I used to have a lot of issue with the performance aspect and skating basics of the Chinese skaters. I thought Chen Lu was only okay and the early S/Z positively wooden. But this kid Boyang surprised me with a program the style of which I normally wouldn't enjoy. I got the impression that his fun with this program, goofy or not, is much more genuine than the retro faux-goofiness than say S/M skated with in their SP or T/M in theirs. The shoulder shimmie looks a tiny bit cringy to me but I thought overall there was clear intention behind every move, and he's really enjoying it out there. The speed with which he flies across the ice only added to the overall buoyant mood. It's really just a very fitting interpretation to me. I smiled only because I saw that he was having fun and that his moves made on-the-nose references to a figure in pop culture. This feels like a sparkling, contemporary and youthful routine.
Fair enough. I'm not sure there was equally clear intention behind every move, but overall, I see your points.
Oh why be such a spoilsport? Sometimes I want to eat haute cuisine, and sometimes I want to eat potato chips. It's like the Rockettes--they know they're kitschy as all git out and what they do they do very very well. Jin's program is a big bag of potato chips and I enjoyed it thoroughly and thought the score was fair.
But hey, de gustibus non est diputandum.
I'm entitled to have a different assessment. We don't all have to enjoy the big bag of potato chips equally.
Look, I survived/experienced William Hung, and his American Idol audition and subsequent performances were memorable for all the wrong reasons. People were laughing AT him, not with him, and even worse, he seemed to not be in on the joke. So yeah, there's actually documented history of awkward, gawky Asians who are going ALL OUT with effort and performance but clearly lacking in artistry who are being laughed AT by Westerners. You'll excuse me if I don't laugh as hard as everybody else.
Is Boyang Jin's performance the skating equivalent of William Hung's?
Absolutely not. It was really skated and performed quite well, and quite enjoyable overall. No problem with that. I expressed just a TINY bit of discomfort--literally, my words were, "
slightest bit of discomfort", and voiced a few questions on my mind. Bcash had a different perspective / experience and I appreciated that.
This is a forum and people are not required to agree on anything, though on occasion it seems like if you have an opinion that is different from the mainstream, someone will come after you with a flyswatter to try and squash disagreement out of you.
I will as many times as necessary.
