Per this article, these independent filmmakers reportedly have, among other projects, a competitive figure skating documentary in the works - Ice, Sweat and Tears - as seen through the eyes of Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue.
ETA - it's for cbc, which has a broadcast contract for SC skating, so it is likely going to have a SC skew. Hell, possibly the Markham outfit, as they are based where Tessa and Scott trained, were commissioned by Skate Canada. P.J. Kwong, when she does her pieces for cbs, sings directly out of the SC playbook. So maybe henceforth it should be documentary like this: "documentary".
There are a lot of small, worthy, relatively obscure filmmakers and this outfit got a whole article. I imagine the reason it did was the Virtue/Moir documentary.
I'm sad about it. But at least the documentary will, it says, be on CBC. They won't be charging the public money for it.
Team VM's brazen willingness to use other people and make them unwittingly complicit in selling crap to the public - in this case a team of regional filmmakers who can use the promotion - continues to be arrogant as hell. Maybe the documentary should be called: Will to Win - On Ice and Off.
I'm sure there are other apt titles.
P.S. - this part of the article caught my attention:
Its 16-episode series for faithbased Vision, Driven by Vision, won McNamara a 2009 Gemini Award for best documentary direction.Markham is based in the Detroit/Windsor area. That's the team's background; where they were educated, where many of their film subjects resided. But still, think "faith based" in connection with Skate Canada and the name Barb MacDonald comes to mind.
We know when Jesus is in your heart, anything you do in your own self-interest, any commandments you break, any lies you sell - come "Jesus approved". Inside a particular type of Jesus-frame, lies become "protecting the people I love."
IOW, Jesus is license for ends justifying the means. As I recall, he was a big advocate of that in the New Testament. He must have been, because so many Barb types lie and cut corners in his name. Jesus was also a bit of an elitist. If WE do it for good reasons, Jesus understands. Jesus knows what it's like dealing with THOSE people (outsiders). Jesus is on certain people's sides. If you love Jesus, pretty much every idea you have must have been sent by Him, so proceed with (self) righteousness.
I don't know. Some present-day Christians seem to believe being a Christian requires a whole lot less thought and is a whole lot easier than I used to believe Jesus meant to communicate. I never thought of faith as a rubber stamp - have it and you've got a free pass. It never seemed to be the easy way out, but for a lot of people, it kind of greases the wheels.
Virtue and Moir participating in a documentary also once again calls into question how genuine their desire for privacy really is. How genuine is Tessa's desire for privacy?
In a prior post, the blog wondered if Tessa's extreme reticence in public (refusing to be seen on a bus, walking separately from Scott into any and all banquets, walking apart in corridors) reflected her ultra private nature or if it was more calculated - a desire to not devalue the product by letting people have it for free. Stay under wraps until even the most inoccuous candid goes up in price. Example - their book which contained a lot of unremarkable off-ice photos that Scott had never shown on his own facebook or in a profile picture. The photos in the book didn't prove they were a couple - they were of a figure skating team who were also friends, whose families were friends too - off ice through the years. That's it. But we never saw these simple photos til they went on sale. All of the Jessica/Scott slobber was the stuff we got for free. Here, have some more. No, I insist.
Scott's public "family" album and other albums when his "private" facebook was visible had no Virtues, no Tessa. Cody Hay - yeah! Have some Cody Hay. Tessa? Who's that?
When Scott and Tessa were called on it, Scott produced one "bus" candid from Finlandia (Tessa sitting next to him - dear God) and a semi-candid from the Audrey/Fred photo shoot for his facebook fan page. He hasn't, of course, shared any since. Maybe they're both still recovering from sharing that much.
Tessa has gone through much of this season being ridiculous. In Korea. In many interviews. But a documentary - no problem.
So what is it - a documentary documentary - or another Journey From Childhood Dream To Gold - i.e. - counterprogramming? A vehicle in which they use carefully edited realities to embed more of their fictitious narrative?
Their pattern has always been to throw fans a bone, tease the truth a bit before lowering the boom with massive sham. Going back to just prior to HPC 2009, their remarks about their Mahler program: "They're happy, they're in love, and it definitely came naturally." "just being in Paris makes us excited."
BOOM - Dominican photos.
"romantic trip to Monaco." "seriously, we're going to Monaco."
BOOM - hi - it's Alma - nope, not showing you Olympic or Worlds photos but LOOK who was REALLY in Monaco with Scott!! JESSICA!
And now recently:
"My idea of romance is someone you can laugh with and be completely yourself."
"Mine is that everyone has that other half you have to find in the world."
Fans: "Are they finally relaxing?"
BOOM.
That's why I know where my money's going.
