Downhill slalom

As Winter George commented on the open thread, Ski Sunday returned this week and apparently doubled down on the identity politics stuff that last year led to the show bending its ski-suited knee to Black Lives Matter.

That episode last year saw its two white main presenters stand in front of the camera and earnestly, cringingly, apologise for their previous lack of awareness of racism in skiing and then preach to BBC viewers about how they/we should also now think about the matter. 

It was one of the most excruciating things I've ever witnessed on BBC TV. They stood there like the abject repentant victims of a show trial during Mao's Cultural Revolution -  except that, unlike those Chinese people, the Ski Sunday presenters were standing on snow in ski gear in some posh European ski resort with BBC camerapersons aiming nothing worse than BBC cameras at them.

This episode, it seems, moved on to LGBQTQ++ matters.

Though I like watching Winter Olympic skiing on TV and used to watch Ski Sunday with my parents when I were a lad and knee-high to a ferret, I won't watch this new series even for the sake of the blog. But I see Twitter dividing between people who don't want woke stuff rammed down their throats by the BBC and others who are gleefully backing the BBC for ramming woke stuff down other people's throats. 

I'll try to ignore the wilder comments on either side and quote instead some of the more reasonable points from both sides.

So on the one side you have:

• Chris Scott [He/him]: Really good to see Ski Sunday back and doing such a fine job of representing LGBTQ+ diversity in snowsport. As our work on D&I in snowsport shows, we’ve got lots to do on inclusion in all its forms. Programmes like tonight’s are a great start.
• Bruce-Ski-Corsetsof: Great to see Ski Sunday back. Excellent work as ever. Great to see excellent pieces on diversity in the GB team rather than the stale old yawn yawn some people seem to want. Well judged by BBC Sport for once. 
• Jon Holmes: Really enjoyed these Ski Sunday interviews - thanks BBC Sport. Sad to say tho, I’ve seen more negativity than positivity in reactions on social, despite both athletes explaining why coming out was so beneficial to them.

And on the other you have:

• Maxine Henderson: Is it just me? I am trying to understand why Ski Sunday has spent longer discussing sexual identity than reporting results and showing the action. Disappointing show tonight.
• Dr David Bruce Banner: Ski Sunday should try and heel the divide between skiers and snowboarders rather than highlight LGBTQ issues which I've never actually witnessed on the slopes.
• PumpkinLover: Glad to see Ski Sunday back, but why oh why do they have to shoe horn in sexuality? I bet very few ppl watching care about these ppl's sexual orientation, and rightly so to. More snow sports and less gossip column please. Don't turn it into a snow based One Show!
• Richard: Why are you ruining this programme? Yesterday focus on 2 gay skiers - their orientation is irrelevant to skiing/programme. Would you discuss sexuality with hetero skiers? No! Divisive & discriminatory. Stop woke nonsense - focus on skiing!

My feeling here is that the BBC seems to be adding fuel to the fire and stoking the culture wars when they should be listening and bringing us together.

The BBC defends their Slalom Witch Trial

 

LunchTimeLoather brings us news that the BBC has published its response to complaints about "their 'more BAME people should be skiing' preaching" on Ski Sunday. 

"Judge. Jury. Executioner. As usual."

I think the word 'supercilious' best catches the BBC's tone here (though if you can think of other, better words, please note them below):

Summary of complaint

We received some complaints about a segment that looked at how snow sports could become more inclusive to people from all backgrounds, from those who felt it was inappropriate.

Our response

We do not agree that it was inappropriate to explore this topic. We do not agree that anything within this report was inaccurate, or biased against anyone who wants to take to the slopes. We included viewpoints and personal stories from multiple contributors as well as experts and commentators in the industry.

If you missed this (and I meant to post about it earlier)...

Last month Ski Sunday followed Countryfile in bending the knee to Black Lives Matter. 

Countryfile did a 'the countryside is too white' feature, and Ski Sunday did a 'the ski slopes of Switzerland are too white' feature. 

(Cue obvious jokes). 

The fascinating thing - besides the very long, one-sided, dubiously-accurate report itself from a black grievance-monger made a main feature on the programme - was the behaviour of the two regular, white presenters.

There they both were, dressed in their ski gear, standing in the Swiss snow, and preaching like a pair of 'woke' John Calvins. 

And they described the very long, one-sided, dubiously-accurate report itself from the black grievance-monger as "provocative and inspiring".

It was painful to watch them.

The white man (Ed Leigh) preached with particular earnestness, in a way that made me cringe. 

"When you're in the majority you fit in, so why would you question it?", he said, confessing his sins, immediately after the white woman (Chemmy Alcott) had  said, "Almost everyone in these beautiful places is white". 

And the white woman (Chemmy Alcott) literally stood in front of us on TV confessing her guilt at not having previously being sufficiently aware of the (alleged) problem of there not being enough BAME people on the ski slopes: "I'm going to be really honest here. As a person who has a voice in the UK snow sports scene I'm really embarrassed to admit that I didn't realise this was such a big issue". 

They also committed themselves to 'the cause'. 

No wonder people complained. It reeked of an in-your-face agenda from the BBC, but it also made for uncomfortable viewing. 

Did Ed and Chemmy really believe what they said? Or were they made to stand there and say it and humiliate themselves, just so the BBC could tick off yet another 'woke'-pleasing item on a BBC mainstay?

I suspect the latter.

There are, of course, plenty of non-racist reasons why posh people and white European and European-ancestry people dominate the ski slopes. The feature glided over those disingenuously. 

White working class people from Morecambe might be slightly more likely to appear on the kind of slopes that Ski Sunday frequents than black working class people, even black activists with chips on their shoulders, especially given that black people comprise a mere 3% of the population, but if I were to stereotype the kind of British people who do hog the ski slopes I'd brand them as classic BBC types - stars, presenters, journalists and (hideously white) executives - plus lots of other people with enough money and a sense of fun and adventure. 

We know what the BBC was up to here, and all their huffing and puffing about how they "don't agree" doesn't disguise it.