I think uber-love is easier to portray on single skaters' fandom than pairs or dancers. Not just skaters, but overall. Plus, when it comes to rivalry of talents, it's hard to dig into pairs/doubles whose presentations are from teamwork - it'll be weird to be uber about which pair's teamwork is better than others.Well, I made no such comments about Yuna the person. I was only talking about her musical interpretation and presentation of her programs.
Of course, I was asking for it with my line about the die-hard fans, but I've noticed they're the only ones I've seen who are so sensitive that they take any criticism of Yuna Kim as an insult against her. Usually, people appreciate Kim (especially after showing the rest of the competition how one should skate at Worlds in the LP) and understand her wins. But I just don't see the same kind of love towards her as I see for the likes of Virtue/Moir, Davis/White, Volosozhar/Trankov, etc. To me, it's more of a respect and appreciation than all-out love.
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BTW, I am not a hater. Just because I am not fully sold on her doesn't mean I'm on another skater's bandwagon and want to see Kim fail or anything. Some of the more extreme posters need to understand that difference of opinion doesn't make one a "hater" or that their opinions are invalid. They're just different and no amount of ranting and raving will change that person's mind.
Anyways, I don't think ubers are the ONLY ones responding to difference in opinions, nor are all sensitive either. People become sensitive when they start feeling the opposite party is sensitive or offensive, whether it's true or not. Especially on Yuna's style, which has a broad range in level of appreciation, people can fall in love because it's a rare instance of meeting their expectations or disappointment for how they don't see what they're looking for; it's hard to be objective when something that so moved one's heart is met with laments of sigh, vice versa. I don't think you're a hater, and I wonder if anyone accused you of being one - which is untrue. However, I don't think you understand why some go crazy about her artistry; lovers don't see how you can not appreciate her either. Both (you too) have expressed and responded with strong opinions, which may feel offensive depending, although neither have crossed the line (but some seem to feel so) just yet.
Let me take out the non-Asian part: Yuna's features are hard to detect depending on certain individuals, moreso with non-Asians. In Asia, junior/senior debuts were reported with how her artistic interpretations and sophisticated facial expressions distinguish her as a top skater, besides her techniques. I know a few Asian celebrities with similar features, and they went through the same thing too, although being in Asia, the opinion was minor. I was initially one of them (about Yuna, with her senior debut), but only after a few replays, suddenly saw it. It takes getting used to, not because she has limited expressions, but it's just how it is, and some take a very long time.I mean I'm Asian, and I have a hard time detecting it from Yuna. There's a difference between subtlety and reserved expression and what others may construe as extremely rehearsed and forced. That said, maybe I need to work harder in understanding Yuna's extreme reserved nature (it even showed during the Gangham Style performance during the Special Olympics. Watching her and Kwan were like night and day in terms of projection of emotion and commitment to the movement). I usually do appreciate subtle expressions as I found the Shibutani's expression in their FD absolutely appropriate given the theme and music, but it seems I have to work harder with Kim despite highly admiring her technical abilities.
I'm not making this a fight. I'm just really curious why you wouldn't directly argue the ones who say that she's got TOO MUCH of it? I see this a more disputable point than how one's touched, nearly as much as if a jump ur'ed or not; they argue not only she HAS it and BEYOND. This is the part where I sometimes think it's only a matter of agreeing on likes or dislikes.
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Added: now the word "disputable" with her facial expression starts sounding tedious. Most people can't even see it clearly from distance, and it's her body and tips of fingers that do the trick. Note she didn't have much facial expression in her juniors, but she had that stunning body flow & interpretation.