Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Michael Phelps - The Greatest Olympic Swimmer Ever?
This week your editing group selected articles from around the world covering Michael Phelps' record-setting performance at the Beijing Olympics. Please follow the link to the YouTube video below and then comment on how language and image are used to elicit reactions in readers/viewers.
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This video was titled Beijing 08 Swimming. If you had only watched this video instead of watching the Olympic Games you would be very misinformed. Jason Bronis, a reporter for the Associated Press, had this to say when summarizing the swimming events in Beijing ‘The U.S. men’s and woman’s swimming teams will leave these games with a total of 31 Olympic medals but it will be Phelps and his accomplishments here that will likely change the sport of swimming’ I do not want to take anything away from Michael Phelps and his accomplishments. However, I do believe that throughout the Olympic Games there was more than just Phelps to report upon. Jason Bronis uses this language to try to build up Michael Phelps. Jason even interviews other swimming gold medalist about how Phelps helped them win gold. Bronis just uses the quotes of other gold medal athletes to serve as a testament to how awesome of an athlete Michael Phelps is; this takes away from their individual accomplishments.
The Olympic Games had many great swimmers and many great athletes. However, one man stood above all others, Michael Phelps. While this video is entitled "beijing 08 Swimming", it does truly only really cover Michael Phelps and pushes most other American swimmers out of the picture. With context to the US Team medley relay, the announcer went as far to say that Phelps won with "a little help from his friends". This ignores the enormous effort and help that his teammates put in and very nonchalantly takes away from their accomplishments. The announcer consistently puts Phelps on an incomparable pedestal with comments like, "phelps and his accomplishments here that will likely change the sport of swimming" and calling Phelps, "best in the world".
In terms of the images used, there are two pictures of phelps with his arms raised, one of him holding the american flag, and countless of him smiling. All of these images point to Phelps being a champion and a hero.
In conjunction with what matt stated previously, the interview with Jason Lezak on how Phelps inspired everyone to swim faster takes even more away from all the other Americans who performed so well in these Olympic Games. Phelps is a great American hero and as far as i can see a great person as well. However, there are many stories at the 2008 Olympic Games with a specific reference to swimming that were not mentioned at all. The athletes do deserve more credit than what has been given to them and Phelps has cast a shadow over many of their accomplishments.
The Olympic Games had many great swimmers and many great athletes. However, one man stood above all others, Michael Phelps. While this video is entitled "beijing 08 Swimming", it does truly only really cover Michael Phelps and pushes most other American swimmers out of the picture. With context to the US Team medley relay, the announcer went as far to say that Phelps won with "a little help from his friends". This ignores the enormous effort and help that his teammates put in and very nonchalantly takes away from their accomplishments. The announcer consistently puts Phelps on an incomparable pedestal with comments like, "phelps and his accomplishments here that will likely change the sport of swimming" and calling Phelps, "best in the world".
In terms of the images used, there are two pictures of phelps with his arms raised, one of him holding the american flag, and countless of him smiling. All of these images point to Phelps being a champion and a hero.
In conjunction with what matt stated previously, the interview with Jason Lezak on how Phelps inspired everyone to swim faster takes even more away from all the other Americans who performed so well in these Olympic Games. Phelps is a great American hero and as far as i can see a great person as well. However, there are many stories at the 2008 Olympic Games with a specific reference to swimming that were not mentioned at all. The athletes do deserve more credit than what has been given to them and Phelps has cast a shadow over many of their accomplishments.
The video for the most part only covered Michael Phelps, the U.S. men's relay team, Dara Torres, the U.S. women's relay team and briefly mentions the Australian women's relay team. This video focuses on the stories that captivated the U.S. audience, but it did not shed light on any of the other great accomplishments achieved by swimmers from other countries. For that matter the video and story did not cover all of the U.S. swimmers accomplishments besides mentioning that the U.S. Swim Team won 31 medals out of a total of 110 medals that the U.S. won at the Beijing games. On a different note the interview clips that were chosen for the video, mainly focused on achieving dreams and teamwork except for those from Phelps which were directed more towards himself. The other interesting piece of the video that caught my eye was when Jason Bronis is talking about the U.S. women's relay team earning a silver medal and he mentions that Australia won gold. The next image in the video is of the U.S. men's relay team at the top of the medal podium and Australia to the right on a lower level of the podium. It might have been unintentional but I found it to be an interesting piece of the video. If someone wanted to hear or see more about Phelps and the U.S. heartwarming swimming stories from the Olympics then this video will be great for that person.
“Cruised”, “thrilling,” “world record,” these are the words in the video Beijing 08 Swimming describing Michael Phelps. Though the video acclaims Michael Phelps as one of the best swimmer of all time, the title defeats the whole purpose of the video. The title itself is very general. This makes the viewers think they are going to be informed about swimming in the Olympics. It is expected that Michael Phelps be mentioned in the video since he accomplished one of the fastest speeds ever, but there are many other swimmers that weren’t emphasized as much. There were other swimmers that were shown in the video, but they talked about Michael Phelps’s accomplishments and how motivational he is. Personally, being in the Olympics is an accomplishment and ever athlete needs to be shown equally. In this case the title should have been different because it misleads the viewers on the video.
Jason Bronis, the reporter in this video, depicts the image of Michael Phelps in such a way that his choreographed language would make most viewers think that Michael Phelps was the only American swimmer that had accomplished something after watching this video. He seems to have ignored the contributions of other American swimmers; especially those who helped Michael Phelps get his 8th gold metal. Jason is biased in his judgment about American swimmers' achievements. He mentions that "Michael Phelps got his 8th gold medal with LITTLE help from his friends". This statement really makes the Michael Phelps seem like an omnipotent man and makes the efforts of the other three swimmers unimportant.
Many images are shown in this video. I notice one picture of him being surprised. This picture once again confirms the fact that he has done something legendary.
Morgan mentioned that although this video is titled "Beijing 08 Swimming”, this video only covers Michael Phelps's achievements and neglects other swimmers' accomplishments. I feel exactly like her. I feel that more attention should have been drawn to swimmers other than Michael Phelps as the title does not indicate that his video is exclusively dedicated to Michael Phelps.
While my original post agrees with what all of the other posts have said so far I am going to pose a different argument. I think the interpretations of this video depends on the expectations of different audience groups. I am speaking for myself when I say that I know I expect a story titled Beijing '08 Swimming to include stories about all the different winners and races and athletes as opposed to basically just Michael Phelps. I have no idea if this is true but there is probably a section of the U.S. population that doesn't care about how other countries did, but just want to hear about U.S. athletes successes and triumphs. I personally think that there were many other inspirational stories from the Olympics especially in swimming, but there could be a section of the population that like I said just want to hear about Americans. But at the same time the story of Jason Lezac is barely mentioned even though he had an incredible race in the first of the two relay races and won it for the U.S. after and amazing come back. I am not sure I am just trying to throw out an alternate perspective.
Although titled ‘Beijing '08 Swimming’, the video focuses the post-Olympic report on the American swim team and Michael Phelps in particular. Michael Phelps was the most enthralling story of the Beijing Games without doubt, so it is understandable that the majority of the report discusses his miraculous feat of eight Olympic medals. It is obvious however that the video is directed towards American viewers, as only the United States swimming team mentioned during the clip, despite incredible performances by other nations in the pool. The United States might have claimed the most medals in the pool, but they were not solely responsible for breaking a massive twenty-one record in the Water-Cube. Australia for example, won twenty Olympic medals in the pool in Beijing and currently hold eleven world records, the same amount as the United States.
The author also uses pictures to emphasize Phelps’s achievements, noticeably using a shot where he is almost a full body length ahead of his nearest opponent, rather than the infamous and dubious one hundredth of a second victory in the 100M butterfly.
I agree with Morgan, in that this has been Michael Phelps Olympics, and will be remembered throughout history as such. Phelps’s remarkable achievement will symbolize the 2008 Beijing Olympics, much like Mark Spitz’s Olympics in 1972, and will thus cast a shadow over the immense achievements made by other competing athletes.
The Olympics is composed of the greatest athletes. Simply being in any sport is an honor not only for the athletes, but the country that they are representing. As Matt and Morgan said this video doesn’t emphasis the greatness of all the swimmers. Michael Phelps has set the bar extremely high for all swimmers, but this does not mean that his other teammates are not suppose to be appraised for their hard work. As a matter of fact they are a team and are suppose to be seen as one big accomplishment. Another thing that I find interesting is how Phelps’s fellow teammates talk how motivational and important he has been in their team. Personally, I feel like if you are in a team you are to be seen as one group. But then again Phelps’s did mark history. The one thing that I truly disagree with is how the title basically means Michael Phelps is the ultimate swimmer. I have nothing against his accomplishments, but more swimmers should have been mentioned to balance the swimming portion of the Olympics.
This video clip, just like almost every other piece on Phelps, shows the public why his achievements in Beijing were so monumental. The news of the eight gold metals has touched the heart of every American because the media has done such an incredible job telling the story of Phelps. The first thing that caught my attention in this particular video clip was the presence of the American Flag in almost every photograph. I believe the flag evokes a sense patriotism and pride in the viewers. This allows every American to take away a little piece of such a huge accomplishment for themselves. Another element I noticed almost every picture was a smile. It is amazing how just a simple smile can change the face of a picture. I noticed as I was viewing the video, I was smiling, just like the athletes in the photographs. Again, the smile brings all of the viewers together with the athletes; we all get to share the win, the pride, and the sense of accomplishment that comes along with it. The language in the video was quite interesting also. When describing the races, the narrator used such words as “powered” and “thrilling come from behind win.” These words entice the viewer and take us back to those moments when we witnessed the wins.
I am going to have to disagree with what Morgan said about the clip taking focus away from the other athletes. I believe this video clip did an amazing job of showing how important teamwork is to the Americans. Yes, the video does focus mainly on Phelps, but it also goes to show us that he could not have achieved his dream alone. Jason Lezak's contribution is mentioned, as well as the achievements of Dara Torres and her teammates. It is almost impossible to take Phelps out of the spotlight when talking about the Beijing Olympics, but I believe the video clip showcases the other very talented athletes who competed for The United States.
With very little room left to interpret the video (since I concur with most of you), I would only have to disagree with Stephanie's view on the attention given to the other U.S. athletes. Morgan made a very good point in stating that the U.S. team's efforts were ignored through the announcers comment on the amount of help that Phelps received. As most of you mentioned, the title of the video is very misleading in the sense that one expects to get a holistic review of Beijing 08 Swimming and finds that the video is almost in its entirety about Phelps. I do believe that Phelps' teammates should have received a tad bit more attention, considering the fact that they made it to the Olympics, which makes it a big accomplishment already. I don't know if anyone noticed, but at the end the announcer remarks that he made it from a "swim club in Baltimore to best in the world" which gives me the impression of a Horatio Alger story, not in the monetary sense, but in the context of ambition--making his way up from the bottom.
The majority of video focuses on Phelps's achievements in the Beijing Olympics 08 as illustrated by the report's haling comment and scores of Phelps's winning-moments images. For Phelps to have won all 8 medal goals, he had to rely on his teammates in the relay events. However, I find the comment made by the reporter on how Phelps got his number 8 with a little help from his friends somewhat inappropriate. As the relay is about teamwork, everyone should be equally credited. Phelps himself said that “for all this to happen, everything had to fall into perfect place” suggesting that the teamwork was the key and each swimmer had an equally role to play. Also, though the video is almost entirely about Phelps, the reporter talks a bit about Torres (there is an interview and several pictures of hers) and the US swimming team. In addition, I had to agree with all of us on the misleading title and I think Carlo made a good point on the reporter's remark at the end on how Phelps made his way up from the bottom.
I think that the video uses very strong images and language to convince the viewer of Phelps athletic genius. However there are some contradictions, Phrases such as "Touch and Tense" and effective alliteration are used, drawing the viewer in. However they contradict with the use of "cruising", which suggest little effort, in almost the next phrase. In addition "Cruising" does not fit the facts; Phelps only won his first race by one one hundredth of a second. This use of syntax seems to be in order to grab our attention; a lot of the language is imprecise.
The only other swimmer they showed in any great detail was Torres, however they still brought this back to Phelps, by showing pictures before and after of him triumphant, and also competing her loss to the Australians to that of Phelps success over the French. This very effectively brought the attention back to Phelps, which seemed to be the theme of the video.
I had an idea that could be wrong, but when Phelps is shown with the flag he is connected to it, and as such gets some of the emotional investment associated with it. The Patriotism and pride encompass Phelps as well, because he is so often seen with the flag, and thus to a certain extent the winning become much more a patriotic stance about America, than about one individuals sporting prowess.
The images by and large were that of Phelps in a successful pose, or just about to win another gold, often with the flag or his teammates. The interview of Phelps makes him appear one of the team, using pronouns such as "we" rather than I. The image presented in the photographs is supported by his team mates talking about how great a swimmer he is, this reinforces the view that is presented to us as they are perceived as expert testimony. One of the final images that we are presented with using both language and pictures of success are a variation on a rags to riches tale. The reporter tells the view how Phelps came from "a swim club in Baltimore to best in the world" reinforcing the preceding images.
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In the report done by the Associated Press on the accomplishments of
Micheal Phelps, reporter Jason Bronis uses subtle language and powerful
imagery to portray Phelps as the classical American Hero. Through the use
of adjectives such as tough, tense, powered and thrilling to describe the
swimmer’s accomplishment of “most gold medals won at a single Olympic
games” Phelps is placed at the top of the super-human pedestal. It is the
story of Micheal Phelps’s journey, however, rather than his
accomplishments alone that make him a hero. It was only through the help
of Phelps’s friends and teammates that he was able to achieve his feat.
Similarly, he admits that there would be times when “you just want to go
home and sleep.” These things make Phelps more accessible; at the very
basic level, he is just like every other human. He gets tired and, just
like others he needs the help of those around him. This documentary
illustrates these qualities in Phelps helping to portray his image as the
All-American-kid-next-door. As Bronis states at the end of the
documentary, Micheal Phelps is just the average kid who went “from a swim
in Baltimore to the best in the world”, and really, isn’t that who we all
wish we could be?
This article, obviously, is used to let the readers/viewers see Michael Phelps in a positive manner. It shows Michael Phelps when he's happy and cheery. I'm sure that if they, the people who made this video, showed him while he was training and stressed out or if they found him after a huge loss, then the video would have been different. He is still a human who has ups and downs. Then, I think about how difficult it would be to portray a person, who has accomplish so much, in a negative manner, but then I may feel this way because I have been subject to "judgment reflex". The guy speaking calls him "the best in the world" at the end. That’s an extremely opinionated, biased statement to make. In this video they show him speaking and giving positive advice. Also, his holding the American flag invokes feelings from those people who are nationalistic, which I assume most people have a little bit of. They didn’t say one thing that was negative about Phelps.
In response to the things people were saying about his teammates, I completely agree. I do not really keep up with swimming or the Olympics in general and Phelps is the person I have heard about most. I, honestly, did not even think about the fact that he had teammates that have helped him until I read comments about how they aren't recognized as much. They worked hard I'm sure just as much, but like Brad said, I do not think the language used was to belittle Phelp’s teammates. It was just to put Phelps on a pedestal, also, when someone does as well in the Olympics as Phelps, it’s kind of hard not to. He really is as amazing as they (the media) say he is.
The first thing that may strike the viewer after watching the Phelps video is the abundant use of images depicting Michael Phelps in a celebratory pose. There are multiple images of Phelps with his massive arms thrown victoriously in the air. These images elicit a reaction in the viewer that can be associated with their own experiences of success or victory.
Although the viewer most likely lacks an experience comparable in
magnitude to Phelps’ accomplishment, they can still relate to the emotion of elation expressed by Phelps. In contrast, there is an image of Phelps yawning towards the end of the video. Granted we do not have any context
to support the image, what we see depicts Phelps in boredom and evokes a sense of confusion in the viewer. The confusion stems from the notion that Phelps is bored with his accomplishments and thus finds it easy to perform at such a high level.
Phelps Response
I believe that this video exemplifies the power that American sports possess. The Michael Phelps pictures show images of a relieved man after overcoming major obstacles that were in the way. These pictures and the story also show how Phelps cherished his teammates, realizing without their help that this great accomplishment would have been unreachable without their assistance. Although Phelps was the main story in this video, he was just one man representing America at its finest against the top competition in the world. This video had a greater purpose than to just glorify Phelps, but it had a purpose of showing that America is still supreme to all other nations. In the end Michael Phelps taught Americans to continue to reach for their goals, and to ultimately find a motivation to keep us striving to be the best that we can.
The Olympics, a place where titans and heroes are born. This time it was held in Beijing, China in the summer of 2008. The Associated Press had many things to say about the wonders of 8 gold medals by Michael Phelps and the 31 medals total that the US Swim team took home with them. They said that Michael Phelps' performance would change the sport of swimming forever, which is a true statement. Never before had someone won 8 gold medals in one Olympics, but Phelps not only crushed that record, but also several World Records. His performance in the pool was one of wonder and skill and it makes me proud to be an American. By showing so much about the US team, it makes them seem to be heroes, titans of their time. The showing of Phelps further exemplifies this concept by there continual reference to the 8 gold medals that he won.
I must say that the video was a little one sided. I would have to agree with what many of my class mates have said about how the constant coverage of Phelps took away fro the Olympic experience as a whole. Many people don't know that two Americans won gold and silver in the womens all around gymnastics competition, or all of the other medals that we won in the Olympics. Everyone was so focused on Phelps that they forgot that other Americans were competing in the Olympics too, not just in Swimming, but in all other sports. Now don't get me wrong, 8 gold medals is a huge accomplishment, however, all that coverage Phelps received took away from the overall feel of the Olympics and therefore was not as memorable as previous Olympic games.
Stephanie noted that The American Flag was in almost every picture. I do think that the Associated Press did a good job portraying Michael Phelps as an American hero. The American Flag is a sign of hope, patriotism, and greatness. Associating Michael Phelps with the American flag is a smart idea. If Associated Press wants to create an American hero they do need to link these images to this new arising star. As Americans we love our hero’s. In terms of the images used, there are two pictures of Phelps with his arms raised, one of him holding the American flag, and countless of him smiling. All of these images point to Phelps being a champion and a hero.
The Beijing Olympic video showed possibly the greatest Olympian of
>> all-time. However, even though Michael Phelps won 8 Gold Medals only 5 of them were individual races. The other 3 races involved other people in which Michael had to rely on to make his dream possible. What I noticed in the video is that Michael Phelps does an excellent job of being the humble champion. Phelps always diverts questions to teamwork and how each relay was a team effort, while Jason Bronis insists on making it all about Michael Phelps. Its true that Bronis does mention Lezak's name when refering to the final relay as "the dean", but who were the other two swimmers on that team? I know everyone wants to hear about Michael Phelps but if Michael Phelps himself talks about the importance of his teammates then I believe Jason Bronis should have focused a little more on that as well.
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>> Michael Phelps stole the show at the Beijing Olympics, hands down. No one else in history has done what he accomplished this past summer and its rare that anyone will again. That is why when the first post on here by "Matt", says that the video would misinform a person I'm confused. The "YouTube" video was titled "Michael Phelps wins 8th Gold Medal," therefore wouldn't the person viewing the video mostly care about Michael Phelps and not the swimmers who won the other medals? I can only infer this, but if you were to go up and ask someone in America what comes to mind when they think of this past Olympics I would bet a good majority would say something in relation to Michael Phelps. Your right though that attention should be given to those other swimmers but to be brutally honest, the people in the United States want a hero or someone famous they can look up to and to most Americans that hero is Michael Phelps.
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