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<< Previous: Movies: Saved! | Next: Kerry-Edwards 2004 >>

Sports: The (New) Great White Hope
Monday, 2004 July 5 - 2:53 pm
I'll admit, when I saw 17-year-old tennis phenom Maria Sharapova for the first time, my initial thought was, "wow, she's hot". But my own reaction gave me a bit of pause.

I don't want to take anything away from Maria Sharapova's Wimbledon victory this weekend. She's a remarkably talented player, and unlike Anna Kournikova (to whom she's often compared), she's seems more focused on tennis than she is on her potential for celebrity.

But you can't overlook the fact that she's a leggy blonde beauty, with numerous Internet shrines popping up all over the place. I've heard television analysts calling her story a "fairy tale": a precocious young Maria is discovered by legendary tennis star Martina Navratilova and makes her dreams come true by winning tennis' grandest prize.

What struck me is how so many people seemed so happy by the fact that Sharapova defeated Serena Williams, whose story is arguably even more compelling. Perhaps it's just a case of folks rooting for the underdog, but I have to wonder if there is an unconscious racial undertone here: the Pretty White Princess defeats the Uppity Black Woman. If the situation were reversed, with Sharapova being the previously-unbeatable champion and Williams being the previously-unheralded newcomer, would people be gushing quite so much?

I don't fault people for getting googly-eyed over a young pretty blonde thing, but let's acknowledge that, and let's not pretend that we like Maria just for her tennis prowess.
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Posted by Ken in: commentary

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