The "please say something nice about Mao thread" | Page 3 | Golden Skate

The "please say something nice about Mao thread"

prettykeys

Medalist
Joined
Oct 19, 2009
from an American about "I feel I have pulled one of your teeth" as an American idiom -- that's a new one on me! What does it mean?

^ I don't know how uniquely American it is, but I think "to pull someone's teeth (or claws)," meaning , to render them powerless, is a legitimate phrase. So pulling one of your teeth would mean something like, "removing an arrow from your quiver." (I think that's an old British idiom from the days of Robin Hood.) :cool:

Just for fun, I typed "really great" into Google and got 14,000,000 hits. That's sick. :)
LOL @ the "That's Really Great" German thing. My mother, coming from Korea, apparently had a list of phrases to use in some English class as well. It's an...interesting way to learn conversational English. These days, I hope the Germans haven't changed it to "That's Hot." :laugh:

The reason why the phrase "I feel like I have pulled one of your teeth" isn't familiar is because it's based off of the saying "like pulling teeth", referring to a difficult task. She clearly means to say that hoping for fans of a rival to say something nice about the skater in mind is difficult, like pulling teeth.

Anyway, I have a few points to say about this thread:

First, it's not the place to complain about deleted posts. There is a separate subforum for complaints and inquiries.

Second, don't whine about "free speech" or lack thereof. It's a privately owned forum and the owners/moderators have the final say in whatever they want on it, so insistent complaining is both childish and futile. Have your say, and move on.

Lastly, I refuse to say "something nice about Mao" in some sort of declaration thread motivated by some hope of retaliation or "therapy" from another site. Clearly, what seems to have been missed by some moderators, is that this thread contains both a request for niceties about Mao, and a complaint about fights going on on YouTube where Mao is supposed to be a "victim", when in fact she wouldn't be the only skater to receive nasty directed comments and videos (and such an occurrence isn't limited to skaters, of course)--which is a fact that YuNa ubers are reacting to (and thereby getting posts deleted.)

It's strange that a Canadian-born gal whose first language was Korean can pick up on these subtleties - motivational or linguistic.

I've said "nice things about Mao" where they belong--in actual discussions of skating, thank you. :)
 
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prettykeys

Medalist
Joined
Oct 19, 2009
I love Mao because she tries new things and doesn't stick with the "pwetty pwetty pwincess" appeal that ladies figure skating is often associated with. Seriously, what other lady skaters do you know that went from something light like Clair de Lune to something heavy like The Bells of Moscow?
There is a certain elite skater who went from The Lark Ascending to the dark drama of Danse Macabre, enjoying success in the season preceding Bells. I wonder if such was an inspiration for that transformation, a signal for the need or desire to diversify. ;)
 

PolymerBob

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2007
I also said that Mao should not portray an image of innocent angel because it's no longer appropriate for her age.

Interesting point. I think there are 2 factors at work here. We don’t have any hard data, but I am pretty sure Mao has done very well with product endorsements. Her sponsors can’t throw money at her fast enough, and many of them like the innocent angel look. Take a look at the angelic white dress the Ghana chocolate people put her in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1LtuFxeHc8

The exception seems to be Ascience, the Japanese hair products company. They seem to prefer a more sexy / seductive look.

http://www.maoasadafanwebsite.com/mesimages/commercials/ASIENCE.jpg

The other factor is that maybe the innocent look is not an act.
 

princess9

On the Ice
Joined
May 1, 2010
Actually Prettykeys you are wrong (again). First, you don't have to participate in any thread esp. this one if the topic, which is VERY SIMPLY SINCERE goes against your grain.

Secondly, the motivation thread is the bashing, trolling and nasty comments made about Mao and the vicious characterizations of "what an idiot, etc." Frankel must be to feel, wish, believe whatever that Mao should have won. It's an Fs GS thread that inspired my little wish and the general internet bashing from the ubers I tire of. I cannot tell you the thread title, video as this post would get deleted. This is not YKF, and there are 56 pages devoted to YK news. Great, do you or others mind a Mao lite thread?. Pride is one thing. Vicious partisan hatred is another. FS is a sport for fun. I can go to a politics board for angst and hatred. Sorry, the world is hard enough. This thread is FS lite. That's all.

It is sad that the nationality issues between some Japanese and Korean fans spill over into the vitriol and they use Mao Asada or Yuna Kim to express the hatred.

Americans who fought a war and lost many have moved on. My father and a generation of Americans moved on and rebuilt Japan with others and became trading partners and allies. I never grew up with hatred against any nationality despite what we lost due to certain nations. History is war and conquest. I am guessing this bashing is about history and unforgiveness.

My thread is about saying something nice about a great skater whose getting bashed. This is not like any skater rivalry before for obvious reasons. I resent your mind/heart reading and implying some deep devious reason. I'm not Japanese, not Korean, don't have a thing against either skater or country. I am entitled to my opinion, however sub par or off you may find it. I have the ""gall" to say MK is the best skater I recall. I don't have to be a dance expert, scoring expert or figureskater to have an opinion. I hope it's still my constitutional right.

I saw some trolling posts that disappeared. Maybe the mods feel they want to avoid youtube like nasty comments. If I think Sue from Timbuktoo can skate circles around Kim or Asada, I'll imho that. You express many opinions in various ways. Say something nice about Mao is an affront to Kim fans?! She doesn't need fans like that.

Everyone is entitled but IMO GS is very particular about posts. We might feel censorship and I have noticed some posters get away with a lot on the other big skate board. But perhaps Ms Slater has different rules. I saw I think a post disappear. I don't know why. Perhaps this one will. I don't think it should.

I would suggest that YuNa is doing great on her own and I think she'd dissasociate herself from a lot of her alledged "fan" who just attack Mao, or any poster who says anything they don't like. Kim has enough true fans. I know she doesn't like the obsession some have with her. She does not want this I am sure. I'm positive she wants nothing to do with any really mean posts about Asada. She's above that. They were friends, they respect one another's skating. One pushes the other. This is FS. True fans appreciate many skaters, not just one. Well, nothing new here and I won't defend myself or feel I must explain kindness to any poster again. It's not worth the constant intentional ways people "misunderstand." It's not sincere. It's meant to start a rumble, so to speak.
 
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miki88

Medalist
Joined
Dec 28, 2009
The other factor is that maybe the innocent look is not an act.

It isn't! Lol. That's just her personality. Mao has always been the innocent and sunny type. Besides, the argument doesn't even work for her programs this year. Isn't it because they were so far from that innocent look that many people were kinda turned off by them?

ETA: I so agree with you princess. If some people find it hard to say something nice about Mao, then they don't have to participate in a thread like this.
 
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princess9

On the Ice
Joined
May 1, 2010
Interesting point. I think there are 2 factors at work here. We don’t have any hard data, but I am pretty sure Mao has done very well with product endorsements. Her sponsors can’t throw money at her fast enough, and many of them like the innocent angel look. Take a look at the angelic white dress the Ghana chocolate people put her in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1LtuFxeHc8

The exception seems to be Ascience, the Japanese hair products company. They seem to prefer a more sexy / seductive look.

http://www.maoasadafanwebsite.com/mesimages/commercials/ASIENCE.jpg

The other factor is that maybe the innocent look is not an act.

Nice pics Bob. I think she is a fairly sheltered and charmingly innocent girl. So is Kim. It is part of their appeal. I like the purity that both girls have in their skating. 19 is a baby and I don't feel "innocent angel" is some act. Certainly TAT tried to give her a powerful vehicle with "Bells." I am a Mao fan but I must say I prefer Mao 'lite.' so to speak.

I agree we need to see changes from pretty iceprincess biut then, that appears to be who she is. She does not look or skate like Ito or Harding. She is fairy like and ethereal as some have said. Perhaps in 4 years she will skate programs like Salome or Samson and Delilah. Yet her stature and style seem more suited to "Butterfly Lovers program." Versatility in skating or dance seems to come with the years, experience and opportunities. Usually when someone stops competing and has programs choreographed for audience appeal rather than ISI judges.
 

HCOSurfer

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 25, 2007
There is a certain elite skater who went from The Lark Ascending to the dark drama of Danse Macabre, enjoying success in the season preceding Bells. I wonder if such was an inspiration for that transformation, a signal for the need or desire to diversify. ;)

You have a point there prettykeys.
 

Tonichelle

Idita-Rock-n-Roll
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 27, 2003
If there is ever a question about the guidelines - review them. They're for all to view and follow.
 

sunny0760

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
I want to add something I have recently learned from these two articles of Tokyo Newspaper. (Originally I thought I could post this in the Frankel thread but changed my mind.)

An editorial about olys : http://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/column/editorial/CK2010022702000082.html
Asada interview after the olys : http://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/hold/2010/vancouver2010/menu/figure/shimen/CK2010030202000203.html

The editorial mentions that Asada could overcome the fearsome thoughts that she might not jump anymore, succeeding in three 3As under so much pressure so her silver itself was worth. It also commend Miki and Suzuki because they overcame their own predicaments too, while it praises Yuna's performance and preparation and Team Korea's stratege. I think this editorial represents many sensible and reasonable Japanese.

In the interview, there is a question about Mao's biggest hardship in the past four years. She said, "After the Russian Cup, of course. I was surprised that my jumps broke down. Knowing that, I returned to practice but they still didn't work. The most painful moment. I even wondered if I could go to the olys."

As far as I know, she still struggled when she had lost her weight and participated in 4CC in Jan and she lost to Suzuki in SP but she succeeded 3As in the LP though. I admit her performance at 4CC and olys and Worlds took a lot of determination and hard work as other posters already mentioned.

Another question was what her mom said about olys.
"Mom said, 'it was good. Most of all, I am content because you could pull it off without mishap.'"

I think her mom said vey wise thing here.

I understand many fans from other countries don't like to hear and see such heated disputes between Korean fans and Japanese fans. I sometimes frown too but I want to say there are a lot of respectable and thoughtful people in both countries even though sometimes they may disagree over anything. Well, please look up more civil and reasonable media than lower level media or some bitter 'comments' of the internet.

This is another example from a Korean article.
http://www.joseilbo.com/news/htmls/2010/03/2010031098236.html
He criticizes the inflated, humongous figures that was estimated about how much Yuna would supposedly boost up Korean economy and says that if Koreans hope the best for Yuna and Korea,
they should remove heavy burden of nationalism from her slender sholders. I agree.
 

princess9

On the Ice
Joined
May 1, 2010
Sunny, thanks for the post. What I mostly commented on in one post was what happens here in GS. Some of the posts which was to talk about what we like about Mao's skating, were removed as they were posts insulting her. Which of course shows poor form. I did not know of those articles regarding Mao and am enlightened. I guess I will say that I find her most enchanting in her gala skates when she skates with joy. I find in here some of the good qualities of Sasha Cohen without the bad ones.

I find it interesting that the Frankel thread which was about the balletic ability of Mao kind of evolved into a classical music/art discussion without any discussion of ballet or the great ballerinas off today. While Mao may have very good extension, she is not a ballerina but a skater. And an interesting side topic would have been how dancers are incredible athletes when they are well trained, especially ballet trained. Well, perhaps that will be another thread. Mao Asada is a rare combo. Her triple axels are so rare. Many have done the tough 3x3's in competition but maybe 5 women(?) the triple axel. And she did 3. I can see Mao as an athlete or as a dancer or as both. I wonder how she can maintain her graceful flow while doing those jumps and transitions. It seems too difficult. Well, her Worlds performance was very satisfying. It just shows how even the top two athlete/artists in FS have periods where nothing works. My best to her and all my other favorites.

I wonder how Mirai Nagasu will compare or fare this season. I see some similarities in their skating. I think if/when Kim leaves, Mirai will be Mao's main competition.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
I
The editorial mentions that Asada could overcome the fearsome thoughts that she might not jump anymore, succeeding in three 3As under so much pressure so her silver itself was worth. It also commend Miki and Suzuki because they overcame their own predicaments too, while it praises Yuna's performance and preparation and Team Korea's stratege. I think this editorial represents many sensible and reasonable Japanese.

In the interview, there is a question about Mao's biggest hardship in the past four years. She said, "After the Russian Cup, of course. I was surprised that my jumps broke down. Knowing that, I returned to practice but they still didn't work. The most painful moment. I even wondered if I could go to the olys."

As far as I know, she still struggled when she had lost her weight and participated in 4CC in Jan and she lost to Suzuki in SP but she succeeded 3As in the LP though. I admit her performance at 4CC and olys and Worlds took a lot of determination and hard work as other posters already mentioned.

Another question was what her mom said about olys.
"Mom said, 'it was good. Most of all, I am content because you could pull it off without mishap.'"

I think her mom said vey wise thing here.

I understand many fans from other countries don't like to hear and see such heated disputes between Korean fans and Japanese fans. I sometimes frown too but I want to say there are a lot of respectable and thoughtful people in both countries even though sometimes they may disagree over anything. Well, please look up more civil and reasonable media than lower level media or some bitter 'comments' of the internet.

This is another example from a Korean article.
http://www.joseilbo.com/news/htmls/2010/03/2010031098236.html
He criticizes the inflated, humongous figures that was estimated about how much Yuna would supposedly boost up Korean economy and says that if Koreans hope the best for Yuna and Korea,
they should remove heavy burden of nationalism from her slender sholders. I agree.

This is very enlightening. Thanks for the summaries of these articles. It's a relief to know that there were many supportive articles for both skaters in Japan and Korea.

Certainly the revealing details about Mao's frame of mind earlier in the year make her wonderful Olympic and Worlds performances even more impressive. I feel that the way she pulled herself together and did so well will give her the confidence to shake off any further worries about her jumps.
 

RumbleFish

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 11, 2010
Interesting point. I think there are 2 factors at work here. We don’t have any hard data, but I am pretty sure Mao has done very well with product endorsements. Her sponsors can’t throw money at her fast enough, and many of them like the innocent angel look. Take a look at the angelic white dress the Ghana chocolate people put her in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1LtuFxeHc8

The exception seems to be Ascience, the Japanese hair products company. They seem to prefer a more sexy / seductive look.

http://www.maoasadafanwebsite.com/mesimages/commercials/ASIENCE.jpg

The other factor is that maybe the innocent look is not an act.

Actually, I don't really care whether a skater is innocent or not.
I just assume skaters are human beings just like us and they have both angels and demons coexisting in their minds.
Also, I happen to believe innocence and competitive feistiness could coexist in a person.

I was talking about selection of image Mao Asada chose to accentuate on and off the ice and how it affected her performance.
At start of the season, she looked awkward because she was performing to heavy music while trying to maintain her off ice image as an innocent girl.
Her program eventually came together, when she showed more fire and desire to win in tune with the music.
If her endorsement contracts prefer an innocent image, she could always go back, but I preferred Mao Asada and her program as a feisty competitor.
 

rondoboy

Rinkside
Joined
May 5, 2010
It isn't! Lol. That's just her personality. Mao has always been the innocent and sunny type. Besides, the argument doesn't even work for her programs this year. Isn't it because they were so far from that innocent look that many people were kinda turned off by them?

ETA: I so agree with you princess. If some people find it hard to say something nice about Mao, then they don't have to participate in a thread like this.


Co signed:agree:
Rondoboy
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
If anyone is uncertain why a post disappears, they should read the guidelines. The most common reasons for deleting a post are insulting anoter poster; insulting the moderators; posting an unsourced rumor about a skater, coach, or federation; posting ethnic slurs or ethnic or racial comments likely to start a flame war; and using x rated language. If your post has significant figure skating content, it may be edited, and if so, a comment will be written explaining the edit. However, when there are many deletable posts, all quoting other previously deleted posts, I am likely to just delete them all without explanation. For this I apologize.

But be aware, if you quote a deleted post, I will either edit or delete your post too, unless its content is so interesting that I have to take the time to edit it.

I would urge you all to be kind to one another, and when you can't be kind, use the report button to report a post.

If you have a specific question for the moderators, the place to do it is not inside a thread, it's in the feedback forum. If you have a question of why a specific post was edited or deleted, that would be the place to post and ask. Although you cannot see the post, we can, so if you give the approximate post number, we will be able to find it and tell you.
 

dlgpffps

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 14, 2009
I think other posters have already discussed my main reasons for liking Mao. To add something to the discussion: I love it when Mao's happy. The thing is, she always exudes her feelings. Her happiness is contagious. Her smile puts a smile smack on my face. When she's sad, I'm a little upset as well. It probably has to do with her childlike transparency.
 

OS

Sedated by Modonium
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 23, 2010
ITA, I think that was why you have plenty of people rushing to her defence fervently. Her happiness, glee and perhaps most of all 'innocence' is contagious and she exude them most in her galas where she appears most at ease (at least from the last 2 years of performances I saw). When she is happy - it really translate into her skating, and take it above a notch from her SP and FS performances. In other words, it is true one usually performs best when there's joy and happiness in their heart. At least IMHO it is true for Mao.

Mao is like a talented, good and studious prodigy that people has grew fond of over the years. Fan and Critics are are aware of the potential she is capable of, and she does show us glimpse of brilliance but is frustrating because the package is not well rounded enough, and her artistic side not recognised by the COP. However, as with life, everyone have peaks and troves, and everyone make little mistakes now and then. The good thing is they usually come back much stronger and maturer.

Just look at Yuna's failure in 2007, 2008 at WC, and then her amazing streak of 2009-2010 after it. And since the Olympics, how Mao's came back in 2010 WC with her best performances in 2 years. It says it all really. That is why I think next year WC would be very interesting to see from both Ladies. It seems Mao has come out of the slump now with rules in her favour - performing on home ground - with hopefully best programs than ever, Vs Yuna who seemed lack in motivation to compete and said wanting to push the artistic side of things, which never really count much under the current COP. It would be a match of such 'high expectations', I am literally shaken in anticipation while booking a plane ticket to Tokyo as we speak :)
 
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PolymerBob

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2007
I was talking about selection of image Mao Asada chose to accentuate on and off the ice and how it affected her performance.

At start of the season, she looked awkward because she was performing to heavy music while trying to maintain her off ice image as an innocent girl.

If her endorsement contracts prefer an innocent image, she could always go back, but I preferred Mao Asada and her program as a feisty competitor.

I don’t believe an off-ice image and an on-ice character will interfere with each other. They are totally separate. Also, I think Mao’s sponsors throw money at her because of her off-ice image. She could portray a prostitute from an opera, and they wouldn’t care. She is an excellent role model for other girls her age.

As for “trying to maintain her off ice image as an innocent girl”, well, is that just an image?
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
I would like to add this to dorispulaski's post, number 54 above.

Trolling is defined as making posts that have no other purpose than to annoy and provoke other members of the forum. Posts of this sort are not welcome and will be deleted without comment.

If you have questions, comments or complaints about the administration of this forum, put them in the Feedback folder, not in on-topic threads.
 

Kwanford Wife

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 29, 2004
LOL @ the "That's Really Great" German thing. My mother, coming from Korea, apparently had a list of phrases to use in some English class as well. It's an...interesting way to learn conversational English. These days, I hope the Germans haven't changed it to "That's Hot." :laugh:

The reason why the phrase "I feel like I have pulled one of your teeth" isn't familiar is because it's based off of the saying "like pulling teeth", referring to a difficult task. She clearly means to say that hoping for fans of a rival to say something nice about the skater in mind is difficult, like pulling teeth.

Anyway, I have a few points to say about this thread:

First, it's not the place to complain about deleted posts. There is a separate subforum for complaints and inquiries.

Second, don't whine about "free speech" or lack thereof. It's a privately owned forum and the owners/moderators have the final say in whatever they want on it, so insistent complaining is both childish and futile. Have your say, and move on.

Lastly, I refuse to say "something nice about Mao" in some sort of declaration thread motivated by some hope of retaliation or "therapy" from another site. Clearly, what seems to have been missed by some moderators, is that this thread contains both a request for niceties about Mao, and a complaint about fights going on on YouTube where Mao is supposed to be a "victim", when in fact she wouldn't be the only skater to receive nasty directed comments and videos (and such an occurrence isn't limited to skaters, of course)--which is a fact that YuNa ubers are reacting to (and thereby getting posts deleted.)

It's strange that a Canadian-born gal whose first language was Korean can pick up on these subtleties - motivational or linguistic.

I've said "nice things about Mao" where they belong--in actual discussions of skating, thank you. :)
:disapp:
Are you seriously serious?

Anywho... I don't need a special thread to say something nice about Mao because her skating is sick and I admire any skater who is willing to take a chance in an Olympic year. As tradition goes, skaters tend to dial it back and skate for perfection vs. innovation in an Olympic year. No major coaching changes, safe music & cheoro, conservative costuming... safe & solid is the way to play the olympic game.

Mao had no real incentive to push herself technically this season, but she did it anyway. (I'm still a bit cranky about what I saw as underscoring by the officials but what can you do?) This is not a skater content to rest on her laurels - a true fighter and I love that about her.
 
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