Sports coverage and the fantasy genre

Yesterday the BBC unveiled its TV trailer for Olympic coverage, by Creative Agency Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe Y&R, The one-minute trailer depicts the whole of Britain as a giant stadium, complete with evocative soundtrack from Elbow. The agency say that it shows ‘Olympic athletes preparing and competing in quintessential British landscapes’. Personally, I feel that the closing image below owes more to some kind of Arthurian Avalon than to the place where I live. There is no doubt, though, that the creators have adhered to their brief.

It is us who have nudged the Olympics over the edge from sporting competition into some kind of mythological clash of titans.  Instead of admiring the men and women who compete for their honed sinews, disciplined training regimes and sheer dedication, we crown them Olympians – a race apart. From there it is a short step to justifying the incredible expense, the inconvenience to businesses and the disruption to lives. We used to laugh at the very idea of the Politburo having designated traffic lanes in Moscow for their Zil limousines, but lanes for Olympians are another matter entirely!

I am looking forward to the Olympics, and I shall doubtless be inspired by their display of athletic prowess and sporting endeavour. Let’s not allow perspective to fall pray to hype, though. These are ordinary men and women competing, rather than some kind of fantastical breed apart, and that is precisely what makes them inspiring.

CLICK image to see RKCR/Y & R’s video