Big Lizards:Blog:Entry “The Ginormous Marathon "So You Think You Can Dance" Massacree”

« Gonzales, Intelligence, and Perjury: the Penultimate Word | Main | Time to Sack the Robes »

August 2, 2007

The Ginormous Marathon "So You Think You Can Dance" Massacree

Hatched by Sachi

We know Michelle Malkin already wrote about this... but (pace, our dearest Michelle) it doesn't really seem like she's ever even heard of the show before; it seems she only responded because readers of her blog called her attention to it. Her take is -- well, unique; but it doesn't fit what we actually saw when we watched. (Unlike Michelle, we were actual witnesses!)

And Michelle missed the big picture, anyway.

So, as the nearest thing to "experts" on So You Think You Can Dance that readers of Big Lizards are likely to know, we figured we'd better toss in our two cents. (Note that this post is jointly written by the two of us; wherever you see the first-person singular, you'll just have to guess which of us wrote it. Hah.)

Last Thursday, Dafydd and I [that's your only easy one] were watching one of our favorite TV shows, So You Think You Can Dance -- a dancing version of American Idol, where contestants vie to be chosen "America's favorite dancer."

It's a truly great show: The dancers come from many different disciplines, from ballroom to B-boy, Latin to Hip-Hop... and everybody is required to dance every style. On Wednesdays, we see the contestants (paired up boy-girl, boy-girl) randomly choose a dance style. For several days -- covered in a minute or so of short video takes -- they're choreographed by professional choreographers; then they take the stage and dance the routine.

Thursday is the result show, where, on the basis of viewer votes the preceding day, one guy and one doll are cut from the show. Thursday is always a nailbiter; we have two favorites, Lacey Schwimmer and Pasha Kovalev. Lacey is a West Coast Swing and International Latin ballroom champion -- just like her brother Benji Schwimmer; in fact, besides the official championships he's won, Lacey's brother Benji also won this very competition last season. Pasha is also Latin ballroom, but I don't know if he has ever won any major competitions; he doesn't mention any in his bio.

But last Thursday, besides the normal results, something unexpected happened: One of the judges and choreographers, Mia Michaels, found it necessary to apologize for the "jacket" she wore on the previous day's show, which was in fact a Marine Corps dress blue blouse with an upside-down Lance Corporal's rank insignia -- sewn on the cuffs. (It's supposed to be on the shoulders, of course. And rightside-up. And only if the wearer is, in fact, a Marine Corps Lance Corporal. Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the show?)

Frankly, we hadn't even noticed it; we weren't paying much attention to the few shots of the judges. But evidently, many Marines and other service members did notice; and they took offense. In her apology, Michaels said she'd received numerous complaints; she also said she had no idea the jacket meant anything... she just wore it as a "fashion statement":

But then she opened the messages and was shocked by their tone and content. "It was hate mail," she says simply. "Saying things like, 'You should be ashamed of yourself.' It was really intense. It was awful."

The writers were responding to a jacket worn by Michaels on Wednesday's show. She had no idea that anyone would be offended by it, she says. She simply thought she was being fashionable by wearing a navy blue military jacket that happened to have a Marine emblem, upside down, on the sleeves. After hearing the feedback, Michaels tried to make amends on the air. "I understand why people were upset and I respect that," she says. "That symbol is sacred to the Marines, it's what they earned. The problem needed to be addressed and I'm glad we addressed it. That's why I made a public apology."

Although her on-air apology sounded sincere enough, the "hate speech" comment is utter bilge. Soon after Thursday's show, I went to the show's bulletin board (and so did I). There were already over two hundred posts in one thread on Mia Michaels' wardrobe, and there were at least a dozen threads. The comments were mostly from Marines, their friends, and family members criticizing Micheals' insensitivity... plus a bunch of ardent, anti-war fanatics posting to call the Marines "chickenhawks" and "warmongers," racists and homophobes, and to order them to stop watching the show.

I did not see a single instance of hate speech, though -- at least not on the pro-war side. The threads have all scrolled into oblivion, and we of course can't be sure that Mia Michaels didn't receive any bona-fide hate snail-mail; but the first few BBS posts I read were from Marine Corps sergeants simply explaining what that uniform meant to Marines, and how hard people must work to earn the right to wear it. It isn't something you casually wear to look cool.

Many such posts followed; and of course, each thread degenerated into an argument over the war itself. But honestly, if Michaels had understood why people were offended, she wouldn't have interpreted "you should be ashamed of youself" as "hate mail."

But that wasn't the only thing that happened that night; something truly remarkable occurred...

As I said, SYTYCD is a dance version of American Idol. I'm proud to say I'm a huge fan, even watching many of the episodes in the first season. And I've been a fan of ballroom competitions for many, many years. But we really got into it last season, watching every single episode religiously and voting every week for Benji Schwimmer -- from every telephone number in the house. (We're continuing the tradition this season.)

Last Wednesday, "dance night," for the very first time in this show, each of the top ten dancers danced identical choreography to the same piece of music, created by (in our opinion) the show's’ best choreographer, Wade Robson (he choreographs in Broadway style). That means ten individual dancers got up and danced the same routine to the same music; needless to say, after about the third contestant, we got mighty sick of it. (Thankfully, they didn't pull such a stupid stunt last night: Each couple just danced two distinct pairs routines, like they usually do.)

Both Wade and Mia have been nominated for an Emmy in the past. I usually don't care for Michaels' pretentious, meaningless, "artistic" style of Contemporary, but Wade is different: He has a distinct style, he's creative and unique, and his dances are generally just plain fun (if you watched last season, he choreographed the "night of the living dead" group number). Just as Bob Fosse's choreography was unique and instantly identifiable, Wade Robson has a personal touch that makes him stand out.

We like him... so naturally, we were quite annoyed last Wednesday when Robson said the theme of the endlessly-repeated dance was "peace and anti-war." Each dancer had to pick a word to be stenciled onto his or her T-shirt; the choices were "peace," "love," "unity," "gentle," "patience," and so forth (no subtext there). Also, the choreography itself was supposed to evoke a feeling of "we're not gonna take it anymore," they danced to some anti-war song about "waitin' for the world to change," and each piece included a "primal scream" for each dancer. (For some inexplicable reason, I thought of Howard Dean.)

We were exasperated. Why did he have to inject his naive political opinions into an otherwise a-political famility entertainment show? My opinion of Robson plunged.

But it seems we were not the only ones who thought that: A huge chunk of viewers called and e-mailed to complain about the routine. It must have been a huge deal, because the viewer reaction resulted in yet another apology on the same results show where Mia Michaels had been forced to apologize -- this one "a non-apology apology" and explanation from the main judge (and the show's creator executive producer), Nigel Lythgoe:

That put executive producer Nigel Lythgoe in the crosshairs of more angry feedback from those who believe that an antiwar dance means the show and its dancers are unpatriotic and do not support the troops [gosh, I wonder why people would get that impression]. "Who would've dreamt -- with the dancers using words like 'humility,' 'love' and 'passion' -- that I would be defending a television show that uses words like that?" asks Lythgoe, who also apologized on air.

But at the same time, Lythgoe stood his ground. "Art should be allowed to make statements," he said. "I'm so proud to be part of a show that allows freedom of expression," says Michaels. "Nigel has allowed us to be who we are. He never edits us and he lets us express ourselves as artists. I think that is rare and extraordinary."

Really! Does anybody believe Nigel would have allowed a choreographer to create a dance routine with a theme of "moral war," the dancers wearing T-shirts stenciled with words like "victory," "courage, and "honor?" Show of hands now...!

Now this part is hardly new or interesting. It's not particularly surprising that a Broadway choreographer turns out to be a peacenik, or that a Hollywood producer (by way of London) would fail to notice anything controversial about an "anti-war" dance theme -- in the middle of a war. I keep thinking about all those anti-war movies made during World War II...

Being political junkies, we're used being ambushed by the Left in the most inappropriate venues: my junior-high math teacher’s retirement party, my best friend's wedding -- and even a dance contest show. It's amazing how often we're forced to endure asinine, leftist political commentary shoehorned into some venue where arguing back -- or even hinting at disagreement -- would create such a scene, that we just keep our mouths shut. I think everybody reading this post knows exactly what we mean.

Who, besides a Leftie, wants to ruin a joyous occasion? For some reason, the liberal who inappropriately injects politics never gets blamed... invariably, everyone directs his ire towards the non-liberal who finally responds after repeated political baiting. Thus the outrageously offensive statements go unchallenged, and we grind our molars down to stubs of enamel. (That's why, on those rare occasions where liberals get criticized for offensive politicking, they're utterly dumbfounded.)

"Who doesn't want peace, anyway?" Nigel demanded on last Thurday's results show, reacting to the criticism. He seemed truly taken aback by the viewers' response, honestly befuddled that anyone would see anything wrong with protesting against war -- during a war.

This story was picked up by some conservative bloggers and milbloggers. Michelle Malkin's negative reaction is understandable:

Fortunately, I missed last week’s episode of the Fox network show, “So, You Think You Can Dance?” If I had seen it, I might have damaged my TV set.

She is right, of course; but she missed the big point: It's one thing for conservatives and milbloggers, who normally don't watch the show anyway, to complain about it after the fact. But it's quite another when ordinary, non-political dance fans get offended by what they consider an "anti-military" message. The endless threads on the show BBS were clearly started by big fans of the show who watched it twice every week, but were so offended that they complained. That's more than we jaded politicos did!

And that's the big picture that Michelle Malkin missed: It wasn't just the "usual suspects" complaining; it was a major chunk of the show's viewership. Enough to spawn, not one, but two apologies on the same prime time, network show.

We've been told so many times that since "70% of Americans are against the Iraq war," the rest of us should just shut up and blow away. We're lectured that Americans are sick and tired of this long, fruitless war that can only end in ignominious defeat. But when a popular TV-show sneaks “anti-war” propaganda against this selfsame “unpopular war,” they receive hundreds of complaints. What gives?

Is it possible that ordinary Americans are not as anti-war as the elite media portray them, not quite so willing to embrace defeat and surrender? I don’t know if I should leap that far to a conclusion based upon one reaction to a TV dance show... still, what happened on SYTYCD could be a harbinger of things to come.

It is just possible that what the American people are really sick and tired of is the relentless drumbeat of losers insulting our military.

Maybe what people really can't stand is defeat. So if they think (based upon media lies-by-omission) that we're losing the war, they're against it; but if they understand that we've turned a corner and are now headed towards a reasonable victory with honor, we may see a complete 180 on whether it was worth fighting the Iraq war. As the expression goes, "Victory has a thousand fathers; defeat is an orphan -- living on generous welfare payments from Democratic surrender-monkeys."

If that's the case, then when General David Petraeus brings home good news from Iraq this September, the American people will look back at Democrats who spent the last couple of years pushing retreat-defeat resolutions and, like the guy or gal waking up after a drunken, quickie marriage in Tijuana, wonder what the hell they ever saw in Harry or Nancy.

Hatched by Sachi on this day, August 2, 2007, at the time of 5:36 AM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this hissing: http://biglizards.net/mt3.36/earendiltrack.cgi/2303

Comments

The following hissed in response by: charlotte

Thanks for this! Am sending your post on to friends with huge chunks of it highlighted. Sachi and Dafydd, you're a powerful, graceful couple on the blogroom floor.

The above hissed in response by: charlotte at August 2, 2007 7:42 AM

The following hissed in response by: Dan Kauffman

It's amazing how often we're forced to endure asinine, leftist political commentary shoehorned into some venue where arguing back -- or even hinting at disagreement -- would create such a scene, that we just keep our mouths shut. I think everybody reading this post knows exactly what we mean.

I certainly do I and a few folks I met with similair politics bit our lips and stayed silent during quite a few of the panels at the Heinlein Centenial.
I think the worst case was the one on The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress and the Russian Language where we got lecture at the end on the Patriot Act just when I was thinking FINALLY one panel that is not going to tell me how evil Bush is. WRONG

The above hissed in response by: Dan Kauffman at August 2, 2007 8:26 AM

The following hissed in response by: Dan Kauffman

It's amazing how often we're forced to endure asinine, leftist political commentary shoehorned into some venue where arguing back -- or even hinting at disagreement -- would create such a scene, that we just keep our mouths shut. I think everybody reading this post knows exactly what we mean.

The above hissed in response by: Dan Kauffman at August 2, 2007 8:26 AM

The following hissed in response by: Chris Hunt

Obviously this was another case of American blind justice where the defendants were fined $50 and had to pick up the garbage.

The above hissed in response by: Chris Hunt at August 2, 2007 8:47 AM

The following hissed in response by: k2aggie07

Really Dan? That makes me kind of sad. I'm not sure how you can like Heinlein and be a Leftist at the same time. Especially when extolling the praise of a massively anti-large-government book like The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

Dafydd, I've noticed an increasing amount of momentum regarding positive change in Iraq. I'm left wondering if this is truly a "changing tide" thing or democrats hedging their bets.

The above hissed in response by: k2aggie07 at August 2, 2007 9:05 AM

The following hissed in response by: Big D

Liberalism is largely an expression of lazy wishful thinking and narcissism. Liberals become liberals because it makes them feel good about themselves. Sharing it with you is part of that feel good process. Think of someone bragging about how much they do for charity. When you don't respond appropriately they have severe cognitive disconnect - they are liberals to feel good about themselves, and you are making them feel bad. This is why any criticism of liberals is quickly dubbed "hate speech". This is why they are befuddled when they have to apologize. "I thought everyone would like me better because of my liberal views...."

I wonder how many people on this dance show supported the artistic expression of the movie 300? They probably didn't bother to see it.

The above hissed in response by: Big D at August 2, 2007 9:35 AM

The following hissed in response by: Fritz

While making political comments at inappropriate times is not limited to those normally associated with the left, they do tend to do far more of it and then seem absolutely amazed that anyone could find such comments offensive. Then they compound the problem by playing the wounded card and accusing those offended by said comments of being hateful and mean spirited. That is the reason that I watch little television and go to few movies. While many programs and movies don't do so in such an obvious way, they still manage to work their beliefs in by the way they handle many subjects. If you don't believe me, watch a little children's programming as see the way the environment is presented. They start indoctrinating children with cartoons. To me they seem to want government to control every aspect of life, but I wonder if they would be happy if their wishes came true.

The above hissed in response by: Fritz at August 2, 2007 11:02 AM

The following hissed in response by: k2aggie07

Dafydd, one thing you said made me stop and think:

...dancers wearing T-shirts stenciled with words like "victory," "courage, and "honor?"

Now I was in a the Aggie Corps of Cadets at A&M and a great many of my friends are Marines. Their watchwords are Honor, Courage and Commitment, and as a result I've been hearing those words often over the past few years.

One thing we had to memorize as fish was Governor Coke's advice to the students of the newly opened Texas A&M University: "Let your watchword be duty, and know no other talisman of success than labor. Let honor be your guiding star in your dealings with your superiors, your fellows, with all. Be as true to a trust reposed as the needle to the pole. Stand by the right, even to the sacrifice of life itself, and learn that death is preferable to dishonor."

What you wrote made me realize that outside of the confines of my Corps and military experiences there are certain words that do not get used at all (or get used in wholly inappropriate ways). Bravery, valor, duty, honor are things that you just don't hear about. Courage is used more often of athletes than of people these days.

These things have fallen out of our lexicon, and it distresses me because they are the building blocks of our morality.

Its frightening. Can you imagine the current governor of any state giving similar advice to students of a school? Honor, Courage, and Commitment are core values of a bygone age -- and its yet another one of the reasons that the left and the military are mutually incompatible.

The above hissed in response by: k2aggie07 at August 2, 2007 2:01 PM

The following hissed in response by: Terrye

I missed the show, but I do know what you mean.

I work for a home health care agency and make visits to people's homes. I try to avoid this sort of subject. The other day some silly woman whose son joined the military started railing at the war and Bush. She said she wanted her son to go in the military because he could retire early and get a good education, but she was against Bush's war.

I told her that the military was not a jobs work program. She kept at me about the war and finally I told her that she did not know what she was talking about, I had a job to do and listening to her was not part of my job description.

Then I did something I had never done before, I asked to be removed from the home. Let someone else listen to that crap.

The above hissed in response by: Terrye at August 2, 2007 2:24 PM

The following hissed in response by: Chris Hunt

Hmmm, perhaps I misread the title. I'll just be over here on the Group W bench, singing to myself in six-part harmony.

The above hissed in response by: Chris Hunt at August 2, 2007 3:19 PM

The following hissed in response by: Rovin

One has to wonder if the Hollywood producers will have to put their upcoming anti-war movies on the shelf for a while. (registration may be required to link)

Whether a campaign to boycott the movies and advertisers is worth the trouble or effort is questionable. But if the direction of the war continues to show the progress Gen. Petraeus is making, it might be fun to see how ridiculous the hollywood left can become.

The above hissed in response by: Rovin at August 3, 2007 7:50 AM

The following hissed in response by: Baggi

Dafydd,

How it hurts me to hear how one of your favorites is Benji's sister. Ug!

Me, my wife and my six year old daughter watch the show back on our DVR machine every week. How it pains us that each and every week the best female dancer in the show is teaching my six year old how to be a hoochy mama.

It isn't that she shows a lot of skin. All the female dancers do that to some degree. No, its that she dresses in a very provocative way, similar to Brittney Spears type dress, whereas her competition tend to dress either more covered up or in actual female type dress outfits, made for women dancers.

I'm glad to hear that your favorite male is the russian guy. He's been our favorite for awhile also. He solidified a place in our hearts a few weeks ago with Mia wished him to be gone. We've never particularly cared much for Mia Michaels and we didn't even know she was wearing something offensive to military folks.

I hope you all aren't actually calling in votes for the little tramp who is Benji's sister. She's a horrible example for my daughter who wants to some day become a dancer.

The above hissed in response by: Baggi at August 4, 2007 10:06 PM

The following hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh

Baggi:

I hope you all aren't actually calling in votes for the little tramp who is Benji's sister. She's a horrible example for my daughter who wants to some day become a dancer.

Two votes per week, woo hoo! Tell your daughter to be her own person and not try to imitate anyone -- whether Lacey "the Little Tramp" Schwimmer or Mother "Pain and Suffering Is Good for You" Teresa.

Dafydd

The above hissed in response by: Dafydd ab Hugh at August 5, 2007 1:26 AM

The following hissed in response by: Sachi

Baggi,

I don't think you should attack Lacey for her wardrobe, since she has no choice in the matter.

The above hissed in response by: Sachi at August 5, 2007 1:33 AM