The sportswoman concerned is rather plain-looking so the broadcaster was probably echoing what many thought. Why is that wrong? Wouldn't it be better for everybody to accept reality?
BBC presenter John Inverdale provoked fury yesterday after making a disparaging remark about the physical appearance of Women’s singles champion Marion Bartoli.
Speaking on Radio 5 Live, he posed the question: ‘Do you think Bartoli’s dad told her when she was little, “You’re never going to be a looker?”’
Bartoli’s father immediately rushed to her defence and the BBC was forced to apologise.
Inverdale later tried to backtrack during the broadcast by saying: ‘We poked fun, in a nice way, about how she looks, but Marion Bartoli is an incredible role model.’
A BBC spokesman said: ‘We accept that this remark was insensitive and for that we apologise.’
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5 comments:
Gee, that's funny. I don't recall those kinds of remarks being made about the two black sisters who ruled tennis for a time.
The two 'black sisters' are not going to be lookers either. Woof!
I actually laughed at this one.
Yes, its true but did it need to be said?
Of course, this is radio - if they only said the stuff that needed to be said you'd have a lot of dead airtime.
Have you noticed how most major sporting events are usually more about the commentators than the sport? It's now common to have 3 or 4 of these ego-maniacs in "the booth", and all talking at the same time. The irrelevant nobodies have turned themselves into "celebrities".
But, the only thing they seem to be good at, is totally ruining the audiences pleasure of watching or listening to the event.
Another tempest in a teapot.
What if this were a male athlete of average appearance and the commentator remarked, "His dad must have told him, 'You'll never look as good as Federer, so you'd better be able to kick butt instead?'"
Nobody would have cared.
Or better yet, people would have fallen all over themselves to espouse the trope that manly grit will win over pretty-boy looks any day.
If anything, this woman is a role model for all females (the majority of whom, statistically speaking, are of average appearance) because she's living proof you don't need to be a hottie to be a champion.
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