Apparently, there's been some heated debate over the 2014 Winter Olympics mascot! The games are to be held in the town of Sochi, Russia, and, for some bizarre reason Russian politicians have been chiming in their thoughts. None of them are positive.
The three choices, narrowed down from nine at the start of voting, are a polar bear, a snow leopard, and a rabbit. Russian politician Vladimir Zhrinovsky claimed that all three choices "are an insult to Russia." Even President Dmitry Medvedev wondered if the outcome reflects "the will of the people," a statement that could quite frankly apply to pretty much any Russian election.
That's about all there is to say in the realm of restating facts. I do think, however, that this process (besides being pretty hilarious) shines a light on the twisted world of Russian politics. The country is extremely corrupted, so much so, in fact, that to attract foreign investment the Russian government has been constructing a special area for businesses to run that lists, as one of its big features, the rule of law. The cause of the problem is a result of both the remnants of the old Soviet power structure and the new influx of money to private oil executives that rival Soviet officials for power and connections.
So what do you guys think? Leave a comment about what kind of state you feel Russia is in, the influence of corruption of politics, or even about the mascots themselves.
*Clicking on the title will take you to an article about the mascot controversy. It also contains info about the Iranian Olympic logo "scandal" from a few months ago.
8 comments:
Well, i haven't been well informed about Russia, and I don't know how it is for them, but I think to make a big deal about a mascot is just ridicolous. It's a mascot, in a years time, after the olympics I bet you no one will really remember how they ended up looking, and I don't think people honestly care- they're just there for the sports.
This is similar to the London 2012 Olympic design, and officials just need to calm down. Why fight over something that doesn't mean much.
And lets leave it at this, make a mascot that appeals to everyone and the host country, but doesn't get them mad.
A polar bear, a snow leopard, or a rabbit...
Who WOULDN'T want one of those as their mascot?
I MIGHT understand the Russian president not wanting the rabbit to be the mascot (since the tragic viewing of a certain movie in Economics class has proven that rabbits aren't too particularly effective at surviving, poor rabbits), but a polar bear and a snow leopard seem pretty darn formidable.
Thankfully, President Medvedev is simply pondering if the outcome reflects "the will of the people." Hopefully him and his country and come to some sort of agreement. I'd like to watch him come up with a better mascot than a SNOW LEOPARD.
this is honestly hilarious..i don't get the big deal? a snow leopard is pretty much the coolest animal ever, i don't see how that could be offensive to russians, and i never knew that the election of the olympic mascot had to represent the "will of the people", although i must admit that a snow leopard (although cool looking), would be a weird choice for russia, seeing as they have less than 10,000 in their country..however funny this "scandal" is, it shows a lot about russian politics, and the fact that their infrastructure is so messed up that theyre worried about a mascot..sad.
on the other hand, at least their situation isn't as humorously pathetic as Iran's. if they do boycott the games, i will laugh so hard.
A friend of mine is a native Russian. He told me that when he went back to Russia to visit his old friends, they were either dead or hooked on drugs.
Come visit Russia, Olympics 2014.
wait.... how are they an insult?...
what we have hear is an international event with a large case of international culture clash..
looking at the iranian complaint on the london logo.. same idea... i'm pretty sure they meant "2012".. instead of "ZION"... (T_T).. too much heat.
-Raymond Lim
Hmmm...I feel like these Russian politicians probably have better things to do than argue about a mascot.
Come on guys. You have bigger fish to fry.
Well I guess in Russia creativity uses you because I see almost none of it here. We have three mascots that are perfectly fine, and they could represent the Russian nation quite well if everything is well planned out. But instead of having a triforce of three animals being debated over, why don't they come up with something else like a winged mascot to celebrate the country's history. Whatever they come up with I'll look forward to seeing, and hey, is Russia worse than the U.S.?
The Russian politicians seem to have nothing else to do these days if they get this concerned about something that isn't even that significantly important. Their thoughts are also quite irrational. It is laughable to see them question if the choice of the mascots reflect "the will of the people". Perhaps the Russian politicians think that *Pedobear is a more suitable mascot for the 2014 Winter Olympics than the mascots the people of Russian have voted for.
*2010 Vancouver
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