Alexandrovskaya and Windsor documentary

[yyzskater]

It can also happen in reverse. I've seen fans gushing over "what a lovely person Skater X is" when what Skater X has is good public relations skills, and I've personally known that he/she is Not A Nice Person away from the rink.

100% truth!! And the same goes for coaches. I know many skaters who have had extremely negative experiences with coaches that are revered in figure skating fandom. Results and the 30 second kiss and cry clips are not necessarily indicative of a positive training environment.

 

[havb]

No doubt @yyzskater. I’m a total outsider and a fan returning to fandom after many years off, so can only go by what others share via personal experiences.

 

[Weathergal]

I think it's nuts to blame a kid (in this case, Katya's partner back then) for her mental health, her suicide, and her twin diseases of addiction and epilepsy, both of which can be deadly.

And I don't know if any of you know Katya's partner personally-- I don't, and so can ONLY speculate as to what kind of person he is. In the documentary, he comes across as measured in his emotional reactions, a bit distant maybe but kind and appropriate with her (at least on camera) and is reluctant to throw ANYBODY under the bus, including Katya. He does not go on about her drinking, which was probably awfully problematic, I assumed out of respect for her or maybe he didn't even know the extent of her disease.

People seem keen to form a person's entire character around a couple of misguided or simply immature online comments. He's still young, and doesn't seem like the a-hole people seem outright determined to paint him to be. I've read hyperbolic comments online on Reddit and elsewhere about how his partner "deserves someone better." Seriously, how can people even claim to know? We know so little. Tired of the character-bashing. Personally I wish him and Hye-Jin Cho well.

He came across to me as someone in pain and at times angry at the way things turned out. I didn't get an "uncaring vibe" from him. And as people pointed out, he was young at the time as well. Putting the onus on him doesn't seem right. I feel like their coach at the time who knew Russian and English could have helped her more, and could have made it a priority to help her feel less isolated and more a part of the community. The Australian Federation could have taken more of an interest in her situation as well. She was so young, didn't speak the language, and was so far from home. Heartbreaking.

 

[icewhite]

While I absolutely agree I don't know these people at all and will often have a skewed image of them I don't agree that online commentary and likes mean nothing. Neither do I agree that everything a young person does can be excused. My teenager would simply never applaud highly misogynistic takes.

My own avatar skater brings his problems with him - still I support him and enjoy watching him a lot. I am not out to hunt people down. But this tendency to go in the other direction and excuse everything just because it happens online or we don't know the person personally - I don't get that either. Online commenty or likes are public behaviour, I think it's fair to take those into account when we talk about a person.

 

[throw_triple_flip]

While I absolutely agree I don't know these people at all and will often have a skewed image of them I don't agree that online commentary and likes mean nothing. Neither do I agree that everything a young person does can be excused. My teenager would simply never applaud highly misogynistic takes.

My own avatar skater brings his problems with him - still I support him and enjoy watching him a lot. I am not out to hunt people down. But this tendency to go in the other direction and excuse everything just because it happens online or we don't know the person personally - I don't get that either. Online commenty or likes are public behaviour, I think it's fair to take those into account when we talk about a person.

The problem is, people go way too far with it. Unlike you, they're not being thoughtful or careful with their words. He's been blamed for someone's suicide and accused of being a danger to women based on zero evidence (i think it's also spreading a dangerous, incorrect perception that potential abusers can be easily identified by something as inconsequential as liking a social media post).

That's far worse than anything he's put on social media and totally disproportionate. He's basically being subject to an extreme level of bullying and not everyone can be 'perfect' when subjected to that. Not that that excuses his comments, but many people are posting vile comments and they're not being subjected to that. They really need to stop and think about what they're posting- it's not acceptable.


I am coming at this from a personal point of view- I am related to someone that attempted suicide. It frankly sickens me to see how flippant people are being about it. Almost using a very tragic death just so they can be mean about a person on the internet, showing no consideration for the poor young woman's memory or the people affected by what happened. I think it's dehumanising to Ekaterina.

( i am absolutely not accusing you of that by the way).