is a bit older than Tessa. And, actually, if we saw Eriksen's body in profile, I think we'd see that Eriksen's midsection, while ripped to here and back, had yet to rebound to flat as a washboard. Or would we? We all know head on is the best view for assessing what may be going on with somebody's body front to back. If the photo is taken from a height, we've got a scientific certainty. Anyway, it's for damn sure Tessa Virtue's abs are nowhere near as good as a footballer's wife who blogs about fitness.
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Incorporate the fact that Tessa's angled to the camera, her left side partially concealed by her left arm, and her right arm is draped along her right side, we know there's no baby in there. Hell, we can't even be sure that's not Flat Tessa. |
What I think I'm learning is that if Tessa Virtue had been, say, an Olympian, a recent gold medalist, whose only job was maintaining her elite level competitive/show skating physical fitness, then it might be possible to believe she trained throughout much of her first pregnancy, both on the ice, and in the gym with the brilliant Maria Mountain.*That's the sort of woman who might have developed powerful new guns, glutes, and upper back, newly powerful muscle groups she might recruit to assist other muscle groups that needed a breather. Maybe a woman like that could have returned to the ice in good order not too long afterwards, and some weeks later be set up to compete the short dance that had been trained and performed throughout much of the pregnancy. Not just the short dance, but about one minute of a free dance. She might even have spent a lot of the gestation time preparing for that very goal, under the supervision of a world class trainer, a smart choreographer, and her physicians.
Alas, the woman in question is only Tessa Virtue.
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| Tessa's opening her chest, shoulders, upper back and neck. The rest of her is Meryl Davis-ing it. The rest being her pelvis, hips and solar plexus (which, FYI, includes the waist). Scott has his hand supporting the small of her back. Just as they did it at the 4CCs. P.S. Isn't there usually a slimming effect when someone arches back? |
As it stands, only a fool would believe Tessa was pregnant at that time. What some people claim Tessa and Scott pulled off with that pregnancy is something that's only possible with an athlete capable of winning a bronze medal at Worlds 2009 despite having done only about 5-7 total complete run throughs of her free dance, while her legs were on fire. It's something we could maybe accept about somebody who'd had the fascia around both shins sliced open in four places in October, the sliced sections left raw so they'd expand, and yet competed about twelve weeks later at her national championships while bringing serious pressure to bear on the still-raw tissue in her lower legs.
From Hans Christen Anderson's The Little Mermaid
The Sea Witch warns, however, that once she becomes a human, she will never be able to return to the sea. Drinking the potion will make her feel as if a sword is being passed through her, yet when she recovers she will have two beautiful legs, and will be able to dance like no human has ever danced before. However, it will constantly feel like she is walking on sharp knives and it will feel as though they must be bleeding.
The woman that skated with her legs hurting pretty much like that, that was a remarkable ice dancer and athlete. How did she do it? Did she and her partner practice off ice or something? Could they have done what I understand sometimes happens in dance and gymnastics - i.e., "Broken it down" to work out/around the female partner's physical challenges and limitations before putting it back together and executing? Monitoring and taking adjustments every day?
Moving along, I've learned this, which many in the comments section already know, and I hereby pass it on as a psa:
Article on anterior/posterior fetal positions and looking pregnant
I've learned the kid on the left bears no particular resemblance to the kid on the right:
I think the child pictures should be removed. It is not okay to post that.
ReplyDeleteYou said you wouldn't post the picture, why did you change your mind? I'm not convinced it's their child but it still doesn't feel right to put it out there.
ReplyDeleteUpon reflection, I changed my mind, as it is on the very public facebook page of the very public Ilderton Skating Club. Do you honestly believe that picture is there by accident? The photo is more than a year old and, as we all know, children change in that time. MOIRVILLE has had that photo in the public domain for a year. That's what changed my mind. Then the W Network showed us that photo of Tessa. While some fans may think this is all a big coincidence, I don't. The blog isn't violating that child's privacy, that child is already in public.
DeleteThe child is in a public album, yes. But she is not named, she's just a child amongst a group of children. You, otoh, are posting it with the intent of naming her.
DeleteWho cares what Moirville is up to. Please don't do this.
I agree with 9:57. I know this is your blog, OC, but even though Moirville posted the photo and a long time ago, they didn't name or identify her. Moirville will forever be up to something, but this child isn't part of their antics. Don't bring her into this, please.
DeleteIt looks like two young girls. Thats about it..i know a dozen little girls that look just like both of them...
DeleteA) she is not a child among a group of children, she is a child prominantly positioned in Santa's arms and the focal point of the photo on the Ilderton Skating Club's public album and has been there a year. Few children of that age look the same a year later. Whoever this child is, she doesn't either.
DeleteB) I haven't named her. I have said that Moirville put up a prominent photo of a child who is young Tessa Virtue's doppelganger. It's been seen, at this point, by thousands of people. I have said she looks exactly like Tessa. Do you think Moirville didn't know that when they put up a photo that featured her so prominently? Or that when Tessa's family forked over the photo of Tessa in her hockey gear for a freaking television network to publish, they forgot about the child in the ISC's Santa album?
Clearly I have no "proof" of who it is, as anyone reading the comments in the post below this one would remember, as for a space of time I suspected it was an old photo of Tessa herself. As with others who aren't convinced it's who it appears to be, I will concede that I am sure it's possible there's a female child taking skating at the ISC who looks exactly like Tessa Virtue as a child, and it's just an amazing coincidence.
Charlie Moir's wife and Danny Moir's wife stood in the front row in the family section of the London Worlds and held their daughters so that their children would be seen on the big screen. That screen cap has also been on the blog. Danny gave the green light to put his kid on twitter. FF a year or so later, the child doesn't look the same. This photo, too, is nearly a year and a half old.
DeleteI (and among the many others who know, WE) know they have a child and know it's a girl, and the blog, and many others, have said this numerous times. Others have had it confirmed by their own sources, and said so here. So the photo changes what?
If I'd republished any other child or children's photo from the Santa album on the ISC but this one, would there be any objection? If not, what is the objection here?
I'm not naming the child because I don't *know*, despite it being a public photo.
I'm saying the child looks like Tessa, which is only stating the utterly obvious. We'd be idiots to think it's not obvious to Moirville and wasn't when they published it.
Although, apparently, there are fans who think not so much, or aren't convinced despite it. For them, I imagine it's no biggie that there's just a little unrelated mini me at the ISC. Something in the Ilderton water. In any event, I would be interested in an explanation as to why this child's privacy appears to be violated by the blog republishing it, when there were no objections to the screen cap of Charlie and Danny's daughters held up for the camera at the London championships, or to Charlotte Moir's twit pic being part of a blog banner, and might not have been any objections if any other child's public photo (on the ISC page) had been republished here.
When I decided to use it, I looked at what was behind my initial instinct not to. One was the amount of time that has passed. I probably wouldn't have done it last year. The other is, that instincts when it comes to the sham and Moirville are often wrong. Many people felt the sham photos were "private", for instance. Many people still have trouble sorting out that the sham girlfriend is not in a pseudo triangle with Tessa and Scott, even though intellectually, they know it. Just the fact that an anon photo that is already easily found in the public facebook of Scott and Tessa Central has, a year and a half later, been reprinted here and been found unsettling by some, IMO tells a lot to those people who screech that someone, somewhere, would have published on the internet, in public, an actual i.d.'d photo of Scott and Tessa and their child, and it's impossible that it hasn't happened. The people who need to get this, aren't going to get it, but the fact is, not so much. People don't want to do that. I actually HAVEN'T done that here. It just feels like it, as it "feels" like a triangle with Scott, Tessa and the fake gf, and it "feels" like the sham photos are private photos.
P.S., if Scott and Tessa weren't married with a child, and the ISC just happened to publish a photo of a kid that looked remarkably like Tessa, and the blog existed for some other reason, and the blog republished that picture, just to say something like: "Isn't this amazing? Look at this adorable little girl at the ISC who looks exactly like Tessa Virtue!" Would people have been "Take it off the blog?" If so, why? They haven't asked that about any other child/person whose public photo has been republished here. If I'd found a kid who looked exactly like Scott (and we know Scott and Tessa have a daughter, not a son, at this moment at least), and said OMG, look at this little squirt at the ISC who looks just like Scott! Would anyone think it was a mistake "no matter who the little boy was"?
DeleteBecause you wouldn't be implying that the random lookalike was their kid. Same thing with the Moir brothers' daughters: they had chosen to publicly present these girls as their daughters, you wouldn't be "outing" them by posting their picture.
DeleteBTW, the photo isn't there to say "See!" or "aha!" about Scott and Tessa's child. It's not about this child.
DeleteThis post is speaking to the activity in the comments section this past week. To wit: you can put anything in public and people will deny it or people just won't see it, willfully, or they just are determined not to get it. Therefore, those two girls don't look alike to some people. Okay. Therefore, Tessa's body is no different in the caps and gifs above than it is when she competes, at least there's no difference that a little extra summer chocolate (and I guess autumn chocolate) can't account for.
With the two little girls, and for a brief time I thought both were Tessa, I am saying they look just about exactly alike. Like twins. Because they do. And there are people who are like, meh, no. Just as there are people who think refrigerator Tessa looks pretty much like Olympic Tessa. And that the lift as performed in Let It Snow is an Olympic L4 lift, comparable to the lifts Delobel stopped training while pregnant, prior to Vancouver. There are people who've seen the video of Scott and Tessa at Skate America in 2008, people who've seen the photo in the London publication, and people who've heard Marijane Strong* discuss Scott and Tessa working together in her apartment during her entire recovery from CES surgery, who still say "that doesn't mean they weren't totally telling the truth about being estranged for two months like they said. It doesn't mean they spoke on the phone and saw each other." Actually, yes it does mean they weren't estranged when they said they were. That's exactly what it means. However, to many fans, it's not so.
So I will call this post sort of a process post. Me processing yet again how some people process information and how some people perceive.
*I expect any day now Marijane Strong will surface with a flourish of backpedaling re what she said back in 2009 about Scott and Tessa holed up in Tessa's apartment working and preparing while Tessa recovered from CES. She'll get the Myra Klarman treatment, and come out and talk about how she's always admired their friendship which survived even the rough times, like the rift. Kind of how Klarman never said anything about their relationship until six years after she first photographed them she suddenly decides to tell us that she doesn't photograph engaged couples and that's why she resisted being commissioned by Scott and Tessa until (she doesn't say until what, but the implication is she, without knowing them, assumed they were engaged for some reason, even though they were an ice dance team, but then not, and six years later she figured she'd share that whole little kerfluffle, totally out of the blue).... And Klarman goes on to say how she loves them and how great their relationship is and she hopes they are still in each other's live after they retire and well, that's all folks, just thought I'd come out with that for no reason.
Strong is out there. That loop needs to be closed, so I'm looking for it. :)
"Because you wouldn't be implying that the random lookalike was their kid. Same thing with the Moir brothers' daughters: they had chosen to publicly present these girls as their daughters, you wouldn't be "outing" them by posting their picture."
DeleteWait, so SAYING, for three years, that they have a daughter, BLOGGING, for three plus years, that Scott and Tessa are huge liars, that they're married, that Scott dissed his daughter when he said he'd trade places with his brother because then he'd have a beautiful daughter, calling out Scott and Tessa for the sham trash they've put on the internet that's going to blow back in their daughter's face when she's older, NONE OF THAT constitutes "outing them" as parents of a daughter to you?
Re-publishing a photo that even at this moment is still public on the ISC's Santa album is "outing"? How the hell is THAT outing? She looks like Tessa. The ISC is Tessa's rink. It's not ME that's implying it's Tessa's kid, it's the girl's own face doing that. And as you can see here, no worries, because there's plenty of people eager to report they're not seeing a resemblance, as we all knew would be the case.
But again, NOTED, that fans are on the blog appalled that I'd republish a photo of a Tessa lookalike on this blog, and the only reason they're appalled is they think it is her daughter (if they thought it was just a lookalike it wouldn't matter, such as if the ISC had a picture of a kid who looked like Scott as a boy). And yet other fans think a maitre'd, a fan, a disgruntled friend, first thing is they're going to put an actual, confirmed, i.d.'d photo of Scott and Tessa's daughter on the internet. Not tell their friends. Not send the image back and forth on their phones. Put it on the internet, because the first thing they'd want to do is show those fans throwing tantrums in hopes of getting proof, the proof, and relieve their minds.
DeleteExcept they wouldn't.
This child, this is a child no fan, no waiter, but the Ilderton Skating Club (May as well say Alma and Carol's club) itself put on its own album, very very prominant in the album, a public facebook, and they knew damn well she looks like Child Tessa. It's there now. And THEY are the only ones.
Tbf, there are other photos in that album where another child is being held by Santa with other kids standing around on the ice. I wouldn't say the little girl is featured prominently when you look at the album as a whole.
Delete"Wait, so SAYING, for three years, that they have a daughter, BLOGGING, for three plus years, that Scott and Tessa are huge liars, that they're married, that Scott dissed his daughter when he said he'd trade places with his brother because then he'd have a beautiful daughter, calling out Scott and Tessa for the sham trash they've put on the internet that's going to blow back in their daughter's face when she's older, NONE OF THAT constitutes "outing them" as parents of a daughter to you?"
DeleteI meant "outing" the girl as their daughter, not the other way around.
I still think that child is too old to be LM - who would have been two when that photo was taken. This child looks to be at least a year older.
Delete*I* am not outing her as her daughter. If she is, her face is. Her face is the same over on the ISC page as it is here. The face of Tessa in her hockey gear is the same here as when the W network published it. And we don't know that she is. She looks uncannily like Tessa Virtue, but when we put it here, of course there are those who say no she doesn't.
Delete2:16 - I saw a 2 year old not long ago who was the doppelganger of McCauley Culkin in Home Alone. In the face. The rest of him was two.
There are other shots of what look to be her, on the ice, and it's perfectly possible she could be somebody else's isn't it? But that's not the point.
DeleteHere's what I'm saying. Based on their faces, in the two photos above, side by side, Child Tessa Virtue and this little girl might as well be twins. She's not wearing a sign saying "My mommy is Tessa Virtue." because children generally don't. If that's Tessa's daughter, it's a mini me. If it's not, what are the odds her own daughter looks as much like her in the face as that little girl does in that photo? Either way, the resemblance is uncanny.
The photo has been on the ISC and on the blog and for a year the photo has attracted a lot of email and pm interest because of the resemblance. It's not just the blog's thing.
So here it is on the blog. Right on schedule, here we go. "Looks like a billion other little girls to me." "Too old." "Scott's daughter wouldn't have that nose."
Uh huh. I wonder if any of these same people are saying it's impossible to "hide" a child. People who decide they can tell a small child's age within a year based on a some photos in facebook. People who look at two near identical faces (in a photo) and decide they don't resemble each other.
It seems to me that people who claim you can't "hide" a child must believe there are people out there who are actually looking for Scott and Tessa's child, regularly. There aren't. Or that if Scott and Tessa or Scott OR Tessa were out and about with a child, a maitre'd or some fan would go "There's their daughter!" It's so logical. It must be. People scream this in the comments section all the time how impossible it is to conceal a kid. SOMEBODY must have seen the child. Somebody, they imply, who not only has no motive to keep it to themselves, but who IS motivated to take a picture and put it on tumblr or twitter. I'm sure people with both motives are everywhere. That's just common sense.*
You know what i think they'd say? Nothing. That is if they believed or knew they had a daughter. Nothing. If they DIDN'T know they had a daughter, and didn't believe they had a child, and they saw Scott and Tessa out and about with a kid, or even leaving their home with a kid, they'd say "That's Scott's neice." the way they did when that crying child was audible in the background of Scott and Tessa's telephone interview. There was no support whatsoever that Scott and Tessa were anywhere near either of Scott's neices; fans just "decided" like fans "decide" things to suit their worldview all the time.
*Sarcasm.
Though I do not think it changes much, it is worth remarking that on the WNetwork Tessa and Scott link to childhood images, the caption says that the photo used above in the comparison is actually of Scott as a child, and not Tessa.
DeleteI'm not saying that I don't believe they have I child - I do. I just don't believe that's her. It's not just her face that looks too old for a two year old - it's the size of her. If you'd have told me this photo was taken this past Xmas, I could accept that it might be her. I commented on another post that seeing her didn't make me immediately think she was Tessa and Scott's child - I don't see a glaring resemblance myself. Yes, if I look at the photos side by side and deconstruct her features, I could say that she might be Tessa's daughter, but I didn't have a jaw drop moment. This is all IMHO of course - if other people believe otherwise, that's fine - I'm not trying to change anyone's mind. And I'm certainly not saying that becuase I don't think this is LM, she doesn't exist - I completely believe that she does.
DeleteThat's my problem as well. That child is much too old to be not quite two.
DeleteThe caption of the hockey playing child is an error. It's Tessa.
DeleteAs to jaw drop moment, what would be one, absent a fan snapping a photo of Scott and Tessa out and about somewhere with a little girl and assuming that's their child? You, 7:35 AM, believe they have a child, so I'm not necessarily addressing you with this. Many people in the comments section insist it is impossible to "hide" a child. What they actually mean is it's impossible to hide a child from figure skating fans on public message boards on the internet. I think that's a stretch.
They're not hiding their kid. Their community and family are not dying to post photos outing Scott and Tessa's real status on public internet domains. It appears to me there's a whole bunch of people who love Scott and Tessa's skating, don't hang out on fan boards, and just assume they're married (which is correct), so if any of these people happened to see Scott and Tessa out and about with a pre-k aged kid, they'd think it was their child, no biggie for a married couple, or maybe a neice, or they're helping a friend. They wouldn't be rushing off to tumblr or twitter, because as we see, many many fans, even regular participants on this blog, think that would violate someone's privacy. That's even setting aside the enormous number of people who don't have twitter or tumblr accounts. And setting aside those who do have twitter and tumblr accounts, but don't make a habit of putting a stranger's child on them. And setting aside the biggest group of people of all, which is the group of people who don't know who Scott and Tessa are.
I'm trying to picture the maitre'd who'd quickly upload a surreptitious photo to twitter while working the restaurant floor, and I have trouble imagining it.
Even people who don't realize it's supposed to be "secret" tend to hesitate about uploading an unauthorized photo of someone's minor child onto the internet.
People who are looking for "proof" are also the people who insist there's nothing in the public domain that suggests Scott and Tessa are married, let alone married with a kid. Therefore, if Scott and Tessa were seen with a child - leaving the same house with a kid, at a zoo with a little girl - ANYWHERE - they'd tell themselves it was a neice, a friend of the family, a cousin or whatever. After all, Scott and Tessa didn't show them the birth certificate, so how do we know it's their child?
There are objections here already to putting the ISC's publicly displayed photo on the blog because of her strong resemblance to Child Tessa (and not because she's a random) despite the opinion by some that she appears too old to be Scott and Tessa's child, and so probably isn't.
But apparently a lot of people think the internet exists for fans to expose the secrets of celebrities, and it happens all the time. That being the case, I'm sure those who think so can provide numerous examples of when it's happened before.
**There are other shots of what look to be her, on the ice, and it's perfectly possible she could be somebody else's isn't it? But that's not the point.**
DeleteWhen I looked again, the child I thought might be other pictures of this one, isn't. Different helmet.
What's your explanation for the second last lift? Where she flips over Scott and with only her thighs secured, has her pelvis and back arched. (Essentially opposing the explanations to the other lifts)
ReplyDeleteI answered you question with an amendment to the blog. But the fact is, you can't see that she has her pelvis and back arched. First of all, most of the segment is blown out and overexposed and we can't see detail. Second of all, what we do see clearly, which is Tessa rolling up her spine out of that position, Scott is supporting her lower back, she's fairly high on his torso, and her pelvis is against him while her ribcage is more engaged than in the sd lift. The flipping over Scott part she is doing with her pelvis and limbs on the same plane.
DeleteTo the commentator below, at one point, when Scott is holding Tessa off the ground, he actually re-sets to adjust his grip (it's an exit, I think, not the move itself) instead of just having a continuous motion. It's very slow. What strikes ME most in this performance is she IS moving like Meryl Davis. Stiff torso, using only limbs to skate, and not extending her leg above (or even at) hop level. The difference is marked.
She is also REALLY extending the hell out of her shoulders to work the way her arms are dangling, which makes the arch look more pronounced than it is. Her height on Scott's torso (where she's pinned) and her long arms dangling with her hands seemingly inches above the ice, is, as Marina would say "effective", but less is going on than first meets the eye.
DeleteWhat's actually always caught my attention watching that performance is *how* they skate. As a long time fan of theirs (and skater, myself), the difference is striking. Everything is slower and deliberate. Their normally incredible extensions and her balletic turnout, are not showcased here. Movements and turns are usually quicker and sharper for them, and they (mostly her) do slight balance checks. It's more stable with many back to the basics skating/dance moves. Ironically, it's still better than most of the field out there.
ReplyDeleteI actually know a lot about pregnancy/pregnant women, and while I can't say there's no risk in continuing to skate, there's also risk in walking down the stairs, street, etc... heck, if she's as much of a klutz off the ice as they say, she's probably safer on. (Oftentimes, I feel more secure on than off, and I'm not even in their league). Especially with him there to support/hold on to her. Furthermore, he's her husband, who has never dropped her, and the father of the child. He's going to make sure he's being extra careful with his precious cargo. Not to mention the trainers and doctors whom I'm sure were monitoring her/them closely-it's acceptable and even encouraged to maintain any physical activity that has been previously done, (just not advised to increase to something more challenging) in healthy pregnancies. Her very slight weight gain is going to be gradual, so that makes it easy for them to compensate as time goes on. Her amazing abs and core strength are going to negate much of her showing, as well as allow her to continue to skate with impeccable posture, which will also elongate things to trick the eye, and serve to minimize an extended belly.
I have seen some women show nothing until the very end, and even then it can be easily hidden with creative clothing and posture, especially if they are a sculpted athlete (not to mention, elite), young, and in their first pregnancy. A lot of times you can really only see it in their chest and face. It can also have a lot to do with the baby's position, as was mentioned... they can curl up in a pretty tight ball in there, lol. (Google the third trimester pics of that chick posted). And babies can come early, so it's possible to only carry to 35-36 weeks (or earlier), and still have a perfectly healthy child.
Having said that, there are also minor changes to her body that will happen after giving birth, which I think have been obvious (don't misunderstand, I'm not saying she's fat by any stretch of the imagination, just things are shaped/carried differently afterwards). And the subsequent pregnancies will most likely show sooner...
Not trying to invalidate anything, because I believe you, just trying to get the timeline straight since I wasn't a fan that followed them in this way the first go around. I believe that she was (and looks like is again), but since I'm a newer online fan, it's harder to place events. Having to look back at media now, I'm still confused about some things. Were some interviews pre-taped, and aired later, or are they dated wrong? It's been said they disappeared for two months or so other than this "blackout" show and a few signings (where ITA she hid/looked pregnant), but I'm also seeing other things from that reported time?
I'm confused by some things as well, because they did play with timelines. I haven't sorted it all out because I know separately that she had a child, and am not depending on the public record. Therefore, I figure there's stuff I don't know that goes to how they pulled it off. Most of it is Tessa's fortunate build and her not carrying like a basketball, some of it is willfully looking the other way, but I do think they messed around with photos. I am pretty convinced, for example, that a supposed book signing they did at the Hershey Center during Western Challenge 2010 did not actually occur, and was instead staged by Debbi Wilkes and a handful of Skate Canada volunteers, then uploaded to Skatebuzz where she pretended it was a book signing. That's on the blog if you scroll through the archives.
DeleteI can't answer your questions though, just acknowledge them.
The I Want to Hold Your Hand video can be compared with other performances of the program.
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aofGs5CCjzE (very pregnant)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxHLBPPobJo (pregnant)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLPru_hDgmk (not pregnant)
Look at the dip in the beginning, huge difference.
DeleteAs we all know, couples who are married and have been together for many years are so incredibly overcome with passion that they absolutely cannot stop themselves from kissing each other. There's no way that, after seeing how fans obsessed over that Umbrellas moment, they would intentionally kiss/graze lips during their program for the purpose of gifs that rile up young girls obsessed with their relationship. No, these kisses are proof of their status as a married couple. They would never strategically incorporate them into their choreography!
ReplyDeleteI keep forgetting that all couples, like all pregnant women, are identical.
DeleteNo one said the kisses were proof of their status. There are two options for TS: either they are incredible actors who are putting on a show or they're in a long-term relationship. Some girls on tumblr don't want to believe either one and instead make up fanfiction scenarios where VM are in love but don't know it, are in love but don't want to date while they're competing, etc. These girls have claimed that the kisses in their programs are accidental and I'm sure you'll agree that's complete nonsense.
DeleteIt's possible they kiss for more than one reason, don't you think? VM have always used their relationship to market themselves but they probably enjoy the romantic stuff in and of itself. They are a couple, after all.
lots of teams accidentally kiss/look like they're closing just because of how close the choreography gets sometimes. its really not a big deal...
Deleteif they were actually married with a child trying to hide it from the world (lol) do you think they'd do stuff like this in front of an audience of a couple of hundred million ppl..
And some girls on tumblr and fan forum say it's all missteps and bad timing where they land on each other's lips.
Delete11:06 you think they're accidentally kissing or only look like they're kissing up there?
Deletelol now you're posting pictures of random children jesus
ReplyDeletesry but scott's kid would have a way bigger nose
^^^ perfect ^^^ lol
ReplyDeleteTessa is pregnant? fine T. is not pregnant? OК Daughter of T. and S. a redhead or dark, not blond. The child is blond.
ReplyDeleteThat child's hair is exactly the same shade that Tessa's was when she was younger. Look at the photos of very young Tessa in their book.
DeleteAlso, hair color is a complex polygenic trait influenced by multiple genes from both parents. It's not as simple as parent A has color A, parent B has color B, so their offspring can only have hair of color A or B.
I wouldn't exactly say that the child is a dead ringer for Tessa given the difference in nose shape - however Tessa and Scott are really a mix of their parents. I know that a lot of people will say that Tessa and Jordan Virtue are almost like twins - and although Tessa and Jordan do look alike - Tessa does obviously have some of her Dad's features. The kid pictured here actually looks like she would have Kate Virtue's features. And yes grandparents' genetics can appear also.
DeleteNonetheless - I have to agree that I don't think its necessary to bring a kid's photo into the discussion - even though I am guilty on commentating on it...
I'm from London, and that is a friend of mine's daughter, from over a year ago, and she is almost 5 years old now.
ReplyDeleteThe child in the picture looks to be about 4 years old. If this was taken last year she LM would have been barely past 2. I don't think that's LM, and posting pictures of minors without their parents' permission/identification is sort of ... wrong?
ReplyDeleteI disagree. The child in the picture does not look as old as 4. I think she looks like a very young 3-yr-old, which is around the age VM's child would be at that date (Dec 2012--just a few weeks before turning 3). Not that it means this is VM's child at all. Just that IMO the dates line up with what appears to be the age.
DeleteThe problem with speculation is anyone can come and make any kind of claim, like the person saying she/he "knows" who this child is. I doubt people from London are reading up on this place and are eager to post and share anything they know.
For the record, I do agree with the blog's premises. Tessa and Scott are married and have a daughter. I have had independent confirmation of that fact. That is a separate issue from speculation surrounding this photo. I don't feel a photo of a minor should be posted on a public forum for these purposes.
Your math is wrong, the child would be 2 years old.
DeleteI'm 11:22. Oops, you are absolutely right 12:11. My math was horrible. Apologies.
DeleteHowever, I will still stand by my opinion that the child does not look anywhere near 4 yrs old. I also agree with all the comments saying it cannot be known for sure if this child is Tessa and Scott's and it is inappropriate to post this picture on this blog.
I have a couple of fun facts for the people claiming the child looks too old to be Little Moir. 1.) Telling a child's exact age from one photograph is a tricky thing. 2.) Much like how pregnancies are different, all children are different. Sometimes, people think they're older than they are. Sometimes, people think they're younger. A good friend of mine has a child who people thought was a lot older than two when she was. The friend got a lot of looks because people thought the child was behind developmentally because she didn't have the skills yet to match whatever age outsiders thought the kid was. Once someone was told the kids real age, they understood why the kid couldn't do x, y, or z yet.
ReplyDeleteDespite the above, I do want to say that if you look at the full-sized version, the width of the hand of the adult holding her seems to be about the same as the length of her thigh, bottom of the bum to the top of the knee. That kid isn't as big as people think she is.
Anyway, the more significant things are the fact that the facial features are mostly Tessa (and also match to Kate and Jordan Virtue) with, IMO, some Moir here and there.
And Santa's head vis a vis the little girl's head.
DeleteThere's no little moir in that picture, that's my friends daughter...she would laugh at all of this hilarity if she read these comments too haha never thought she looked like tessa at all haha
ReplyDeleteShe doesn't look like Tessa looks now. In this specific photo, of her in Santa's arms wearing a helmet, she looks like the twin of Little Tessa Virtue in her hockey gear. I am comparing the photos, not the actual children. I didn't see Tessa as a kid, and I haven't seen the other little girl in person. In these two photos, though, the two girls look like each other's doppelganger.
DeleteLet me break down what this is about. Over the past week, since the post below this one went up, there has once again been an outbreak of tantrums supported by pseudo logic, claiming that there is no way Scott and Tessa can keep the child's photo, or proof of the child's existence, off the internet where skating fans can see it. Impossible.
Meantime, on the ISC facebook, and whether or not that IS Scott and Tessa's child, there is a photograph of a little girl who, in that photo, looks so much like Tessa did as a child that many many fans suspected it was. No matter how ridiculous you may find it, many fans suspected it was their kid.
Despite those suspicions, and these are FANS, not regular people such as a restaurant maitre'd, how many of those fans talked about it in public?
The point is what many fans THOUGHT. You may be telling the truth or not, and for my part I'd believe it either way, that the child is too old to be Little Moir, or that the child IS two-ish (I googled "two year olds" and there are some long-legged, mature looking ones out there, and it's perfectly correct that you can't really pinpoint a little kid's age from a photo). However, that's not the point. I'm using these photos to make a point about fan behavior. Fans did not talk about the resemblance in public. Many suspected she was their child (rightly or wrongly) but didn't broadcast it.
Which contradicts the claim by the shit fitters in the comments section that Tessa and Scott couldn't possibly go about in public with their daughter without immediately being outed on the web, complete with photos.
I'm saying that's ridiculous. The Ilderton Skating Club itself published a photo on its own public facebook that so strongly resembled a photo of Tessa, many fans took it to be Little Moir, and nobody said anything.
The fans who claim Virtue and Moir can't have a child because they'd be outed on the web doesn't know what he/she is talking about, doesn't know how people behave, doesn't know how the internet works. Just believes that the world around Scott and Tessa would be standing by waiting to shoot her the proof if it existed. As this hasn't happened, the child must not exist.
So let me get this correct. You don't know if that child is Tessa/Scott's child for sure, but you're posting a picture on a public blog without the parents' permission? As someone who enjoys your ice dance analysis a lot I urge you to take the picture down because it's one thing for the parent to post a picture on Facebook. That's their child, it's their right. It's another thing for a stranger to take that picture and put it into circulation. That is not right.
DeleteAnyone who puts a photo on FB is putting it into the public domain. Nobody has any idea what someone who sees that photo, right clicks and saves it, is going to do with it. You want privacy, you don't want people taking your photo and doing whatever the hell with it, then don't put it on Facebook or wherever.
DeleteJust because it can be done doesn't mean it should be done. This blog has perhaps the best most in-depth analysis of ice-dance there is, but posting pictures of an underage child is IMO not appropriate.
DeleteThe Ilderton Skating Club posted a gazillion pictures of underage children. What child isn't "underage?" I maintain if this little girl didn't look like Tessa Virtue, nobody would care that the blog posted it.
Delete"So let me get this correct. You don't know if that child is Tessa/Scott's child for sure, but you're posting a picture on a public blog without the parents' permission? "
DeleteExcuse me, if I did know it was Scott and Tessa's child for sure that would make a difference to you?
That photo has already been seen by a gazillion fans who talk about it in secret. Talking about it in PUBLIC is the problem?
People don't get the internet. I'm sure, positive, however, that that little girl's parents do get the internet, or think they do. It is the ISC public facebook that published the picture. Alma and Carol and all of their colleagues know the Ilderton Skating Club's facebook albums are routinely perused by fans of Scott and Tessa. You are behaving as if the blog took a personal photo and put it here. The blog took a public domain photo highlighted by the Ilderton Skating Club - because unlike the other kids, that child appears in this picture, and only this picture - and published it here. If you think the ISC doesn't know Virtue Moir fans check out their albums, you've got another think coming.
This blog is three and a half years old. The Ilderton Skating Club and the Moirs have known of this blog's existence since about five seconds after it started. You don't think they're surprised it took the blog a year and a half to put that picture up?
OC, I'm sure you are aware but teachers who post pictures of their students online without express parental permission face immediate dismissal/discipline. Rules for protecting the privacy of a minor are there for a reason. This picture was posted on a Facebook page, presumably with the consent of the parent. The parent did NOT consent to you reproducing this photo with the context of "outing" the child's "real" parents on a personal blog. I know you think that Moirville posted the photo as a "reaction" to your blog but you don't KNOW that, because you never got anyone's consent to post the photo. By doing so you are encroaching on the authority of the parent and violating the child's privacy.
Delete10:40, when someone consents to the publication of their child's photo on a public facebook page, they are consenting to the publication of the photo anywhere else legal on the internet. That's how facebook works.
DeleteNobody knows this better than the Moirs.
DeleteAnd, actually, if somebody has a "private" facebook, they better trust all of their facebook friends, because any of their facebook friends are entitled to make the contents public. Facebook isn't private. I'm not capitalizing on some loophole here. The Moirs know all about facebook. If I didn't have any connection to a facebook and hacked my way in, that would be a problem. For some reason, a lot of people resist understanding this, but I seriously doubt the child's parents are among them. A few years ago the blog re-published something a fan put on the public wall of another facebook, and from the meltdown you'd think people were under the impression that other web pages needed people permission to repost something on a facebook wall. They don't. I ultimately removed it when it was requested and not demanded.
DeleteFinally, if the post had been titled something like "See, Why Can't the ISC stick to doing Nice Things Like This" and reposted some photos of Skating with Santa in that context, saying, how can the same nice people who put on Skating With Santa turn around and be so meanspirited on social media - I don't think people would believe anybody's privacy was being violated. Or if I'd used some photos as an example of how dedicated the Moirs are to skating and sticking kids in skating young, and how much they are part of the community.
DeleteI believe it's the context that people don't like, which is sticking that picture next to a picture of Tessa as a child. If it's not her child, that's a lookalike and where is the problem? Already we have people who think the child is generic and doesn't resemble Tessa at all, or claim it's the child of a friend of theirs, or say the child is too old. So I ask, if there had been a little boy's picture at the ISC album, and I thought he looked like Scott as a kid (and at this moment in time there's no issue around Scott and Tessa having a son) and I posted the pictures side by side and said are they trying to clone Scott for when he retires? Or maybe something less snarky, but just commented on the resemblance, again, I don't think people would have an issue.
The only issue, IMO, is the possibility in some people's minds that the chlid is Scott and Tessa's daughter. If that's the case, what the hell is it doing on the ISC facebook (and just that one photo, there are none of her on the ice, or any others) when the resemblance is so strong and that facebook is routinely checked out by the fans of VM?
And, to repeat, it's not about her and who she is or isn't. It's the fact that the two children look alike, and yet plenty of people stand ready to stay they don't. Yet there are people on this comments section acting out left and right, claiming it's impossible to believe Scott and Tessa wouldn't expose themselves on the web, that it's so hard to maintain the posture that they're single and platonic. HARD? There are fans who bend over backwards. The assertions these comments make are actually the opposite of how these these work.
If you're analogizing to how people deny that Tessa looked pregnant in photos last time, this is totally different. We KNOW Tessa was pregnant then. We have no idea whether this child is Tessa's. Not every child looks just like its parents, and not every child who looks just like an adult is related to that adult (which is why we can commend a movie on good casting of the young so-and-so). This is just a kid that sort of looks like Tessa who was at an event at ISC. It may or may not be their kid. It doesn't matter, so why post this kid's pic to get some kind of reaction from the commenter? Those of us who know there is a kid know it regardless, and those who don't believe it won't be persuaded by a pic of some kid who kind of looks like Tessa who isn't posing with Tessa or any family members. The people who say this doesn't look like Tessa's child could be 100% correct, whereas someone who says Tessa wasn't pregnant is 100% wrong.
DeleteIn the meantime it feels like you have broadcast this child's picture into a more public sphere than originally intended for the purpose of insinuating something negative (about the Moirs, about fan reactions) and it's just not that cool if it turns out that's not even their child. If it WERE their child for sure, I would actually be ok with it, because the Moirs could reasonably expect that publishing a photo of a skaters' kid on a skating related facebook page would mean that photo would make the rounds and be published on a skating-related blog. I don't think parents of random kids (who may not have a clue that their kid kind of looks like Tessa in her baby pic) would anticipate that their child's photo would be published in this context, so it feels icky.
What I'm trying to get at is that people who talk about eating chocolate are rationalizing the photos away. But people who say this kid looks too old or doesn't have the right knows aren't necessarily rationalizing (which I get a sense you're implying - that people immediately will try to disavow this is their kid, no matter how "identical" you think she looks). People who point to reasons why this may not be their kid are making objective observations that could in fact be totally correct, and this could be borne out of a real sense of ickiness about posting a photo of what may be someone else's child. Many of the commenters here have stated they believe they have a child, but are uncomfortable because they don't know THIS is that child.
DeleteI understand what you're trying to get at, and you seem genuine, and I respect your view. But I don't agree with the rationale behind it, as you've explained it.
DeleteFor example, I feel if most people could be certain it wasn't Tessa and Scott's child, it wouldn't be any issue at all. I'm not assuming. The blog has used children's facebook images in the past without anyone raising the issues you've just raised.
It's only when it's a child who looks like Tessa Virtue, and the image is up there to compare, that there were some objections. That being the case, is it REALLY true that if it is their child, it's not a problem?
Facebook images used by the blog in the past: Alma holding Quinn Moir (from Alma's profile picture). Jessica Dube holding Quinn Moir (from Jessica Dube's profile picture). The baby boy belonging to a family friend who hosted a sham album on his facebook. (The blog used a photo of that baby from the guy's album.)
From Jessica Dube's Dominican vacation facebook album: two little girls in the Dominican, close-ups, the focal point of the photos. Those little girls were just children at the same resort where Scott, Jessica, Veronique and Jonathan were staying. Yes, the caption used under their images was complimentary, in an indirect way, but still. Based on wall post exchanges between the families and Jessica, the girls were from families Scott hung out with in the Dominican. They're private citizens, and so are their children. But when the little girls were on the blog, close-up and in living color, nobody in the comments section uttered a peep. Nobody said, whoa, I know it's from Jessica's facebook sham album, but those little girls are just two little girls from the States. Should the blog be exposing them?
Nothing. Didn't cause a ripple. Of course, those girls had already been exposed to the hundreds of VM fans who'd looked through the album, but I don't think anybody who saw their images on the blog thought of that right away. They were looking at two little girls who had nothing to do with the sham, but had appeared in Jessica's album, and nobody said "Are you sure you should put them up there?"
My answer would have been that their parents helped Scott and Tessa sham (as they did via wall posts after the vacation) and never contacted Jessica to tell her to take their images out of her album, even knowing how many VM fans were not just looking at them, but could have easily learned their names.
Then there's Jessica's profile picture with another little girl. In that case I put a bar over the child's face (or pixelated it, can't recall), mostly because the post was making a lot of fun of Jessica, and the perceived agenda behind the profile picture was part of what I was mocking, and I didn't think it was fair to have the kid's face hanging out for all to see while I made fun of Jessica using that picture.
Now we come to this kid, and only now people are uncomfortable.
And it's not because it's possibly Tessa's child, but because possibly it's not?
Based on the non-reaction to all of the other childen, and the reaction to this one, I think the squeamish part comes from the concern she might be, not the concern she might not be.
cont'd
You might say the other parents (from those other facebooks - Charlie and Nicole Moir, the families from the Dominican album who helped the sham, and the family friend who had a Scott/Jessica sham album on his facebook) knew what they were getting into. Fair enough. So then I ask, you mean the people participating in ISC events don't know what's up? Don't know it's Sham Central? I know the Skating with Santa event in the photos looks all local, backyard, grass roots, but that's not how the ISC actually rolls on social media. They had fun events in that small town, homespun local community center too, and shammed their asses off there. Ditto at that local golf course. Everybody knows. All the parents of the kids at that ISC event - they know.
DeleteThis is the ISC, run by freaking Moirville, ground zero of social media manipulation. Kaitlyn Lawes was just there not long ago. Why was Lawes there? Because Moirville hoped nobody would notice? They KNOW VM fans check it out all the time. Everybody in a photo on the ISC's facebook is exposed, as exposed as here, or more so. Same audience. It's no secret to anybody else at the ISC, or anyone who participates there.
cont'd
My view is, if the child isn't VM's daughter, there's no problem, it's inoccuous. In fact, it would mean the person who claims it's her friend's kid is possibly correct, and that person seemed to find it amusing, and said her friend would laugh if she knew some people thought the little girl looked like Tessa Virtue.
DeleteIf she IS their child, the Moirs themselves put it there, and while we may be squeamish about that, they had it there a year and a half without the blog touching it. Meanwhile, just about everybody in the fandom who saw the photo commented and wondered about the resemblance, and that's a lot of people.
THAT, if anything, is where the debate lies. If it IS Scott and Tessa's child, and her own family put it there, should the blog use it? If they put it there, they weren't just sneaking it in hoping nobody would notice the resemblance.
I think that is really the core issue in people's minds, not the possibility she's some other child. For a year and a half, I didn't touch it. But recently, that started to feel as if I were second guessing what they were trying to do, and I have a practice of not trying to second guess Moirville in terms of content I put on the blog. I don't put stuff on the blog or not put stuff on the blog based on what I imagine or guess they're doing. There have been times I was pretty sure Moirville was USING the blog, WANTED the blog to use certain images. There was one time in particular that set up that way. I had to decide. It was "Oh, they want me to use it - so I won't!" Or, I could ignore whatever agenda is behind it, and use it, because the blog is chronicling what they do with the sham and with fans, and if it happens to play into any agenda as well, that's not my responsibility.
I don't believe the blog is a "more public sphere" than the Ilderton Skating Club's photo albums. The ISC may have only under 1,000 "likes" but the ISC facebook photo albums are routinely perused by the same lot that visits the blog - VM fans. That's a LOT. The girl's photo has already been widely discussed and viewed. I have the opposite view you do - that if it's not VM's child, she's a girl who looks like Tessa, and that would bother nobody. Same as if there were a child who looked like Scott, and I put it on the blog next to a photo of Scott. No chance it's his kid with Tessa, so no problem.
You're right that saying the child looks too old is not a rationalization, whether or not I agree. That's a perfectly legit opinion, and if it were possible to edit my comment, I'd take that out, because it doesn't belong on the list.
10:40, people who trash their jobs on facebook and are found out get fired.They can still trash their now former job on social media if they choose. The regulations/restrictions you allude to apply to the teacher/student relationship. In some cases, they're rules and regulations put there by the school system, not the legal system, except where the two intersect, and that doesn't apply here.
DeleteHere's what people really struggle to understand about facebook, a billion years after facebook began: facebook is public. The responsibility for privacy rests with the individual. Everything on facebook is public domain. As much as some people try to shift responsibility onto others, the responsibility rests with them.
You know who understands this? Moirville. They count on other people not understanding it. They exploit that confusion. Back when the blog first used Jessica's sham photos, a bunch of fans pm'd her falling over themselves apologizing for the bad fans who used her private stuff. She pm'd back expressing appreciation for the support, because boy, it was wounding that her "private" stuff got out there. Moirville knows. The ISC is their mother ship.
How is this blog a "more public sphere" than Facebook?
DeleteHere is a question. Suppose there were a little Scott lookalike among the kids at Skating With Santa. The blog used the image here, next to one of Scott as a kid, noting how much they look alike. That's it. Nothing hot button, nothing about is it Scott and Tessa's kid. Maybe I used it to point out that Scott Moir isn't that recognizable. Look - Ontario is thick on the ground with guys who look like Scott Moir! There's even a mini me at Skating with Santa!
DeleteWould people pull themselves up short, thinking it was unfair to single out the kid, or would it get passed on by?
I suspect the latter.
I am not trying to tell people what they really think, in contradiction of what they tell me they think - telling me the problem is singling out this child without her mother's (or parent's) say so. If Tessa were verified as the mom, not so much a problem. That's what I'm reading.
I am, however, pointing out that images of other children, from other facebooks, have been used on the blog without anybody blinking, and I'm pretty sure those kids had parents.
I'll suggest this. The post’s overall subject is fan behavior versus what some fans in the comment section claim about fan behavior. The post points out that, if anything, fan behavior is characterized by denial and enabling. It's not characterized by let me get proof and blow Scott and Tessa's lies sky high. It's easy for Tessa and Scott to lie because fans aggressively deny - either consciously or not. And enable, consciously or not. Fans do this despite the fact that if they didn’t, the media would protect Scott and Tessa anyway. And people actually are very queasy about what they put on the internet, if it's not photos of themselves.
Not an out of the ordinary post for the blog. But, at first glance, the post might look and feel a little gamey, and not a place for children. We've got Berk Eriksen's selfie in her black and pink lingerie leading it off, and it's also her near naked body just days after childbirth. That's putting the madonna/whore dichotomy on blast, and can also feel a little TMI. It’s sort of dictating the whole vibe.
The word "pelvis" is used copiously throughout the post, and there's one use of the word "penis." There's scrutiny of Tessa's body, size, and how she's moving. It's all skating related and comparison, but with that selfie up there, and some of the brass tacks conversation, the post looks a little adults only.
And then the comments below have remarks like "If Tessa had just given birth, where are her nursing boobs!" And a lot of body talk. And aggression. I think that may play a big part in the feeling that some people have that using the images is inappropriate, and if the post and the comments section had a different tone, it wouldn’t create that queasy feeling.
AND I think part of it is, that if it IS Little Moir, the blog is stooping to Moirville’s level by putting the image here. To the degree that informs anyone’s reactions, I am reminded of some of the lines in the sand drawn by fans, only to have Scott and Tessa just torpedo them in the reality show, and with bells on, making a mockery of everybody’s scruples. IOW, I think that’s a little pretentious. They know what they’re doing and what they want to do, and that includes with their kid, if that’s her. I also think the fact that the image is a year and a half old nullifies the stooping angle. As does the fact that so many people scrutinize and analyze it on the ISC facebook, and copy it and pass it around in restricted discussions and email. So the scruples are a little hypocrtical if that's the case (that the blog is stooping). Why? Kids grow enormously in a year and a half, and the photo is obsolete.
"AND I think part of it is, that if it IS Little Moir, the blog is stooping to Moirville’s level by putting the image here. To the degree that informs anyone’s reactions, I am reminded of some of the lines in the sand drawn by fans, only to have Scott and Tessa just torpedo them in the reality show, and with bells on, making a mockery of everybody’s scruples. IOW, I think that’s a little pretentious. They know what they’re doing and what they want to do, and that includes with their kid, if that’s her."
DeleteI know you've described my ambivalent feelings. It's true the pictures of other children didn't bother me and perhaps this particular picture wouldn't either in different circumstances. For now, though these comments help me see things in a different, more objective light, I'm still not comfortable with this post. Yes, maybe it's just context. Still. That's how it is.
Something that stood out to me from the above quote is how in their reality show Scott and Tessa blew past all the lines in the sand drawn by fans. That is so true. And their attitude -- that underlying mockery -- is baffling to me. No matter how much they hate the fans' adoration on social media (that is the only place where they play their crappy games, never in real-life encounters) the fans are an important component of the career they've chosen. It's baffling that they don't just deal. Professionally. Instead we get dumped on with fake love life storyboarding and crappy reality show.
You know what, I think they intended to torpedo waaayyy more lines in the reality show than what actually ended up in the final product. I think there is tons of footage of Scott-Cassandra in various pseudo-intimate scenes -- her bedroom, all around her house, hotel rooms, around Paris, etc. -- but the W Network actually ended up using some major restraint in spite of Tessa and Scott's pigheaded obstinacy to act out their fake narratives. They want to give the finger to the fans; they want to blow past the lines drawn by anyone's scruples. It's such an odd mindset for two people in their position as celebrities due to real and admirable qualities, a position of being role-models to children. It's not as if they're celebrities for fames' sake, like the tacky Kardashians. VM are the real thing. When their lies and hoaxes get exposed many people are going to be very disappointed. Perhaps especially children.
"You know what, I think they intended to torpedo waaayyy more lines in the reality show than what actually ended up in the final product. I think there is tons of footage of Scott-Cassandra in various pseudo-intimate scenes -- her bedroom, all around her house, hotel rooms, around Paris, etc. -- but the W Network actually ended up using some major restraint in spite of Tessa and Scott's pigheaded obstinacy to act out their fake narratives. "
DeleteI'm sure there's all kinds of material left out by the editing (did we ever see Tessa in her one-shouldered bathing suit in a pool occupied by Scott and whoever owned that woman's arm that we could see in the frame?), including sham stuff. However, I doubt any of the sham stuff was more intense or objectionable than the stuff we saw. Everything we saw in the sham area was stilted. My guess is the producers had to use it because the rest of it was even more boring. CoSondra was a virtually inanimate low talker, the various loved up scenarios were DOA. "Let's talk about me." "Okay." "How was last week without me." "I missed you." "That's sweet." And as mentioned before, the show inexplicably made the participants look like crap. CoSondra appeared to have a large, bulging forehead dominating a small lower face, and tiny, recessed eyes, Tessa looked insane, her facial expressions brittle, Scott looked like a girl and came off like the most boring boyfriend on earth.
I think there wasn't more sham stuff in the reality show because nobody even looked attractive and in terms of content it was boring. Static, and deadly dull.
As I see it, the stuff they left in was probably the stuff that the producers thought would grab the most eyeballs and best advanced what we may as well for lack of a better word call "Narrative." Where you imagine hotter stuff left on the cutting room floor, I'd wager the sham stuff left on the cutting room floor is so dead they couldn't use if for fear of the audience lapsing into a coma. As I said in another post, when it comes to the sham, images are more volatile than video. The images play on people's imaginations. The video kind of punctures any mystique. "Oh, I get it. They're faking."
Recently I wondered exactly what story was told by the reality show. "Meet Scott and Tessa, two adorable Olympic champions you think have chemistry but they don't. Watch as Tessa either pines after Scott or they can't get wait to get away from each other. You thought they were friends but we're here to tell you differently. By the way, their skating has really gone downhill since Vancouver, and their training rivals are perfect. Scott and Tessa are scared even W&P will beat them. Follow this riveting journey until they lose in Sochi. The end."
Okay, W. Network and Tessa and Scott. I'm glad this wasn't pay-per-view.
"Recently I wondered exactly what story was told by the reality show. "Meet Scott and Tessa, two adorable Olympic champions you think have chemistry but they don't. Watch as Tessa either pines after Scott or they can't get wait to get away from each other. You thought they were friends but we're here to tell you differently. By the way, their skating has really gone downhill since Vancouver, and their training rivals are perfect. Scott and Tessa are scared even W&P will beat them. Follow this riveting journey until they lose in Sochi. The end." "
DeleteThose are exactly the "plots" of VM's reality show!! Uber Pathetic.
Scott and Tessa are popular personalities in figure skating because, as we saw on twitter yesterday, they're charming, funny, self-deprecating, don't take anything terribly seriously, and are good sports. The reality show deal went through, I presume, not only because they're Olympic champions from Canada, but because they have such attractive personalities and such a charming rapport.
DeleteIn the reality show, Scott was portrayed as a moody, smirking douchebag with one agenda, letting us know his penis got a routine workout. His nerves were often frayed and his temper short because of his partner's uber annoying personality. Tessa was portrayed as a spinsteresque, uptight, neurotic ruminator who lived up her own ass. They couldn't connect on ice because they can't connect off ice and they can't connect off ice because they can't get it together on the ice.
The only highlight of that show was the absence of the Shibutanis.
"His nerves were often frayed and his temper short because of his partner's uber annoying personality."
DeleteTessa was practically portrayed as being a little afraid of him. So ridiculous that after 17 years this would be an issue. Not only that, throughout the years both Tessa and Scott have mentioned they've learned to manage their moods/tempers with each other and that they learned at a very young age to never take out their irritation on each other.
Surprise. Another plot-line that directly contradicted all the previous years of narratives. And patently false. If there really were anger and fear problems within the partnership they couldn't have lasted this long with such a strong connection. Impossible.
But I forget, the series was fiction. The way Tessa and Scott want to be remembered. UGH
10:07, no, remember they did a pivot during and after Sochi. Suddenly Tessa was described as direct and blunt, not second guessing and eating her feelings. Virtue and Moir suggested to writer Amanda Page that the tensions between them that we saw on the reality show was producer manipulation, and just one more thing these great kids had to shrug, accept, and rise above. After telling us the cameras were mere flies on the wall and Virtue and Moir hardly noticed them, Scott told us he and Tessa performed their reaction to Davis White's win (the hug) because they were used to "playing to the camera."
DeleteAnd of course the "fly on the wall" narrative was already rendered ridiculous by Connor Hilburn's instagram showing an entire Downton Abby's worth of camera and lighting rigging in his living room.
When we roll back even further in time, go to youtube for the interviews where Scott and Tessa discuss how "even closer" they got when she was recovering from surgery, how everything they respected and loved in each other was reaffirmed a thousandfold, and they're even better skaters with a better connection on the ice because of it. These interviews are highlighted by Scott leaning in so close to Tessa that by the time the interview concludes he's practically wearing her clothes. A year later they flipped that storyline on its head and have more or less stuck by it ever since, except during the times Scott says "yeah, we didn't really communicate for a couple of weeks there" or some other downplay.
As long as they can categorize it as marketing or a persona, everything is okay. It's not spin. It's not selective focus. It's not subjective shit like "this is how I feel" (even if someone claims to feel the opposite of how they actually feel, that's a pretty gray area, IMO). It's absolute fabrication. Somebody has told them if it's marketing, that's okay. It's okay even if a component of your marketing is to deny you're marketing.
What is more startling is it appears to me that many in the media have decided to agree. Nothing else explains Jian Ghomeshi or Steve Milton.
Re: your P.S up there OC - I'm always immediately suspicious when a glut of "Just saw Scott Moir!!" tweets appear in a short space of time. The vast, vast majority of tweets about VM are fans posting pics/interviews/videos etc that are already in the public domain - unless the two of them never leave the house, people who see them don't go nuts posting it on Twitter. And as you say, alot of people don't know who they are. When that guy (going to assume it was a guy) posted about Scott's disgusting behaviour at the Memorial Cup on a hockey forum, everyone else went "Who?"
ReplyDeleteYou know what else crossed my mind - how similar the reports were. Scott being a jerk. At the hockey game, a jerk. At a bar, a jerk. Never took a breather, did Scott. I'm wondering how legit all of that was too, although that pic of him doing karoake sure is incriminating. What an asshole.
DeleteFor one thing, him being a conspicuous jerk would cover any questions about how he was recognized by so many people. Oh, it was because there was this really loud, obnoxious, borderline harassing guy who was DRUNK (unlike everybody else on Victoria Day) and when I looked to see who it was, it was Scott Moir! People have already questioned the very convenient multiple sightings of Scott Moir in circumstances that Moirville wants out (TWO people at the restaurant where Scott dined with Kaitlyn Lawes and his folks not only decided to tweet and tag, but also had photos to prove it. I don't think the twitter odds favor that among a group of regular diners in any given evening). So the Victoria Day stuff comes at it backwards. We didn't recognize him - he called attention to himself!
And also works that "bad boy image" that he has. You remember the reality show. "I have a good boy image, and a bad boy image."
I don't think being recognized by a lot of people in a bar is that unlikely. Someone recognizes him, the word gets out, people come to see if it's really him, etc. Of course I'm sure he's aware of this and can use it to his advantage.
DeleteIt's not one bar, it's all around town, and all on the same message. I also believe that because the message (versus the photos) was "Scott was an asshole" it's believed people are less likely to think the "sightings" are actually generated by Scott & Co., and encouraged by them.
DeleteWhy would an adult in the 21st century need to hide a child? That makes no sense. For all the claims that they have a kid, there is no motive given for why they would hide the child. The claim of this blog is that they are married with a child? So? Why hide it then?
ReplyDeleteI don't think any of it is true because it doesn't make any sense.
exactly. it would only be better for their image if they were in fact this fairytale dream couple who married young and had a child together. why the hell would they hide it? that shit is a marketer's dream
DeleteWho knows why anyone chooses to do anything? Human beings are complex and not always rational creatures, you can't assume they'll act a certain way. Some have speculated that VM didn't want to market their real relationship for privacy reasons and instead settled for platonic partners who might someday get together. Why they continued on with their chosen narrative after the birth of their child is something I'll never understand and maybe they don't even fully understand it themselves. That doesn't change the fact that they are keeping their child away from the public eye.
DeleteOh, no no no, the blog is entirely correct.
ReplyDelete1. Farm enthusiast Scott and Hepburn-obsessed princess Tessa are compatible and have been since childhood. They fell in love and got secretly married at a young age for whatever reason.
2. Tessa and Scott decided to have a baby while continuing to compete. Tessa had a pregnancy where she, unlike basically every other woman her size, remained slim throughout and had no baby bump, just “thickened.” She would NEVER have gained weight while reducing her training/being off the ice for surgery and taking time to do appearances/explore business opportunities. It’s not like she was dieting/starving herself in 2009 (while putting herself under pressure to get back on the ice and win Worlds) and 2010 (Olympics). Female athletes who take a break from their sport once they have achieved their ultimate goal and feel less pressure to immediately return to competition simply do not gain weight (athletes who competed directly after post-Olympic weight gain, like Sarah Hughes and Nastia Liukin, do not exist). In fact, women in general don’t gain weight as they enter their 20s. They will stay right at their teenage weight unless they get pregnant. So Tessa gaining maybe 10 pounds while she trained less can only be explained by pregnancy. People never take photos at awkward angles that make them look slightly heavier.
3. Oh right, she wasn’t training less. She was training with Scott constantly, doing shows, flaunting her figure and somehow knowing in advance that she would never end up showing. Her doctors signed off on her doing a skating show a week away from giving birth, because they are insane.
4. Lucky her, she had no complications whatsoever! Everything went perfectly, and she jetted off to Taiwan 4-7 weeks after having a baby (you should work on your timeline, OC), to compete at 4CC in a revealing dress that showed off a slim body.
5. Meanwhile, Tessa and Scott pretended to date other people and took time out of their lives/hanging out with their kid/training to uphold this facade. They are such astounding actors that they have never once slipped and revealed their true status. Except they’re actually shitty actors, because their on-ice chemistry could never be faked! And, of course, they intentionally did this to hurt their fans’ feelings. Their sham is so successful that no one, except for OC and like one other person on fanforum, can see the truth! And no one they know decides to publicly out them, because apparently they have absolutely no reason to.
6. OC has a meltdown and slaps up a picture of a generic white kid from Ilderton.
And that’s the simplest possible explanation. What a blessed family! So many miracles have touched their lives. Except, wait, Scott and Tessa aren't as interesting (nor as insane) as you so desperately want them to be. Sorry.
thank you for this post omg
DeleteI'm not going to tit for tat after this, and you're not going to repeat yourself after this:
Delete1.Farm enthusiast Scott and Hepburn-obsessed Tessa are people you know personally? You must be a marketer's dream. You'll buy anything.
2. Tessa did not remain slim throughout, and and you are ignoring the reality that many women only "thicken" and do not have a basketball projection.
3. She was training while pregnant, skating while pregnant, and dressing strategically.
4. Yep. I don't need to work on my timeline, because the fact is, Tessa had a baby prior to the 4CCs. Why is "jetted" more dismissible than "went to"? It's like "jetted" is more ridiculous for a woman who gave birth seven weeks before than "flew."
5. They suck as actors and many fans know they suck as actors, but unless the media chooses to expose them, it doesn't matter. They're not trying to fool the world. What kind of "slip" do you envision? "My wife, Tessa - oops, I meant my platonic partner!" Or Scott goes to hug her and has sex with her in front of us instead? What does a "slip up" in public, in front of fans, look like to you? How come Sale and Pelletier never "slipped" in nearly two years that they were separated and headed for divorce? You have a large fantasy life and exaggerated idea of the challenge involved in keeping to their storyline.
6. Nope, that kid and Child Tessa look like twins. That's my favorite part though. You're positive they would be exposed, yet if they ever did expose themselves, you'd be the first in line to declare they didn't. You're spinning in circles.
I don't know your issue - if you're pissed Davis White aren't together and angry that many Tessa/Scott fans know they are. I'm not back and forthing on this forever. Declare already that this means you won (that's the next step) and be done.
It is the height of arrogance, IMO, for fans (or anyone) to believe that a public figure finds it challenging not to "slip" in front of them.
Deletein what universe are tessa and scott shitty actors??
DeleteDid you see their reality show?
Deletehave you seen their short dance? https://24.media.tumblr.com/adcac94b87fb635bb3ba93f26d5b1353/tumblr_n6ecahfE521s2pnero1_r4_400.gif have you seen carmen?? have you seen funny face?? have you seen farrucas? have you SEEN STAY??
Delete6:19
DeleteYes, Scott and Tessa are wonderful at portraying any character on ice. HOWEVER, on their show they were terrible actors. Terrible.
Don't tell me you believed any of it.
Scott and Tessa aren't actually acting on the ice, not even in Carmen. On the ice, they always, always play couples who are intensely involved with each other.
DeleteOFF ice, they are shitty actors. Exhibit 1: the W Network's "Tessa & Scott".
Again, Tessa and Scott aren't acting on the ice. They're drawing on their real, intimate connection.
@7:33
DeleteWhy are you here if being here denotes a need to "get a life?"
Go ahead. Get a life. Go away and leave us the freedom to discuss as we want.
I wrote “jetted off” because taking a commercial flight = taking a jet. It’s accurate and punchy. You would know all about making your writing more entertaining, what with your penchant for all caps. And as long as we're on that topic, where were Tessa’s nursing boobs at 4CC?
DeleteOf course, my “issue” is not really related to D/W or V/M. I just find you and your online persona perversely fascinating. I can see that you’ve failed to address many of my points, but I would never claim victory over you because you’re obviously going to stick to your story. You can try to deflect and distract from the holes in that story by insulting your readers, but why bother? You know that no one can actually stop you from making disturbing collages and writing thesis-length diatribes against an ice dance team that will never care about, nor be affected by, all of that hard work. You have devoted a substantial chunk of your life trying to uphold a flimsy conspiracy theory about an ice dance team that you feel personally wronged by, and splashed your mental issues over the internet in doing so. Your readers can disengage, but you can’t stop obsessing. Have you won?
I've addressed your points, but will not address every single one of the aggressively uninformed and ignorant assumptions behind them. All you do is make bonehead, ignorant declarations and congratulate yourself that your points are unassailable. The above sounds like your save face exit speech, and I'm going to treat it that way.
DeleteAs you're done with this comments section, which you are, if you need a fix, go here:
http://dubemoir.blogspot.com/2013/06/as-promised_17.html
This should be fun...fromSkate Canada's twitter:
ReplyDeleteTessa and Scott will tweet their experiences from the @CDNOlympicTeam twitter TOMORROW! Use the hashtag #VIRTUEMOIR! pic.twitter.com/mN7wjKotQo
"Permanently scare them off the internet"?? You're joking right? Two people who have used social media to the extent they have to promote Scott's "relationships"? The internet and anyone using it are certainly not scaring Scott and Tessa, by any stretch of the imagination.
DeleteThat's rich. Just like how it permanently scared them away from using social media before, or doing a reality show, or making hundreds of public appearances...
DeleteIt's funny to me how much people try to coddle Virtue and Moir. They are not children. They are public figures who use their public relations to bait and switch fans over and over and over and over again for money and attention, yet those fans who buy it think their two favorite skaters are neophytes in need of their protection lest some person says something they might not like on the internet.
One very prominant fan used to absolutely flip out whenever Virtue and Moir's narrative was challenged. Why? She thought it would force them to retire. Also blamed Bryce for everything wrong with D&D. Cleary D&D struggled because Bryce was sulking over Jessica and Scott, and can't not support Scott and his choice of gf.
DeleteThe same mindset is behind all the Marina agita. I swear to God I think there are fans that, given the opportunity, would buttonhole Virtue and Moir and urgently convey the information that Marina is not their friend. These are the fans that "know" Virtue and Moir. They know that Tessa, who skated with split fascia, who skated while pregnant and competed weeks after giving birth, is an academics-loving fashionista just marking time until she can quit skating and move on. They don't look at what she does. They just take the whole Audrey thing and go to town. They treat Scott like somebody who would be challenged to pass the requirements for a GED.
Back when they were juniors, the late, great Barry Mittan did a write-up on them. They listed their favorite things, music, off ice pursuits, etc. etc. Peas in a freaking pod. I think the only thing Tessa loved that didn't have a Scott counterpart was "dresses."
The arrogance of fans always amuses me - it's one thing having theories about this and that, what might or might not be, or fantasies about how you wish it would be, but to claim they "know" Tessa and Scott, know what they would do, how they would react, is so unbelievably arrogant it defies belief. Who the hell do they think they are? You don't KNOW these people and you never will, however much you hug them at meet and greets and tell them how much you love them.
Deletei feel that this blog is so personal hate from the bloger towards tessa and scott not because they are public figures there is so many public people in canada who is doing terrible in lying and all the wrong tthings you should talk about why this hate loooool
ReplyDeleteSo now you're admitting you know Virtue and Moir are lying and doing wrong things. You're making progress!
DeleteI believe theyre married, but not the kid. sorry. timeline doesn't add up. and that kid looks nothing like Tessa. at all. this confirms my view that you don't know for a fact that they have a kid bc if you did, you wouldn't put up that foto. Tessa gains weight after every season ends. EVERY. that season more than others. she's tiny and built. and anyone who calls her fat, even during her supposed pregnancy is crazy. she's tiny.
ReplyDelete"Tessa gains weight after every season ends. EVERY."
DeleteNo she doesn't. That's complete bullshit. Look at her weight gain. It's in the breasts and in other places where women gain weight during the early months of pregnancy. She's had the same weight gain only once. After the Olympic season in 2010 when she was pregnant the first time.
I'm not the blogger. Virtue and Moir have a child. It is a fact. Many others know it to be so as well.
No one is calling Tessa Virtue fat. She's not fat, she's pregnant. Again.
DeleteHow odd then, that Tessa lost weight after Worlds 2011, and was bigger than usual AT Worlds 2011. Did her customary post-season weight gain just persist all the way from May 2010 to April 2011? How undisciplined of her. Tessa then maintained a consistent weight after the 2011-2012 season, and a consistent weight after the 2012-2013 season. She's "gained" in this way only twice, after 2010 and after 2014.
Delete"this confirms my view that you don't know for a fact that they have a kid bc if you did, you wouldn't put up that foto"
DeleteExplain to me how this makes sense. If they did have a kid, I'd never put up a photo of the kid that her own family had posted on their widely trafficed facebook page? Because? Help me out.
Or I'd know it's NOT their kid? What logic are you using?
Because you've said time and time again that it's not your responsibility to prove anything, that people should look on their own, you know because you know, etc etc etc. What spurred such a radical change of heart? Why didn't you post the photo when it first appeared?
DeleteSo you think I posted the photo to "prove" something? After the blog has been around three and a half years, I cracked, got a photo that earlier in the day I actually suspected was Tessa herself, put it on the blog and said "there's your proof"?
DeleteI didn't post it when it first appeared, because there was no rationale for it besides, oh hey, look, a little girl that looks like Little Moir might look because she looks an awful lot like Tessa! Maybe it's her!
What would be the point?
I used it now because there was post that made it relevant. And also, it's over a year and a half old, and considering how very little ones change in that time, I'm not 'exposing' the little girl, even if she is Tessa and Scott's child, and even if she's already plenty exposed over at the ISC.
Reading back through the blog posts and comments from the past few months has revealed that it's not the blogger who is obsessed with Tessa Virtue being pregnant again, it's the people who come here every day to post a new comment saying she isn't or there's no way she could be.
ReplyDelete"Here's a photo! This woman cannot be pregnant!"
That sort of comment is left almost every day. Interestingly, there are generally not random comments saying "here's the latest photo of Tessa. Look how pregnant she is!"
It's a little too much protest from the "not pregnant!" crowd. If the assertion about her being pregnant is supposedly so crazy, I see no reason why someone would feel the need to come here almost daily to post about it, yet that's what keeps happening. Seems like the very public discussion of the pregnancy happening here has set off alarm bells and people are scrambling to put a stop to it (though doing a very poor job, as is typical). There's lots of straw men being built, name calling, etc. None of it can alter the fact that Tessa Virtue's body is changing exactly like a pregnant women's does and that it falls in line with the first time she was pregnant.
She is working all the same clothing tricks she did with the first pregnancy, but this time around her body isn't cooperating as well. V/M being scheduled to skate in China in a month is going to be entertaining no matter what. She's going to keep growing, little by little each week, and that will be visible because it already is. If they drop out of the show now, that's going to stand out too.
I'm not saying any of this to insult V/M regarding a pregnancy. Congrats to them on having another kid. Tessa is a very beautiful pregnant lady. But the CONSTANT attempts by posters over here to stop conversation about it is...very telling.
9:02, to me, discussion about Davis White's skating and discussion about Virtue and Moir's private life, including her pregnancies, set off the same alarm bells. Two sides of the same coin. If neither were true, nobody would be trying to shut down discussion. The people waving the David Pelletier/Tessa Virtue flag flew it unimpeded. Hell, if they were ever called out, the people calling them out were chastised. That was a fan narrative, so it was protected.
DeleteHere's the thing - on most fan sites, there's really not a whole lot of actual skating discussion. There's drama, theories, insinuation, more theories. The truth is kind of a buzz kill. Oh, THAT's what's going on. What do we talk about now? They need drama drama drama, everybody contributing their own angle, everybody comments on each other's insight or how articulate, and the discussion chugs along. The coaching, The relationships. The tensions, the speculation about the future. Scott and Tessa's actual status just cuts a lot of the fun off at the knees.
I don't think the latest attempts to shut down discussion are coming from Moirville, but just people with control freak issues who get a little frenzied. That type of fan resurfaces from time to time. I don't know WHY they want to control discussion, especially a discussion they claim is false. They attempt to insulate themselves by claiming the blog's falsehoods are hilarious, or perversely entertaining, but let's be real, if they were false, what's in the blog wouldn't be that hilarious or entertaining at this point. I mean STILL? Three and a half years on, still a knee-slapper? Not so much. That's just a having-it-both ways gambit. It goes like this "I have a lot to say, but first let me set myself as superior to everybody else here."
My favorite tactic, which is very popular everywhere, not only with people who go after the blog, is this: "Boy, you really seem to take this personally." I don't know what response that's supposed to produce, but it's right out of the "when did you stop beating your wife" handbook, and I think is supposed to trigger a shame spiral, or else a lot of stuttering, defensiveness.
And you're right, 9:02 a.m., about the drive bys every day. Here's a link! Not pregnant!
DeleteI might experiment with that sometime, in some conversation in the comments section. Just tell the person they didn't say what they said, that black is white, up is down, etc. etc. and go on that way. Just assert the opposite of whatever is actually taking place.
I also found it odd she chose to repeat a dress at another highly publicized event. That seems like a big no-no in the fashion world, am I wrong? I guess if everyone exclaimed how it fit her perfectly the first time and she was definitely NOT pregnant, then she knows she can get away with it again. It's still pulling weird. She's not fat, by any stretch of the imagination, but her stomach is not totally flat either, and her chest looks bigger, imo. *Shrugs*.
DeleteTessa does repeat dresses. She never used to when she was younger, most notably before Vancouver. I've noticed in this last quadrennial she has repeated clothes quite a bit - dresses, tops, etc.
DeleteI'm glad she does. She's very fashion conscious and it's a nice example to the young girls who look up to her that it's okay to repeat outfits at public events.
What was interesting to watch in late 2010 were the clothing tricks to hide a changing figure. She's very good at it.
She is good at it. At times, Scott helps. He's got his jacket open and practically billowing in one of the photos. People look at that and it changes his scale vis a vis Tessa's. Tessa's working the whole open jacket thing a lot right now, so the eye perceives her silhouette as only what's framed by the jacket, and doesn't include what's concealed by the jacket. That's especially effective for someone who gets wide during pregnancy. Other photos show her hugging Kaitlyn Weaver from behind so her entire front is concealed, or posing in a group photo mimicking Kaitlyn's pose, only Tessa's torso is hidden and Kaitlyn's isn't. This black and white cut out dress doesn't, I think, do the job as well as Tessa seems to imagine it does. But it doesn't really matter if she can pull it off or not. As long as she doesn't acknowledge it on the record, everybody plays along.
DeleteDW are out for next season!! All the more reason for VM to stay in, in my honest opinion.
ReplyDeleteI wish. I think this is a game of chicken to the death. I was amused reading "Meryl's" remarks in the press release, that she and Charlie expanded their repertoire on DWTS and can't wait to take what they've learned to the ice. Not only did Meryl not expand her repertoire on DWTS, it appeared even more constricted than when she skates, if that's even possible, and didn't include anything she didn't already do.
DeleteV/M did a good job and were very entertaining on twitter today. Which of course explains why they don't have twitter accounts (or a dual account).
ReplyDeleteOh, wait. No it doesn't.
I love how people think the reason don't have twitters is because they're "private people." LOL. Yeah. Private people who had their own reality show.
Well, they've certainly been posting a lot of cuteness/cuddly pics today. Which makes me cringe though for what's coming next...
DeleteAnd despite his first *roll your eyes* tweet (WAY over your head? Really??), they've also clearly demonstrated they know exactly how to use social media/twitter. They're playing with photo filters, creating vine accounts with choreographed videos, hastags, tweeting @others, etc. I have a (albeit, barely used) twitter account and don't know how to do half that stuff. I would hope that people would see through this, but they haven't thus far, so not sure why I expect it now. Or maybe it's all VM friends that have social media just helping them out... right.
Also, this, https://twitter.com/CDNOlympicTeam/status/474979293500416000
Yeaahhhh.
They're using the Canadian Olympic Team's twitter account so my guess is someone is helping them set up the Vine accounts if they need it. However, your point stands that they are not the social media virgins they claim to be and that's obvious. They've been using it for years, indirectly.
DeleteIt's been fun to see the sillier side of Tessa come out today. She's very funny, but usually downsplays it and takes more of the straight man role in her and Scott's public appearances/interactions.
If they had twitter, people would "go to the source" about places like this blog, and they like being in control of the info flow.
Delete5:04, yeah, I think they've got Barb MacDonald (or whomever at SC who knows social media) facilitating everything - video, vine account, photo filters, etc.
DeleteHalf the people in the entertainment industry claim not to be on social media, it seems like sometimes. I suspect the reason is they want to be able to plead ignorance when asked about what's been said on it. "Oh, I'm not on it, I can barely turn on the computer." Also, when celebs ARE on it, the bids for their attention escalate, from others on social media. People start vying to impress, etc. etc., so I think there are other reasons to pretend not to be savvy besides the very obvious reasons.
I was recently reading something from Vincent Kartheiser who sounded a little bitter (or maybe tongue-in-cheek bitter) because photos of himself on the beach with his fiancee' had been published, and the comments were unkind, or at least the comments he focused on were unkind. He related how he was called a whale, and why is she with him, etc. Yet in the past he's pretended to not engage in social media. He's obviously on the web enough to find photos of himself and then read the comments section under them.
5:04, I'm curious about what people you wish would see through this. Tons of people see through it. Virtue and Moir simply aren't called out. There's no way to demand that an entertainment entity call them out, or even demand an entertainment entity acknowledge there's something to be called out. As long as the entertainment/sports media community plays ball, it doesn't matter who sees through what. The entertainment/media community don't need to "see through it" in many cases; they already know and are lying or enabling lies. The public has no way "in", no way to change the conversation, in large part because figure skating as a sport remains a niche sport, and the big names who do cover it aren't the groupies who know more than they get from quote banks, interviews, press material and whatever coaches/skaters etc. they connect with a couple of times a year for input.
DeleteI don't know. What if every fan who met them offered a baby gift and well wishes (like the ones who gave them the ducks)? What if everyone's tweets and comments outside this blog, like newspaper comments and PJ's twitter, simply acknowledged that they are married parents? What if prominent posters on FSU started speaking out. Not "I think they may have a child..." but just stop beating around the bush and saying "Well, since Tessa is probably pregnant again, we can definitely rule out competing in fall 2014, but they might be able to come back for 4CC, as when she had a baby after Vancouver" with complete confidence. There's like a mass delusion going on, and if we ALL just stopped pretending their lies were true, I believe we'd render the lie powerless... course, no one wants to be the first.
Delete(5:04 here) I guess I was referring to the group of fans who blindly follow the ever-changing narrative. Suppose it doesn't really matter though... the percentage of people that already know, or don't care, is far higher. It's just frustrating as a fan coming into it, believing them at their word, and then after actually listening and paying attention, realizing there are inconsistencies and hiding and lying going on. I've been in this place before (although, in a far more involved capacity), and can't believe I'm watching this train wreck again. Hope for VM sake it turns out better for them...
Delete4:35 PM - when you say you've been in this place before, although in a more involved capacity, are you talking about following VM in prior shams/previous pregnancy, or something else. If it's something else, of course that's your business, but if there are aspects of that experience that can further the discussion here without risking exposure, that would be welcome.
DeleteThere's a tumblr that's set itself up along the lines of the old speculation about Scott and Tessa. That they're platonic, but they take his girlfriends as on the level, and the tumblr and other fans who participate there continually speculate along the lines of - what if Tessa and Scott could see what we see - that there's more to explore in their relationship?
DeleteThe arrogance behind that is breathtaking, but it's typical of many fans. If fans followed what it outlined above, ignored Scott and Tessa's lies and, in any discussion, simply acknowledged Tessa and Scott's status in a matter of fact way, even if it contradicted their lies, these types of fans lose out because,
Scott and Tessa married and became parents the entire time these fans were wondering and speculating and sharing their theories with each other, then praising each other's eloquence in expressing them, the whole soup to nuts of fan communities, and all the time the fans knew absolutely nothing, and kind of made asses of themselves (or Scott and Tessa made asses of them).
It means there's not much to talk about. It means the facts are the facts and where do fans fit in? They can't speculate, wonder, fan fic. We've got married parents. That's the scenario. They never shared anything with fans about the wedding, the pregnancy, nothing, but obviously the facts about Scott and Tessa's real life cuts the lifeblood of fan communities - speculation - off at the knees. There's nothing to talk about.
So fans are invested in keeping it going. There's also fans who love to lie -a whole lot of fans who love to lie - and where's the fun if the basic facts about Scott and Tessa are known or acknowledged by everybody? No more fucking with people.
I think my favorite part about that tumblr is the wondering what if Scott and Tessa knew fans analyzed their relationship?
God in heaven. Poor innocent Scott and Tessa, they would be so appalled if they knew how fans analyze their relationship, thank God they don't, except for when Scott and Tessa cribbed every syllable of their reality show script from fan analysis 101.
I am talking about something/someone else. (Seriously, is there like an agency for this kind of thing, or am I just some sort of magnet for this particular brand of crazy-town??).
DeleteI actually have a blog post written up that I had debated sharing, but it just seemed like it would be a random AA type of introduction, so I wasn't sure if it would fit in anywhere up until this point, lol. I'm not sure if it can/will help to further the discussion, or even necessarily shed light onto anything (other than the fact that, "I get it"), but I'll submit it anyways. It's long though-fair warning.
The pictures of her in a skin tight black, cut out dress, leBes nothing to the imagination...and leaves absolutely no room for a baby bump...at all!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for proving our point. Why do you feel the need to come here and post this?
Delete6:41 - Yes, we've read the same kind of post from you forever. Message received. For you, no watermelon bell = no baby.
DeleteUnder more than a few blog entries there are comment after comment of articulate discussion about pregnancies and how/why women carry differently. If you read any of them you might have something more intelligent to add to the conversation.
Or - you don't really want to engage in intelligent conversation. You just want to post one-liners against the well-thought-out comments. What are you, 13 years old?
You know what's truly wonderful about this sham of a site. The minute that anyone disbelieves or asks you to consider that perhaps your thoughts are false, you become very angry and claim people are throwing tantrums and blogging up your comments. Perhaps you should also consider that perhaps you are wrong and consider others opinions as well.
ReplyDelete7:28
DeleteI'm not the blogger but there is a big difference between an opinion and a fact. It's a fact that Tessa and Scott are married and have a daughter. There are no opinions to consider.
The reason you keep getting shut down over here is because you insist that the blogger (or others) consider that their thoughts about V/M's marriage and child are false. Except it isn't false. It's not something up for debate. There's no gray area. It is fact. Period.
DeleteTo be fair, anonymous strangers on the Internet aren't necessarily the most trustworthy source and people have a right to be skeptical.
DeleteAnd people are free to disbelieve. Nobody is stopping them. But that's different than going on and on over here, telling someone to consider their thoughts on the matter are false. They aren't false. It's not an issue that becomes more true or less false depending on how well it's argued, it's a fact.
DeleteSo..if the blogger is confident in her opinions as fact...why is she anon??
DeleteI have no idea how the blogger knows that V/M are married with a child, but the blogger is correct about that. It's not an opinion. S/he isn't the only one who knows it to be a fact. Many people do, including some who post here.
DeleteGet over yourself.
10:29, you can make those kinds of posts all day long. Doesn't change a fucking thing about reality, which is that V/M are married with a child. That's the cool thing about reality. It remains reality no matter how much you want to bitch and moan, play word games, or not believe people when they tell you the truth.
Delete7:28, Virtue and Moir's marriage and their child are not my opinions. It's what I know. It can't be argued out of being real. Maybe this is the first time in your life you've encountered a situation where someone knows stuff you don't, and won't tell you how they know.
DeleteI don't care what you believe. You not only care very much about what other people believe, you want to "argue" the blogger out of something that's impossible - reality.
10:54, they can't make these comments all day long. :) I've allowed some of it because the actual post theme is fan perception, denial, rationalization, etc. etc. and how it operates, and how all of that works to help Virtue and Moir, and yet there are people who believe fans actually have a skeptical mindset and stand ready to "out" Virtue and Moir. So the comments here are an extension of that theme, but at the same time, they're not a platform for one person to do a solo fillibuster either.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sherlock77/14362229525/in/set-72157645036247431/lightbox/
ReplyDeleteIs this what I think it is?
Not necessarily surprised, esp with the interview implying they're taking next month off from each other, but only in that they all appeared to be at the same event and until this there didn't seem to be any interaction like I had initially expected there to be (plus VM all over each other)... unless I've totally got the wrong person there?
Haven't seen the interview, but I'm guessing it was one they did with an interviewer they're familiar with? Strombo or someone who would set up that question for them so they could give the old, tired "separate vacations!" type answer?
DeleteThey need a new playbook.
I am guessing that Tessa will vacation with some other fellow Olympians - ie Kaitlyn Weaver and Georgia Simmerling and also some of her friends fromm TO/London...and Scott will somehow appear in some pictures with Lawes and the women's olympic gold medal curling team...I highly suspect that Weaver helped Tessa with her tweeting/vine yesterday. Also Jennifer Jones just got engaged and will probably marry during the summer - one of the options was Muskoka or in cowboy country...good chance we see Scott there...lastly George Strombo looks rough man...if he doesn't take care of himself he is going to look like Keith Richards....no longer a reporter...a glorified groupie..
DeleteCould this interview please be uploaded on youtube? Thank you.
DeleteAgree with 8:39. *Patterns*
Set up the question / answer with interviewers.
Immediately post Sochi they began setting up Scott with a new girlfriend. Whaddayaknow, just in time for the annual beach vacation with the lover du jour. Naturally, *separate* from Tessa's vacation on the other side of the world from wherever Scott happens to pretend to be frolicking with the current hot&heavy romance.
Why change the playbook if the same thing causes the same fan-freakout? If this time fans would blow off VM's attempts to mess with their minds and refuse to believe the latest narrative (the old narrative with a new face / name) it would go a long way to making VM's sham irrelevant.
Unbelievable they found another otherwise smart girl to play their lying games and make a fool of herself.
@ 8:39, https://soundcloud.com/cbc-edmonton
DeleteI'm not sure who the interviewer was, but the question wasn't set up that way, so could be known or not. They asked about plans, and I felt the implication was there (or maybe it's just b/c of their usual pattern). She talked about them taking the next month off skates and getting away and then going home since they haven't been... Her semantics were just weird per usual.
My main point was the pic. After that (if I'm seeing it correctly), and their annual June vacay/separation, I fully expect this publicity stunt to be on for the next month. ITA with 8:49, that we'll see that kind of stuff.
The next month off skates = the explanation for why Tessa will be so big at the show in China.
Delete9:23. Poor Tessa. Lol. She'd rather be considered fat than pregnant?
Delete9:05. A question about their plans *is* a set up for VM. At this time of year they *must* slide in somewhere that they're separating for vacations. And semantics all over the place as per usual because they're lying and they're terrible liars.
It's wonderful how in spite of VM's stated desire for privacy (isn't that why they're supposedly not on social media?) somehow, by sheer chance, every single summer it can be *counted on* that Scott will be all over social media on various public pages, storyboarding a summer of events with the GF. Imagine that. Never photos of just real-life-with-family stuff. Nope. Only in the context of "dating". Poor Scott. Such an invasion of his privacy. I'm sure he just hates this time of year when the whole world sees him on the beach, at weddings, here and there, in the company of his equally desirous of privacy GF. Poor things. If only there were a way to keep their pictures private. I know. Such a burden.
8:04 - I'm almost certain that's not Kaitlyn Lawes but I haven't seen any full length pictures of here from the parade so I don't know what she was wearing.
Delete^^ I take that back - it's her. Here we go folks.....
DeleteAnd now the anonymous reports of them getting cozy last night start rolling in... set the bait. How many days 'til we get pics? Any bets? (gag)
DeleteI'm pretty sure the tumblr report is from a fan.
DeleteI'm not going to get pressed until there's bona fide sham activity (actually not even then - I'll be amused and roll my eyes). I don't doubt they'll go there, but until they do, why do people feel the anxiety?
DeleteI think the tumblr report is kind of like Fedor and DP - however the rumors started (as sham or hateful FSU gossip), some fans "help" in their own ways, inadvertently spreading more garbage around.
I'm not saying what they're reporting is true or legit, but whether it actually happened is not what it takes for a publicity stunt to work. All you need is random people saying absolute and utter crap over and over. It starts creeping into people's heads, and they eventually start to believe or at least given credence to a possibility. Then throw in a couple pics later on (innocuous, as we've seen with this thus far, or full on PS re: Jessica/Cassandra), and since the seed has already been planted, there's your sham. I was simply making the point that anonymous persons on social media are starting to put this info out there (whether it's them, or they just use what fans/trolls are saying to their advantage), so I expect it to escalate... especially given other info we've had since March, paired with years of established patterns.
DeleteMy preference would be she appears on her own vacay all kissy face with her (ex?) bf, but it doesn't feel like that's where this is going. I hope I'm wrong. If this does continue, I'll certainly roll my eyes. Doesn't mean I want to see it or don't want the shamming to be over.
What does she get out of it? How do the Moirs sell this? Given all the potential of future backlash when it's known a public figure, considered a role model, was part of a hoax, it's baffling that she would sign on. Makes me wonder exactly what perks are offered.
DeleteAnd that's another thing. Past speculation was that the Virtue family bankrolled all the travel and vacation expenses. Are the parents still involved or do Scott and Tessa pay for fake girlfriend's stipend. Someone thinks all the time and money is worth it, including the chosen gf.
It gives me a headache just trying to wrap my mind around it.
Didn't people claim to see Cassandra where she wasn't? And report Scott canoodling with Jessica where he wasn't? And of course, reports of Tessa and Pelletier. Fans lie.
Delete"I'm not saying what they're reporting is true or legit, but whether it actually happened is not what it takes for a publicity stunt to work. All you need is random people saying absolute and utter crap over and over. It starts creeping into people's heads, and they eventually start to believe or at least given credence to a possibility. Then throw in a couple pics later on (innocuous, as we've seen with this thus far, or full on PS re: Jessica/Cassandra), and since the seed has already been planted, there's your sham. I was simply making the point that anonymous persons on social media are starting to put this info out there (whether it's them, or they just use what fans/trolls are saying to their advantage), so I expect it to escalate... especially given other info we've had since March, paired with years of established patterns. "
DeleteYes, this is exactly how it works. And when it's set up like this, the sham image, when it drops - kissing or whatever - has a whole lot more impact.
Interesting, because I'm certain it is Lawes.
ReplyDelete"Nothing else explains Jian Ghomeshi or Steve Milton."
ReplyDeleteAnd here's Strombo being a groupie and playing along -- radio interview from Calgary:
https://soundcloud.com/cbc-edmonton/scott-moir-and-tessa-virtue-salute-the-sochi-olympians
VM saying again they haven't watched the show. Is that believable? But I can see that by saying they haven't watched it they get to MAKE UP what the show was about, instead of addressing the "reality" portrayed, which was gross fanfiction and focus on icky fake aspects of their personal lives (which OC has described in detail in comments up-thread).
Tessa prattles on that they love their privacy, they don't like to share their personal lives, but they were SO HAPPY to share their SKATING with the public through their show. Wow. Talk about classic VM revising the past, and the interviewers don't call them on it and the public also pretends whatever they say today, regardless of any contradictions to yesterday, is true. When in fact, Tessa and Scott's talking heads spent most of their time on that show spouting nonsense and most of that regarding their personal lives.
Private? Yeah, their real selves, that is true. Is that their justification for all these fake narratives, fake lovers? It's not their *real* personal lives, so, eh. It's patronizing to the Nth degree for them to assert their show was sharing with the public their skating. Since we know they aren't idiots, we also know they know what kind of network the WNetwork is, and what "reality show" means on that kind of network. They knew going in this was no documentary of their skating but a scripted fanfiction in order to promote their fake personas.
I know I shouldn't be - it's expected - but I'm so pissed at yet another example of their manipulation of facts and fans' feelings to feed us bullshit. I'll never forget Scott said they did this "whether we liked it or not." This interview highlights that attitude, albeit very charmingly. And yeah, Strombo plays along.
Share their SKATING? Bahahaha. There was like, three minutes of skating per episode (if that).
DeleteThe entire show was built around furthering the fake narrative they aren't a real life couple. That's it. If/when skating was included (which wasn't much), it had to do in some way with furthering that narrative.
Do V/M realize how stupid and ridiculous they sound when they say those kinds of things in interviews, or do the dollar signs flashing in front of their eyesballs distract them from the reality that they come across as complete dumbfucks?
Deleteeyeballs, that is.
DeleteSo the show basically existed to show how shitty their skating was right before the Olympics. No wonder Davis appeared in it. She probably wrote the damn script.
Delete3:54- That certainly was one of the messages that came across loud and clear. IMO it was to serve the overarching and way more important message of separate lives and barely contained tolerance for each other.
DeleteAfter all, if the skating were going along fantastically it's hard to create an atmosphere of tension and irritation. So, sacrifice the skating to lend credibility to the fictitious relationship script.
The whole thing from start to finish was a deception. VM need to stop talking about the show as if it were anything to be proud of. It's an embarrasement.
In a recent interview Scott said that this season was the best training season of their lives. Really? That's not exactly how it was portrayed on their show...
DeleteBut here again, the program seems to have been kind of niche. It didn't get much mainstream coverage, not a lot of cross-coverage, and the people interviewing them didn't watch it. So Scott and Tessa can pretend it was something it wasn't. This is classic them.
DeleteIt seems to me that possibly Scott and Tessa were expecting a reversal at the GPF and Sochi. That in the end, they'd win. It seems impossible to me that they'd not know the fix was in after the way Carmen was treated and NOD scored, but if they didn't, maybe they just rationalized. Maybe they thought they just needed to jump over more ISU hoops, when what they were really doing was running straight into the ISU trap. (The ISU told them to go back to lyrical and then the narrative was VM hadn't progressed since Mahler.) If Scott and Tessa anticipated peaking at the GPF and beating Davis White there, then winning in Sochi, then they'd start up the reality show with a storyboard that they were struggling to get it together, but the ending of the show would see them getting it together and winning. Their doubts would be set to rest, their training would start clicking, and we'd see that upward trajectory (well, an upward trajectory with one final storyboarded reversal, as that's the template). In the end, they had the storyboard the ISU was using, not the story they thought they'd be telling in the reality show, at least as far as their skating went. Because I really don't believe they went into "Tessa & Scott" to tell the story of a couple of Olympic champions in decline who couldn't get their shit together on and off the ice, and whose worst fears about the Olympics came true. It would be THEM saying "Oh, we're terrible!" but the RESULTS saying "You're great!" Instead it was them saying "We're terrible, the goal is gold but at this rate we won't get it." and the final answer being, "You're right, you won't."
DeleteI have to die of laughter - I think Kaitlyn Lawes might be losing some brain cells as we speak, lol...she tweeted today that she had a great time and that she is off on vacation now...until next time...the same way VM ended their tweeting last night...hmmm Ms. Lawes you basically just came back from a girls retreat in Vegas a couple of weeks ago and putting in some appearances here and there...you haven't been jet-setting it a la Denny Morrison or Heather Moyse...lol...my advice folks - let's go ahead and enjoy the spring and summer and leave this garbage behind,,,
ReplyDelete1:26
DeleteDefinitely, the fans should regard this as garbage and enjoy any VM appearance that is skating related. VM *want* to agitate the fans. I'm all for keeping a record of the garbage here on this blog but as OC says, to expose what they're doing. Not for purposes of fan-anxiety. Instead, any sham activity should receive the ridicule it deserves. I think as fans we can call it out for what it is while at the same time not letting ourselves get jerked around by their tactics.
I think if you spend any amount of time round here, you should wise up pretty fast to not letting yourself get jerked around....you just grab your popcorn, sit back, put your feet up and watch the show :-D
DeleteIt's looking very much like Cassandra was hired because the reality show narrative worked better with a local girlfriend. Hanging on the farm, hanging "at home" with Cassandra, etc.
DeleteNow that piece of business is over, Cassandra's services are no longer needed and it looks like they're reverting back to the Jessica strategy. A long-distance girlfriend that still once in a while will be at the same place at the same time due to shared business purposes, where they get to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. So much more convenient than a local girl. They can each go about their real lives and it's expected because of their very busy (apart) lives. The de rigeur appearances together such as beach vacation and family wedding are a very small amount of time, considering. And even during those times, I don't for a moment believe they're alone. Wherever Scott and Lawes are headed, Tessa and/or many others will be joining. Photos from the very private Scott coming soon...
Yeah, that makes sense why C was so short as opposed to J... If they decide to stay in, (and I think they want to, if politics will let them), they'll need another long term-and that works better with long-distance, as you said. If she is pregnant again, they need someone in place for that too.
DeleteI know being jerked around comes with the territory, but it doesn't feel any less icky. Somehow it just makes it that much worse when you have people who have been so obviously in love/committed to each other for so long-and then you see them with fake gfs and pulling publicity stunts. Yuck.
3:39
DeleteWhat makes you think they want to stay in? Most signs point to retirement, IMO.
I think it's more likely they will retire, but not necessarily what they want to do. I won't be surprised either way, honestly. A few months ago I would have said they definitely are done... but lately, they've been hedging more, and every time they spend time with the other skaters/Olympians they seem to get sucked back in.
DeleteWhy shouldn't they want to stay? They are young, healthy, in the prime of their careers... their skating has never been better, and they have so much creativity within them. This year's SD was them hitting their stride. Pregnancy and a kid have not stopped them before. And the World scene has never been as open as it will be next year. They would be the only Olympic medalists competing.
DeleteIt seems to me the reason why people expect them to go is they've won too much. No other reason. There are some fake narratives about how their skating has degraded and they hate each other, but that's just there to prop the fact that they need to get out because they won. too. much. Had they finished fourth in 2010, and won silver this year, no doubt everyone would expect them to stay. They are the perfect ages to stay one more cycle (they aren't too old to stay for another two, honestly). But because they won in 2010, and took another silver, now it's gtfo. They are younger than DW, and the same age or younger as couples like WP, CL... couples that people want to stay. All of these ice dancers are cohorts. They all debuted at the Worlds in 2007. Why is it VM's problem that they finished 6th, and made the podium the next year, while WP languished well below the top 10 and didn't consistently make the team? Because of VM's more exceptional talent (which is still better than WP, though WP have improved tremendously), they have to step aside now for WP's turn - a couple who is older than them? What kind of fuckery?
I don't know if they want to stay or not. Of course I hope they do and will. If they do retire though, I really hope it's of their own volition, because the message I'm getting from the ISU, Marina, and Skate Canada is that they're done with them, and if VM retire solely because of THAT, that's just a complete disgrace for the sport.
As for sham purpose, skating makes a lot of sense... it gives them a regular schedule and explains why they're traveling together and living in the same city (despite how little they have in common!), and it would be easy enough to tack on another Jessica as a gf. Skating competitively will keep them involved in more of these Olympian events.
It is sort of scary to think what they might do when they retire, shamwise. Will they pretend they live in different cities? Or "end up" close by, but joke that despite the proximity, they actually only have coffee once a year on the anniversary of their Vancouver OGM and other than that they only see each other at SOI? Will Tessa finally have to find a man to fake settle down with? Pretending to be single is much easier when you're "so busy skating."
I think they don't want to retire, but, as others note, it might not be practical to stay in. I'd like them to stay in.
DeleteAt this point, I wonder if the reaction to yet another sham girlfriend has anything to do with a lot of fans just being "over it". When a new sham girlfriend comes into the picture, any hope any fans have that Tessa and Scott are shutting down sham operations and gearing up to either come clean, or just do without, goes out the window. Dramatically, it's not satisfying. It's been going on for years, hitting basically the same notes. The reality show created some apprehension, but turned out to be so ridiculous it didn't even leave a blip. So when Cassandra exits, and no matter how many times fans have been set up like Charlie Brown/Lucy/the football, fans can't help thinking maybe it's over, because they WANT it to be over. Then the introduction of someone like Lawes torpedoes all hope.
I think the introduction of someone like Lawes does demonstrate that apparently inside the Canadian athletic community and the Canadian media, hoaxing the public under the guise of marketing is normal. Nothing wrong with it. It's no longer something the ridiculously dysfunctional Skate Canada and Moirville alone believe. Everybody spins, edits, keeps their real feelings close to the vest (such as Kristen Moore Towers apparently did for some time) - and that's pretty normal. What's going on with VM and the new players, and the media helping them along, is a push to normalize their hoax. It's not, it's wrong. I wonder if it's almost on the same plane as DW's artificial trajectory to the top. SO many people are culpable, nobody wants to deal with it. Just keep going, play it out. With the sham, so many people are culpable, just play it out, while constantly directing attention to Virtue Moir fans as the scapegoat.
5:13 - I completely agree, some people want them to retire because they've won too much, although they certainly haven't won against DW at all in the past two seasons. I dislike that POV because it's all about "taking turns." VM have had their turn. That was the rationale for giving the gold to DW in Sochi, that seems to be the rationale for people who want them off the scene now. It's somebody else's turn to win. It's somebody else's turn to get attention. I think that's a factor too.
DeleteMy view is, yes, VM get attention among those who discuss skating and topics around skating. Certainly they seek it, but they wouldn't get it if they didn't have appeal. But attention isn't some resource that will be allocated to other, more worthy teams if VM are removed from the eligible scene. When Kwan left the scene, and, to a lesser extent, Cohen, the remaining and up and coming ladies didn't inherit the North American attention that had been theirs.
I use G&G and Katia Gordeeva as a reference point a lot, and there's one here. The fourth place finishers in Lillehammer complained to G&G that if they'd stayed away from Lillehammer, the fourth place finishers could have had a medal. Why did G&G stay? They already had Olympic gold. Grinkov's retort, which he also used in interviews, was this is SPORT. If other skaters want to win, or want more attention, more opportunity, that is their responsibility. It's not Virtue and Moir's responsibility to clear out so other teams can have more opportunity. Every single bit of legitimate attention Virtue and Moir have received for their skating, Virtue and Moir have earned with their skating, and every win they've had they've earned on the ice, and they earned many more wins on the ice that the ISU denied them. Every skating opportunity Virtue and Moir have taken, they've earned. If there are skaters or supporters of skaters who wish VM would clear out to make room, I think tough. Let those skaters, no matter how good they may be, make room. VM shouldn't be penalized for their talent. They're not out there winning stuff they shouldn't be winning. There's no "enough" in any other sport when somebody is still at their peak athletically. Why should there be in skating?
They actually haven't gotten a LOT of what they've earned. If there's a star basketball player still at the peak of his or her powers, I don't read that they've got enough rings so should get off the floor and let some others have their shot. Where else in sport is the best in the sport hustled off the stage so someone else can have their turn? VM's wins are legitimate, their skating is legitimate, and they've never skated better in their lives than they did this season. They're at their peak. He's 26 and she just turned 25.
Just to add - next time is 4 years...that's a pretty long time and considering that one curling team represents the country...kinda cocky...
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of curling tournaments though, as in figure skating, and especially within the country, the team will still be a big deal even if they don't make it to #1 all years. The whole thing is insane and cocky though. I'm incredibly disappointed that a legit non-figure skating athlete would get involved in something like this. I'm not surprised in the least that photos haven't surfaced, and I completely understand and respect why those who have access to them won't publish them, but how I wish someone would blow the whole thing wide open. Not for proof, but just for it to end, somehow. No matter how hard you try to ignore it, it's there and it's gross.
DeleteI can't believe there is no one in the know who doesn't want to out them. But they're not able to. Why? That's a great question
DeleteClearly they HAVE been outed. They just haven't been outed on the internet with a smoking gun attached. I'll say it again, their community leaks like a sieve. Everybody around Moirville has an opinion. Virtue and Moir's business is everybody's business. There are people on this blog who thought the blog was crazy, but then were able to confirm the truth for themselves.
DeleteIt's not a state secret. And those "in the know" are not Fort Knox - far from it. It simply hasn't been outed in a way that the media would have to acknowledge, and they'd have to acknowledge.
Frustrated fans unable to get confirmation for themselves pressure the blog to cough up the 411 on how it knows about Virtue and Moir. And I guess the threat they hold over the blog is that unless the blog reveals how it knows, these fans will consider the blog a liar. I don't find that threat too compelling. IMO, those fans ought to recognize that the people who know don't need to come onto the internet to gab about Virtue and Moir. Some fans think if anyone had an axe to grind with Virtue and Moir, they'd come onto the internet and out them. Why? These people don't have real life people to talk about it with?
Everybody in skating is in bed with each other, figuratively. You never know who you're going to work with. An unlikely current team is Shae Lynn Bourne doing choreography for Hanyu Yuzuru. Dylan Moscovitch has been doing try-outs with skaters he probably never dreamed he'd one day consider as a partner.
There just isn't any incentive in the skating community to come onto the web and blow it open. It would blow up in the face of the person who did the outing, because look at all of the people who'd be implicated in any outing.
2:29, I'm 3:57, and I just wanted to clarify that I'm not surprised that it hasn't happened. It wasn't a question, just a desperate wish that it could happen in a way, as OC says, that would force the media to acknowledge it. But it would have to be something very extreme for that to happen now, and it's even unlikelier that someone would leak something that incriminating.
DeleteAnd of those who know Scott and Tessa are married and with a child, including their families, let's look at what might be incriminating. One of their friends puts personal photos on the web? That's going to be readily traced and get blow back not just from VM, but from the community. Why would somebody alienate either? Which isn't even considering why they'd want to do it. A lot of "insiders" LIKE being insiders. Of those who know, those who don't enable actively Virtue Moir are in all probability likewise too mature minded to act out on the web.
DeleteSo apart from their friends and family who have personal photos, etc., how often do Scott and Tessa get it on in front of their community while somebody enterprising snaps a photo? I can't say as I've seen many friends and family making out with their significant other - ever. Likewise, I've never seen the marriage registration/birth certificates of people related to me, certainly never had them at hand to scan and upload on the internet.
It would have to be someone who knows who'd be willing to take the flak, and for the life of me I can't see why anyone would. There are people here who found out for themselves, from a source. If they spelled out exactly what they were told, that would "out" them to their source as untrustworthy, as there's no bullet point list people read from. People use their own words, have their own relationship to VM or skating that informs their perspective and what they know, and the anecdotes they tell. It would be difficult for somebody to reveal exactly what a source has told them without revealing that source's identity. Who'd do that?
"It would be difficult for somebody to reveal exactly what a source has told them without revealing that source's identity. Who'd do that?"
DeleteAnd yet, the truth will most likely be known some day. I can't wait to see how things are handled at that time.
This is my first time visiting this site, so bear with me. What you're saying is, these 3 beautiful women (a model and two olympic athletes), have nothing better to do with their time, than to pretend to be a girlfriend to Scott?? For what reason?? Why would they put their lives on hold, to engage in such a sham?? And you believe that tessa just allows her husband to date other women, just to protect their image? Also, you're saying that they have a daughter, that they literally neglect. Because they'd have to leave her with someone 90% of the time. This all seems to be so utterly ridiculous. Why on earth would people go to such great lengths to ensure they're never found out? It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever!! You have to understand why people would would be so against this idea, it's so absolutely insane!!
ReplyDeleteI haven't cross-checked the statcounter to see if it IS the first time you are visiting the blog, but I can't even start with someone like you who builds uninformed assumptions into every question you ask. Therefore the question dictates the answer. I'm going to go through it and ignore your assumptions, because they're wrong, and you can just figure out the logistics yourself, I'm not laying it out for you.
Delete1) Cassandra Hilborn isn't a model. She's a wannabe model and dental hygienist from a very well off family in London, is part of Scott's Medway crowd, the same crowd that helped him sham with Jessica on facebook. They've known the Moirs for years and your statement "nothing better to do with their time" suggests this takes up a lot of time. It doesn't take up a lot of time.
2) Same with Jessica and Kaitlyn Lawes. Jessica had the same competition schedule as Scott and Tessa, attended many of the same events as Scott and Tessa, Tessa was doing a hours and hours of PT even at events like TEB (during that time Scott could sham), Bryce and Jessica both have non-Moir connection/friends in London, photo ops are not time consuming.
Scott is not DATING other women, he is creating photo ops with other women that suggests he's dating them. They're not dating.
Here is where you state way too much stupid, and that's why this is my last answer for you, even before I check the ISPs.
"You're saying they have a daughter, that they literally neglect. Because they'd have to leave her with somebody 90% of the time."
Right there. Whatever logic you're using, it's not functional. You are very like the other person here who attacked the blog using flat out asinine assumptions. You don't know how it works, how you think it works isn't, and every assumption along the line is pure dumb assery.
As with the other person, I'm refuting some of your points but not your idiocy because that would be a full time job. Don't come back with this.
BTW, I have to say I love how you progress from "bear with me", to calling the blogger a lunatic, and in the middle reciting a list of points based upon idiotic premises - the time it takes to sham, that Scott has to actually date a sham girlfriend, that Scott and Tessa would have to be without their kid 90% of the time, without actually explaining WHY you think it would take up so much time, why you think Scott and Tessa would have to neglect their kid 90% of the time, and why you think he'd actually have to date the sham girlfriend. IOW, how do you think their schedule and travel works? How do you think the sham photo ops work and are coordinated with Scott and Tessa's schedule and the schedule of the women in question? Why would you think actual dating would be involved?
DeleteThese are rhetorical questions, by the way, not an opening to continue this.
I do understand why you think it's insane. I'm not the blogger but I also know independently that the basic story is true. I don't know why people participate. That is only speculation.
DeleteI don't think Jessica was putting her life on hold. She was spotted with Scott at a lot of competitions she would have been at anyway. There were some instances where she had to attend beach vacations, weddings, and parades as his girlfriend, an intrusion on her time. The vacations can probably be considered a perk. There's also speculation that the Virtue family paid travel expenses for Jessica and her family. Mainly, it seems that this was a way to further her career, as the sham was blessed by Skate Canada, and to provide cover for her own relationship with Bryce or someone else.
Cassandra, while a lovely girl and aspiring model, is a dental assistant. She doesn't have a modeling career to put on hold. She got to be on a TV show and now has some (limited) name recognition because of Scott. The sham with Scott IS part of her career. The association with Scott helps her.
If you mean putting their personal lives on hold, think about it - they're only fake girlfriends, while Scott is really married to Tessa. Having a fake girlfriend doesn't stop Scott from continuing his relationship with Tessa, and likewise, there is no reason to believe Jessica and Cassandra couldn't have carried on their own personal relationships in private if they wanted them.
As for Kaitlyn Lawes, IF she turns out to be the new sham girlfriend (which to me means pictures of them cuddling or kissing or on a beach or private date-type circumstance, not the limited interaction we've seen so far), then I'm as flummoxed as anyone. That remains to be seen.
Tessa isn't allowing her husband to date other women - when have they gone out on dates? Cassandra and Jessica are always spotted out WITH HIS PARENTS. He poses with them for a few pictures. They're not dating. If they're seen out, it's in groups. I don't understand why Tessa lets him make out with other women; I guess she think it's like acting?
I don't believe they neglect their daughter. First of all, regardless of any sham activity, they're working parents. By definition they're not spending all their time with her. Neither of them is a stay at home parent. Occasionally one of them, usually Scott, is seen out alone, away from his child. Believe me, I have problems with this too, but a parent is allowed to go out once in a while. You can't say they leave their kid with someone 90% of the time because you don't SEE them 90% of the time. We see a very limited amount of Tessa and Scott's lives.
And yes, why they go to all this trouble makes absolutely no sense. I agree!
oops, didn't realize OC was replying at the same time.
Delete9:17 - thanks!
DeleteThe part I do find amusing is when people, however wrong they get the logistics (and you've explained the logistics pretty well), then conclude with "Why would people do this! It's insane!"
When has the blog ever said this is logical, rational, understandable behavior by Scott and Tessa? I think one person in the comments section once said they're stupid, and the people advising them are stupid. I think that's part of it. However nice they are, I think when it comes to this, they do live up their own asses.
Certainly the blog has never said this is all perfectly understandable. It's not. Nevertheless, it's what they're doing.
"I don't think Jessica was putting her life on hold. She was spotted with Scott at a lot of competitions she would have been at anyway. There were some instances where she had to attend beach vacations, weddings, and parades as his girlfriend, an intrusion on her time. The vacations can probably be considered a perk. There's also speculation that the Virtue family paid travel expenses for Jessica and her family."
Right. Here's another example. In May 2009, Tessa was in the south of France, and then Monaco, with her mother and Jordan, attending a wedding with those she affectionately refers to as her "French family", who are some of the same people who helped facilitate her and Scott's marriage in Monaco the following fall, after TEB. Tessa was out of the country with her mom and sister, it was training break, so Jessica, who, by her facebook at the time, had been considering going to Mexico, suddenly had a change of plans and ended up in Punta Cana with her brother Jonathan, her sister Veronique, and Scott. Who paid for the Dube threesome's last minute vacation travel and accomodation? Of the players in the sham, which family is in a position to pay for it?
When one looks at other skaters who don't come from, say, Davis White of Virtue family money, we find people like Asher Hill or Meaghan Duhamel, for whom getting a round trip international ticket for a family member is a HUGE deal, extremely special. Jessica Dube's family comes from means closer to Duhamel's and Hill's, not the Virtues. Although she and Bryce were a successful team, her community still had fund raisers to help support her skating. It's not like Virtue Moir, who attended golf events at home not to support THEIR skating, but to raise money for the ISC.
When Jessica was at TEB 2009, her parents were with her. That's not a Paris trip where you find the most economical travel dates and airfare. That's a specific weekend during peak travel season, no wriggle room. Who paid for that? With the Dube pere and mere there, she was occupied, it was a perk for her parents, and it was added layers of buffers for shamming. There's one entire sham sequence of photographs in Paris that just by looking at the location appears to have occurred while Tessa was at pt (she did hours a day) and then she met up later and she and Scott filmed a segment of their Vancouver fluff (the one on the carousel). As with the Dominican trip, the shamming dovetailed with Scott and Tessa's existing schedule, not vice versa.
DeleteMoirville has some large family and friend weddings that, without being too snarky about it, might be more of an obligation than a joy. The venue is littered with family and friends, a sham gf is deployed, Scott positions himself proximate to the sham gf for a few shots, end of, without much exertion on his part. He's obliged to be there anyway.
As Jessica's swan song, she was in Nice for Worlds, and so were her brother and parents. Who paid for that one? When she went to Paris with one of her real life friends, she and her friend stayed in extremely economical lodgings and did extremely economical activities while visiting friends there such as a former Annie Barabe pupil. This is not somebody who can turn around and plunk down three international round tip airline tickets for one specific weekend in a high end location like Nice.
You are certainly entitled to your opinion, everyone is, but it is wrong to post pictures of children . If I were that child's parent and saw you posted it on your blog I would be furious because now that child is out there forever for everyone to see. It does not matter it was in a public facebook posting you did not have permission to post it. It will come up now in every search related to V/M because , and that is wrong!
ReplyDeleteNo, she's not out there for everyone to see because the photo is a year and a half old and that's not who she is today. It's an image. Furthermore, you and I have very different ideas about the assumptions and naivete of the parents who participate on the ISC facebook albums.
DeleteFurthermore, she's not named, anymore than the photos of the other children who have been on the blog have been named.
DeleteI am waiting to get an opinion about, how would people have felt if it were just a little boy (who, at this time, couldn't possibly be Tessa and Scott's child) whose image was used on the blog next to an image of Scott as a child, and the resemblance noted for some other purpose?
I think you know the answer: people would not consider that as big of a deal, if at all. The real debate is "why not?" IMO if you're presenting the child in some context that is true and unoffensive, it's not objectionable (this kid resembles Scott, when he does in fact look like Scott, and the image is not used to demean or insult or imply something about the child, like that he is Scott's son).
DeleteWhat *I* don't like about the publishing of the photo, and that's only speaking for myself, is that someone's kid is being used to imply something which may not be true or could be a negative. It could be presenting that this is VM's child, which it may not. It could be presenting this as a child that Moirville knew wasn't VM's child but which looks like it might be, which Moirville placed on FB to fuck with us, a negative connotation. But those are only speculations. It could be just someone's kid who got up there and happens to look like Tessa. And if I were the parent of that child, I would not like to see my child pasted up there as part of some greater point that somebody is trying to make.
Of course, yes, some people might object to it solely because they think it IS the VM daughter, and feel that her privacy should be protected and/or want it down to enable Tessa and Scott in shamming and/or because they want to ignore having to think that the sham might be true. But not everyone objects to the photo on those grounds.
Right, it's context, and I don't think the context is demeaning or insulting. If I did have a photo of a small Scott lookalike on the blog, wouldn't it be to make some sort of point as well? Not this one, but clearly, some other point, or why would I use the image at all? Yet you're saying that would be okay.
DeleteI think the problem is THE point that's being made, and I just don't find it demeaning or insulting to say this little girl looks enough like Little Tessa to be her child. That happens in real life. Boy you two look like sisters. Someone in my family had a child visiting with her and when they'd be out and about, strangers took them for mother and daughter, based on coloring and some bone structure. Sometimes they'd set the person straight, sometimes not.
Whatever, saying this looks so much like Little Tessa it could be her child is the same thing.I don't think in any of these cases the real parent is offended.
So the problem is Tessa has a daughter, and if this child isn't the daughter, it's insulting/demeaning to point out the resemblance?
WHAT is the offense? There's the "exposure" argument, but then it turns out that it's not really exposure, because the little boy look alike would be okay, and other children who have been on the blog are okay.
So it's the point being made? What is insulting and demeaning about the point being made? It's being made about fans, not about the child. Yes, the blog notes she looks like Tessa Virtue in this photo, but what is demeaning and insulting about that? She does. Just as the hypothetical little boy would, and again, pointing out that resemblance is okay.
The fact that Tessa HAS a daughter doesn't add a layer of insult to it. She does have a daughter. If this isn't her, the mother knows she's her own daughter. The blog hasn't insulted her motherhood or the child's personhood.
As the blog itself considered earlier in the day that the child was Tessa herself, the blog is saying that fans are always ready to deny what's in front of them. In this case, that this child looks so much like Child Tessa it prompted a lot of discussion for over a year after it appeared. It would not have prompted that discussion without the resemblance being present. Yet fans are ready to say there's no resemblance. What the resemblance implies is NOT the point, because we don't know for certain. The point is despite the fact that many people saw this photo and wondered, there are fans ready to say there's no resemblance there.
The blog post's point is to further refute the assertion of many fans who claim that Virtue and Moir would have slipped, been busted, or outed themselves, as if the fandom were standing ready to say "Gotcha". The fandom does the exact opposite. Here's a bunch of examples, including this example of a child who looks so much like Tessa Virtue it's caused speculation for a year, but plenty of fans stand ready to claim the child looks nothing like Tessa Virtue.
I don't think there's anything demeaning about that, any more than if I put a child who looked like Scott on the blog and said the child looks like Scott, and from a predictable quarter would come people saying he doesn't look like Scott, the same quarters that think Tessa looks slim in her cut-out cocktail dress.
"I think you know the answer: people would not consider that as big of a deal, if at all. The real debate is "why not?" IMO if you're presenting the child in some context that is true and unoffensive"
DeleteWhich means this context is false and offensive? I'm not clear on why it is.
"it's not objectionable (this kid resembles Scott, when he does in fact look like Scott, and the image is not used to demean or insult or imply something about the child, like that he is Scott's son)."
First of all, the only thing I'm implying about the child is that in that photo she looks like Tessa Virtue as a child. That is not demeaning and insulting. The rest of what I'm saying, and not implying, is that despite this, there are fans ready to say she doesn't look like Tessa, and there's absolutely no reason fans who saw this photo on the ISC album wondered and talked about it. But they did. And the reason they did was this kid and Little Tessa are lookalikes, and since Tessa has a daughter, there was wondering about the lookalike. Since fans don't know, they wonder. That doesn't insult the child or her mother, if that is not Tessa's actual daughter. I feel pretty confident any parent whose kid is skating at Moirville Central knows Tessa Virtue has a daughter.
"What *I* don't like about the publishing of the photo, and that's only speaking for myself, is that someone's kid is being used to imply something which may not be true or could be a negative."
I'm implying the child looks enough like Tessa to make people who know Tessa has a daughter wonder if that's her kid, particularly since the image is on the ISC album, and only that one. What's the negative? That if it's not Tessa's child, in the kid's real life there's a question about her maternity or it casts doubt on her origin? I don't think that's the point you're making, because that's not rational.
It means the kid looks enough like Tessa's daughter that, knowing Tessa has a kid, people wondered if this was her kid. I know an actress who had a daughter and one of her co-stars thought the child actress playing her daughter was her actual daughter. There is nothing demeaning about people, knowing Tessa has a daughter, wondering if the lookalike on facebook is that daughter. If they're wrong, how is the little girl insulted, or her mother insulted? Because again, the entire "exposure" thing is off the table, at least it seems to me.
"It could be presenting that this is VM's child, which it may not. It could be presenting this as a child that Moirville knew wasn't VM's child but which looks like it might be, which Moirville placed on FB to fuck with us, a negative connotation."
I don't get how her not being Tessa's child, and Moirville placing it on facebook to fuck with us can both be true and thus connote negativity.
Furthermore, the blog post was not about Moirville's agenda, it was about the ability of fans to deny and enable Scott and Tessa. To where they deny there's anything in that image that would cause a rational fan to do a double take or wonder, because they claim no strong resemblance exists.
"But those are only speculations. It could be just someone's kid who got up there and happens to look like Tessa. And if I were the parent of that child, I would not like to see my child pasted up there as part of some greater point that somebody is trying to make."
And, as I said, if I used a hypothetical Scott look alike, obviously I'd be making a greater point there, too, but it seems that would be okay.
A few more points: In the previous comments section, this image was discussed, and where it could be found laid out to clearly that IMO you'd have to really be internet challenged not to be able to find it in a few clicks. And there was speculation that if it is VM's child, Moirville put it there to fuck with us.
DeleteBut of course if it's NOT VM's child, then Moirville didn't, and IMO the "negative connotation" then goes to the blog, and not the child. The blog looks dumb ass, not the child.
That is IF the blog were claiming this was her and asserting as fact that Moirville is doing this, which it can't.
However, the blog certainly can't pretend that Tessa doesn't have a daughter, and it's natural, not demeaning, for fans who know she has a daughter to be curious if a lookalike is hers. Furthermore, the possibility that any parent at the ISC doesn't know Tessa and Scott are married parents to a little girl is remote.
Tessa Virtue has a daughter. This image on the ISC facebook matches an image of Child Tessa so closely that fans who know Tessa has a daughter wondered if it was. Yet here come fans telling us there's no resemblance to wonder about.
I don't think wondering about the resemblance demeans this child, because the resemblance is there, and Tessa's daughter actually exists, throw in the ISC.
If it's not Tessa's daughter, then there's no implications. She's not even part of it. If it is, then the implications (Moirville fucking with us) are back on board. But there's no gray area that the blog has stuck the child in. The gray area is with us, not her.
I don't understand this. All arguments aside as to whose kid it is, or what fan perception is-just talking about the picture posting alone... It was a public picture, posted on a public forum already. If this was a private picture, or from someone's hidden album, or password protected, I would completely understand being squeamish about posting it. But, it's already out there for anyone and everyone to see... I really don't think that the parents of this child (whomever they are), or any of those children pictured in that rather large album for that matter, signed some sort of permission or agreement for them to be posted on the ISC's PUBLIC facebook... Even if they did, they would be naive to think that public pictures on facebook are stuck there, and that nobody can save them, or pass them around, or post them elsewhere, etc. They might not think it's likely this would happen simply for the reason of who would care about their random kid skating around a holiday public skate... but that doesn't render it impossible. Likewise, as it's been stated, at this point that picture is so old that the kid no longer looks like that, and they were not specifically identified (outside of speculation). It's just an anonymous picture. That entire argument, has no legs, imo.
Delete“Right, it's context, and I don't think the context is demeaning or insulting. If I did have a photo of a small Scott lookalike on the blog, wouldn't it be to make some sort of point as well? Not this one, but clearly, some other point, or why would I use the image at all? Yet you're saying that would be okay.”
DeleteNot if the point is just “this kid is Scott’s mini-me; isn’t that adorable!”
“So it's the point being made? What is insulting and demeaning about the point being made? It's being made about fans, not about the child. Yes, the blog notes she looks like Tessa Virtue in this photo, but what is demeaning and insulting about that? She does. Just as the hypothetical little boy would, and again, pointing out that resemblance is okay.”
Honestly, it seems like since the other night you’ve basically decided that this photo had an agenda to it, even though it’s been sitting there almost two years, and now you’re all over it. You were almost salivating at the thought that it wasn’t a contemporary photo at all, that it was really Tessa, and that Moirville had put it up there to fuck with fans. And when incontrovertible evidence was provided that it couldn’t have been that old, that’s when you moved on to these points about how fans rationalize the photo away (even though it may be the case that it’s NOT their kid, that they're RIGHT) and that Moirville has it up there because either it is really her kid and it’s done to toy with us or it’s really not her kid but it looks like it could be and it’s done to toy with us. And none of that is necessarily true. It’s possible someone uploaded a batch of pics of a nice day with Santa. It’s possible these parents thought their child had a lovely time and had their photo taken and how nice that ISC put it up, and now you’re possibly telling them (if they read the blog) – no, it’s there for a specific purpose, it’s there to mess with fans’ minds. We didn’t just think that was a cute photo of your child. It’s going to be pasted in with all the photoshops on this site of all sorts of weird things, all of which are there to prove the stupidity or meanspiritedness of Moirville or the stupidity and knee-jerk reactions of fans. And look at how enabling these fans are that they jump to the conclusion that it's not Tessa Virtue's daughter (which it isn't, in this hypothetical). That’s why *I* find it offensive; can’t speak for anyone else.
“Here's a bunch of examples, including this example of a child who looks so much like Tessa Virtue it's caused speculation for a year, but plenty of fans stand ready to claim the child looks nothing like Tessa Virtue.”
I really didn’t perceive it the same way. As you say, a lot of people have speculated it’s their child. Most of the posts I didn’t take as saying “THERE’S NO WAY THAT’S HER” I took it as saying “we don’t know, and here are reasons why it might not be,” the age and size being one of the most important ones. And it could be that she was bigger than most kids her age and it was her. Or not. We don’t know, so this photo doesn’t prove anything either way. I already know she has a daughter. And those that don’t know won’t be convinced by this stand-alone shot. A candid photo of Tessa, Scott, and their whole family with a little girl of the right size at a family party – THAT would be hard to explain away. This isn’t, at all. I don’t see a knee jerk response by the fans to “disprove” this photo, as you seem to, because it proves nothing other than there was a girl at ISC who slightly resembles Tessa when she was younger. Some have speculated its their daughter, but no one KNOWS. There is nothing to be explained away.
“To where they deny there's anything in that image that would cause a rational fan to do a double take or wonder, because they claim no strong resemblance exists.”
Again, I don’t see people denying there’s “anything” in it that would make you wonder, but that there's enough there that we should say definitively that is her.
12:38, I don't know if we're even going to get to a point where we understand each other, because what you seem to believe the blog is saying, or the blog's process, isn't what I think it is, so there's just bedrock failure to communicate. However, on my end, I'll make the attempt again.
Delete“Right, it's context, and I don't think the context is demeaning or insulting. If I did have a photo of a small Scott lookalike on the blog, wouldn't it be to make some sort of point as well? Not this one, but clearly, some other point, or why would I use the image at all? Yet you're saying that would be okay.”
"Not if the point is just “this kid is Scott’s mini-me; isn’t that adorable!”
I did use that as a hypothetical, but of course the blog isn't going to make a post just saying that. There would be a larger point. "Scott's mini-me, isn't that adorable" isn't any kind of point. And it would still "expose" the kid, single that image out from the perceived safety in numbers images in the album, which was an earlier objection.
Before I address your remarks below, I want to say that I don't agree with your characterization (salivating"), and that take is your projection, your filter, not mine, and not my problem. If that's your emotional reaction (and see, I don't know if you're emotional or not, but that's how I'm reading it and it could be just my projection), that's yours, not my responsibility.
Below, you are not actually addressing my questions about the rationale behind your objection. Instead you're shifting to another topic, which your take or confusion (don't know if you're confused, but that's my read absent further clarification from you) about the blog's process that got to the point of publishing the image, and some mischaracterization about the process as well.
"Honestly, it seems like since the other night you’ve basically decided that this photo had an agenda to it, even though it’s been sitting there almost two years, and now you’re all over it."
From the moment I laid eyes on that photo I always thought the photo had an agenda to it, and I also thought there wasn't really a post in just that opinion. "Oh look, here's a picture on the ISC facebook that looks like Little Moir, if it is, Moirville is fucking with us!"
That's not a post, to me. We already know VM fuck with us. You are also ignoring the fact that the post above is not a "Here's a picture of Little Moir/Moirville is fucking with us" post but a post that uses a bunch of other images all supporting a larger point. I've explained that point over and over, as well as in the post itself, and still, all you (if it's the same person) can see is the image of the Tessa lookalike, and from there think that's the post. That's not the post. I don't know if there's any use in re-stating again the actual theme of the post, but live in hope:
cont'd
Thanks for answering my questions, in a really kind way 9:15. It's a shame that others have to swear and ridicule, to the point if being offensive, when they respond to questions.
ReplyDelete12:49, it was kind of 9:15 to answer your questions. If you prefer that tone, show the same courtesy when you ask them. Your courtesy was pro forma - it began and ended with "bear with me". The comment then included a lot of erroneous, uninformed assertions stated as fact and conclude by deciding the blog was insane (not just VM, but the blog nuts to make its claims). As you know, the comments section has already had this cycle and it's unnecessary to begin again. If you want a courteous response, be courteous.
Delete