The meanest person is always the smartest person

From Dictionary.com

Role Model

noun

1. a person whose behavior, example, or success is or can be emulated by others, especially by younger people.

This post is a continuation of the post section below that talks about #ALSicebucket challenge. It revisits past behaviors that have been discussed here before, with the understanding that these behaviors reflect patterns that continue to surface in Virtue and Moir's interviews, in the reality show, and on social media. It's organized around the idea that, while many of Scott and Tessa's choices in public relations and marketing appear to be calculated based upon what they believe will work on the absolute lowest common denominator (a/k/a "skating fans"), as well as what they believe will most effectively exploit and disparage that segment of the public, these choices are more telling about Scott and Tessa.

I believe Virtue and Moir are role models for other elite skaters when it comes to skating and training.They’re role models for how to be polite, low maintenance, considerate and gracious while the center of attention in public.They’re role models for how to be well put together and poised when rubbing elbows with notables.

The thing with Virtue and Moir as role models beyond those areas is they never appear to grasp any larger picture.Tessa, in particular, appears susceptible to imposing thought systems on everything beyond her personal framework. God forbid she take in what's actually out there. She's the original forest for the trees archtype.The woman is always looking for a state of the art filter, the best life edit app.

All of their lives, they’ve been at the center of the frame. It’s been about them.Tessa, in her social media presence, comes across like the stereotype of a sorority girl every parent wishes their daughter would be. Why can’t you be more like that nice Tessa Virtue. As skaters and athletes, they’re role models. Beyond that, there are skaters who are douchier, but also plenty of skaters who do a better job as role models a regular person could look up to. What Patrick Chan, Jeremy Abbott and Paul/Islam did with the #ALSicebucket challenge is absolutely effortless, but you never see Scott and Tessa thinking of it. Everything outside a universe that has the two of them as its focal point is just a metric.

It’s a bit ironic that the post below looks at the merits of raising “awareness”, when Scott and Tessa’s apparent lack of awareness around some basic issues of empathy, common sense and how "A" connects to "B" has been so marked during their time in the public eye.There are few supposedly intelligent public figures who are more obtuse.

I guess what they do works, if the goal was to turn many of their fans into eager, panting puppies, desperate to appease and please.What it looks like to me is a lot of fans are behaving that way in order to encourage Virtue and Moir to stick around. Fan dynamics tend to be the same no matter what fandom we’re talking about, but as far as I’m aware, this particular aspect seems particular to Scott and Tessa fans.This worry that if fans do something wrong, Scott and Tessa will cut off the supply of Scott and Tessa. I don’t see other fans worrying like that. Even Meryl Davis fans who respond angrily when her looks or skating are criticized don’t appear to worry that criticism will drive Meryl out of the public eye.

IMO there’s a failure on Scott and Tessa’s part to ever really consider what’s outside the frame. What’s outside is other people. Fans have another existence apart from their fandom.They’re human beings. In their public behavior, Scott and Tessa only consider fans as fans.That’s fine most of the time, but there are times it’s helpful to remember, before you open your mouth, that they’re also people. The beaten puppy syndrome described in the above paragraph is a consequence of Scott and Tessa’s manipulations over the past seven years. Fans know there's something elusive and shifty about Scott and Tessa's public personas, and many fans seem to believe that if they modulate their behavior, and control the behavior of other fans, Scott and Tessa will allow themselves to come more clearly into focus.That's the game. Scott and Tessa's appearance on twitter and instagram is just the most current iteration of this dynamic, a dynamic driven by Scott and Tessa's constant public relations mind fuckery.

Scott and Tessa don’t appear to make very obvious connections, of the sort that require empathy and a grasp of basic context. As many blog participants know, a few years ago Scott made a rare appearance on his facebook page, requesting suggestions for a profile picture. Until that point, his profile pictures had been of him alone, all of them as interesting as if someone had pressed the shutter by mistake.The only thing missing was a blurred thumb across the lens.* His request made it appear as if he were finally willing to have a "real" profile picture. As he's not an utter moron, he knew fans would suggest an appropriate photo of himself and his skating partner.

After entertaining earnest suggestions from fans over the course of a few days, his request turned out to be a fake-out. He left all of those fans with egg on their faces. Imagine the fans who took some time and thought, fans who sat at their computer looking at a few pictures before deciding on the one to suggest to Scott.Their suggestions and links were posted on his fan facebook wall for everyone to see. Some fans spent time trying to choose not just a picture they liked, but one they hoped might appeal to Scott. Everyone was trying to respond in a way that would encourage Scott to interact more on facebook.There’s a vulnerability in that.They trusted his request. How the hell does he miss that? If you’re only thinking about yourself and your clever gimmick, if you’re not considering that the other side are people with feelings and lives apart from the fact that they’re “fans”, that’s how you miss it. If you lack respect, you miss it.

If you’re unusually stupid, you miss it.There’s that, too. It’s not the fake-out itself that’s problematic, but Scott’s failure to make the basic connections that would let him know that what he planned was mean before he even did it.That’s why I say they’re up their own ass. Sure, he hadn’t shown up on his facebook in forever and day. Of course, when he does at last pay a visit, requesting input from fans to boot, fans are going to be extra excited – but also extra polite and cautious, so he’ll be encouraged to reach out more. Naturally, when it turns out to be a “gotcha”, he’ll look like a dick.

Think of those fans realizing he probably never even looked at their suggestions.Then falling over themselves to excuse him.

I’m pretty comfortable saying that just about nobody but Scott Moir, Tessa Virtue, some of Skate Canada's directors, and Moirville would do something like that in the context Scott did it.The mean of it would be obvious. No matter how douchey people are in private, most people don’t want to show their ass in public.

Flew right over Scott’s head.That’s the kindest, most benefit-of-the-doubt interpretation.

That’s them all over.Virtue and Moir have information.The public/internet fans, officially at least, don’t.The person who knows stuff someone else doesn’t is the person with power. Scott and Tessa use that power to humiliate fans all the time. But does it count if fans don’t realize they’re being humiliated? I think what possibly embarrassed Scott about the facebook trick was he was caught. Fans saw what he did. I don’t think the actual concept of humiliating fans bothers him much, as long as it can’t officially be traced back to him.  

A large component of the sham is creating and repeating a narrative that will later be deployed to leave the fans to blame for all the lying and manipulation Scott and Tessa have done.The general lack of decency in this agenda isn’t a consideration. For Scott and Tessa, it’s all about appearances, all about lack of accountability. It’s all narrative. Actual decency, actual integrity, actual empathy is irrelevant. It really is exactly the mirror of the Davis White trajectory to the gold medal.The exact same damn thing. Both things occurred within North American figure skating culture, a culture which is a piece of fucking work, going by the two teams at the top.

The failure to connect "A" and "B" also showed up in Scott's infamous “I’d trade places with my brother because then I’d have a beautiful daughter” remark.What human being would think of something like that and not hear alarm bells before putting it out to the world? Scott. He was too distracted by the triple twist, back somersault clever of it all. Up his own ass.

So many other skaters would make those connections automatically. Geez, I haven’t been on facebook in a long time, if I show up and pretend to care about their opinion and it turns out joke’s on them, I’ll be a dick. Automatically, they’d know it. Scott and Tessa don’t. They’re used to being the best on the ice; somehow that appears to have convinced them they’re also the smartest two people in any room. But it doesn’t look like smart. It looks like mean. I wonder if they think there's any difference.

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*Facebook is free, so it stands to reason.

Linsanity

The New York Knicks have a point guard sensation named Jeremy Lin. He's not "just" a basketball player - he's a Harvard Grad.* Today's New York Post covers the "story"* of brands beating down Lin's agent's email in hopes of getting on board what's anticipated may become a "global-marketing juggernaut."

Page Six's source alluded to the volume of reach-outs Lin has received culminating with this flourish as the coup de gras: "He's met with IMG."

Oh yes. If you want to be a marketing force, if you want to be a brand - who you gonna call? Debbi Wilkes? For all her experience coupled with the sort of marketing acuity that speaks for itself, I'd say no. It's still IMG.

Unless you've made Debbi-directed decisions in your strategic marketing and publicity life that have become legitimate marketing agentry kryptonite. That's when you make a side trip to Japan to figure skate among wafting CGI rose petals to the great entertainment of everyone on tumblr.**

The Lin source mentions that it can take a year to nail down the types of deals being set up for Jeremy (Reportedly, Lin feels above the luxury watch market popular with other star b-ballers - he wants to bring Harvard in there somehow as part of his brand - a bit less ostentatious). I suppose that's similar except not to having your biggest deal (VM's with Roots) go down the toilet in less than a year when it was touted to be for four years.

But if Scott and Tessa were with IMG, chances are we'd never have gotten this:

This is classic Olympic gold medal winning endorsement quality right here.
It's just like the stuff Michelle Kwan did for Chevrolet.

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*Safe bet the "story" came from Jeremy Lin's agent as the agent (Roger Montgomery) is the only non-star name bolded in the item even though the quotes are from an unnamed "source".

**I called this a "Hyandai" commercial in a prior post. It's Toyota hybrid - its brand qualities beautifully expressed by Tessa and Scott above and especially when the rose petals magically reconfigure into a bouquet once Tessa is comfortably soporific in the back seat.

Toyota can repurpose this commercial down the line - sell it out as stock footage for the happy pill market. Not cause I'm sleepy watching it but just look at those faces.
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*"Balance" is important to Jeremy.

What Debbi Wilkes was supposed to be doing

http://www.imgworld.com/services/categories/olympics.aspx

This is a description of what are basically services IMG is able to provide in the sponsorship and corporate partnership area during an Olympics.

Make the services Skate Canada specific and there's a snapshot of the responsibilities built into the job of "Director of Business Development."

Bill Thompson specifically cited Debbi's "relationships" as a value add Skate Canada would benefit from in hiring her for the Director's job.

Now figure out how Debbi can do this job for Skate Canada/Canada - especially as SC hasn't the infrastructure IMG enjoys - and be the Canadian figure skating team's Team Leader during the Olympics, not to mention:



Skatebuzz, Skate Canada 2011




ACGM "Gala" rehearsal

 The above photo is so gross. Debbi always manages to be right in there. Her face is in the shot, and her face is as close as she can get it to the figure skater. Add in that it gives the appearance a freaking grown up person can't say words without her CLOSE supervision, very CLOSE supervision, approval and comment.

Hidden from view is the giant spoon Debbi holds to place words in a skater's mouth syllable by syllable.

Now the ratio of Skate Canada's ambition and self-regard vis a vis its competence doesn't flatter any of its Directors. Still, I sincerely doubt Bill Thompson hired Debbi expecting her to actually do the job the implied in her title. He just gave her a title - a title that's been somewhat fluid over the years - and set her loose on her real job, which is apparently living up the asses of Skate Canada's star figure skaters when they're on camera. I think the actual business development part was going to take care of itself. Now that it's a bit of a mess, it's Bill's baby. Debbi ain't doing it. But we'll see her front and center on Skatebuzz come nationals, along with more video showing silent, inane clips of figure skaters' faces and riveting footage of parking lots.

Built into Debbi's real job is the premise that figure skaters are figure skaters - they can't string a sentence together - they're figure skaters! They know nothin 'bout politics - they're figure skaters! They don't know how to describe their program or their competition performance - they're figure skaters!*  Figure skaters are encouraged to be robots, inarticulate, ignorant and camera-shy, because that opens up a role for Debbi who is their conductor, maestro, etc. vis a vis the camera.

Not to mention look how Skate Canada fell over Patrick Chan after that interview he gave - it's like a posse of babysitters rushed into the play group to bail him out, elbowing each other for the spotlight. It was ridiculous. Chan is an adult (but - but - he's a figure skater!). But Skate Canada is a little quick on the draw to insert itself into any media opportunity and divert attention to its personnel instead of its skaters.

Of course, Debbi, too, is a figure skater and what she's good at is truly obnoxious interviews such as her interview with Carolina Kostner, attempting to turn figure skaters into little Debbi parrots, and of course, promoting Debbi.
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*Debbi just wasn't painfully obnoxious and patronizing while interviewing Kostner, she also said to Scott Moir "Tell us about the short program. " and then she prompted: "The fall." Because otherwise Scott is not going to know to address it. I also wish the skaters and whoever is interviewing (and it would be nice if it wasn't Debbi so we could delude ourselves SC takes care of actual business) would be miked instead of wielding a mike to and fro as if it's a completely different era.