Despite all the problems, Tokyo Olympics bring hopes and inspirations

Faith Kipyegon of Kenya celebrates after winning gold in the final of the women's 1,500-meters at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, Aug. 6. AP-Yonhap

By Scott Shepherd

In the run-up to the Olympics this year, I was feeling pretty gloomy about the whole prospect, to the extent that I nearly wrote an article arguing that it should just be canceled. With the virus showing no real sign of disappearing even in countries with high vaccination rates, and with the announcement that no audiences would be allowed to watch the games, I felt that it was pointless to have the games at all. What's the point of a spectacle without spectators?

I wasn't alone in my opposition. A petition calling on the Japanese government to cancel the Olympics bore more than 350,000 signatures, and polls indicated opposition in the country was widespread.

Nonetheless, of course, the authorities pressed on, and accordingly last month the XXXII Olympiad opened in Tokyo with great fanfare but no fans.

Predictably, there has been all manner of scandals and upsets from the very start. Korean broadcaster MBC's coverage of the opening ceremony led to plenty of anger after it showed images of Chernobyl to represent Ukraine and riots to symbolize Haiti, to mention just two of their poor choices.

Though MBC's poor coverage was a disappointment, it was hardly a surprise. Korea is in so many ways fundamentally an inward-focused country, and its approach to the Olympics shows that. Media coverage here has focused almost exclusively on sports in which Koreans are participating: there are times that two TV channels will both broadcast the same event featuring Koreans to the exclusion of other sports. There's little point exploring all the ways that this is detrimental to viewers living here. The truth is, though, that the broadcasters are probably just responding to demand.

Of course, MBC is hardly the only one to shoot itself in the foot during the Olympics. Following Korean Jeoung Young-sik's victory in a game of table tennis against Greece's Panagiotis Gionis, the Greek commentator Dimosthenis Karmiris made racist comments which almost immediately led to his firing. How he could have such little sense as to make those remarks on air will remain a mystery.

There were plenty of other gaffes. The World Archery Federation caused a lot of unnecessary anger with their use of the typeface known as "chop suey" in a video celebrating Korea's success in the sport; a long CNN piece explored the font's uncomfortable past use and, predictably, World Archery's tweet met with a lot of furious responses. World Archery pointed out that it was using that font for all its tweets about the Tokyo Olympics, but obviously that hardly assuaged the wrath of its critics. If anything, it made it worse.

I've been watching with great interest all the stupid and unnecessary blunders, and this piece could pretty easily turn into a long list of the conflicts, mistakes and instances of insensitivity or outright racism that have taken place over the past few weeks. I love a good scandal.

But that misses the point. From the disappointment and tears to the very heights of triumph, from the joy on the face of a young medalist to the shock of Olympian heroes dropping out, the Olympics is above all a show of humanity. Some of the best and worst of what people are like comes out so clearly in the games. The most touching moments, the outstanding examples of sporting and gracious behavior, also the inequality and injustice, the complaints, the bitterness, the scheming and, yes, the cheating: it's all a show of what humanity is, a microcosm of the human condition.

Actually, that's what all great literature is really about. Humans and their foibles, their joys and weaknesses. In a way, the Olympics becomes for the viewers a work of fiction, a series of short stories that weaves together into a grand narrative which tells us so much about this world and the people in it.

More exciting than the cliches Hollywood brings us, more real than the addictive dramas on Netflix, the Olympics tells a better story and shows us better role models than we usually see on our screens. Not that Olympians are perfect by any stretch, but the dedication and perseverance they demonstrate is far more admirable and worthy of emulation than the superficial beauty and extreme narcissism that is so often celebrated on our screens.

So yes, indeed I am glad that the Olympics went ahead, despite all the problems, despite the absence of a live crowd, despite the virus, despite the political issues surrounding the games. In this time when many people hardly ever leave their houses, it's great to be able to watch the fittest, strongest and most talented people on the planet.

Korea is putting in a good show, and at the time of writing, the country looks set to finish reasonably high in the medal rankings. It's a real shame that there aren't more opportunities to watch all the weird and wonderful events on TV here. To flick on the TV and see a group people who dedicated years of their lives preparing for this day is so inspiring; as they compete in a sport you've never heard of, the rules of which you can't quite fathom, you munch on a piece of toast contemplating this world and your role in it. What joy, what agony. "Ah Bartleby!" as Herman Melville once apostrophized so aptly. "Ah humanity!"

Dr. Scott Shepherd is a British-American academic. He has taught in universities in the U.K. and Korea, and is currently assistant professor of English at Chongshin University in Seoul. The views expressed in the article are the author's own and do not reflect the editorial direction of The Korea Times.