Multiple Personality

Sorry about the tacky title; I kid because I love.

Matthew Mitcham is an Olympic diver from Australia who took gold last night. It was a surprise upset, because the Chinese diver seemed to have it in the bag.

What makes this extra interesting — sociologically, of course — is that Matthew Mitcham is gay and out. He is, perhaps, the first gay male Olympic athlete — certainly the first gold-medal winner — to be out of the closet in competition (Greg Louganis didn’t announce his orientation until well after his competitions were over).

What makes this extra extra interesting is that NBC deigned to avoid either Matt’s sexuality or his post-win embrace of The Boyfriend.

The Mom, The Diver, The Boyfriend

NBC more or less avoided him as much as possible. I realize that he’s Australian, and there’s only so much screen time available for them furreigners on Amurrican television — and there’s even less airtime available for the homos — but this was one of the purpler pieces of color commentary available, kids.

NBC: You own Bravo — the gayest cable network known to man and other. Why does it become a problem for you when a homo shows up –organically — on Primetime Network Olympics coverage instead of Project Runway? We don’t mind you making a buck off the boyz on Bravo — but don’t get all homophobo-hypocrito when it comes time for some representation on the money channel.

Just to prove that all American media isn’t “that way,” a quick mention that Entertainment Weekly named li’l Matt their Olympic Stud of the Day, and noted his “overwhelming adorableness.”

Coverage from a more enlightened television outlet than NBC

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 24th, 2008 at 8:51 pm and is filed under Television and Life, The Human Condition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.