Wednesday 17 August 2016

BBC Olympic Trailer And Being Active

Hmm, find the BBC Olympic trailer a little bit odd. I know it's just a bit of stylistic fun, but it just reminds me how forced it appears.

That it has subconscious links to the horrible caging and killing of animals, notably Juma the Jaguar, is one thing. At a simpler level it reminds me that no animal runs sportily against other animals. Animals DO run around and play just for fun (although a lot is learning), which is always delightful to see!

Maybe I link this with the massive emphasis that the media, especially the BBC, puts on sport as the only way to get active.

Just in cycling for instance. The message will be "join a club, get riding, start racing". True, we will get a lot of kids on the streets playing at being Laura Trott or Jason Kenny. That's great! But it doesn't last. Before these Olympics, I asked a lot of kids (I work with lots of different groups regularly) about previous medal winners. Around 90% didn't know anything about them.

Kids want to play on their bikes just the same way as animals play naturally. It's about having some fun with your friends, getting around, being independent of parents, and growing up. Only a small percentage will want to do it as a sport.

So, the message the BBC completely miss for a large proportion of people is that being active is not about sport. It's just about getting out and enjoying being active, the vast majority of which will have nothing to do with sport.


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