These 5 words make people think about the olympics, world championships, and other competitions of the sort, but no, this past week, these 5 words described one event, one champion, one tiny, 4 year old.
Let me elaborate. This past week, a 4 year old Pekingese named Malachy overcame his larger competition at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. This tiny dog became best in show, the best dog in the nation.
The competition was fierce, but Malachy had nothing to say post-victory. Was this still a real competition between dogs? Or are the trainers the true competitors? These dogs do not know they are competing against their counterparts really, but these trainers are so incredibly invested, that they appear to have the same dedication as elite athletes. This was of course satirized in an incredibly funny movie, "Best in Show"(I really recommend it). These trainers compete, and the dogs merely represent the trainers' work.
Although seemingly unapparent, these trainers mimic several people in games, whether they are video game characters focused on improving and grooming their characters to consistently make them better, or coaches, who try to train players to achieve certain goals or steps towards perfection. These trainers do not differ from the others because they are essentially performing the same actions, training another entity to reflect the goals of the trainer.
So congrats Malachy, you did a great job as the trainer's star player, or rather his avatar.
This is a really interesting post. I have to agree that the competition stems from the handlers, trainers and breeders. There is a lot that goes into making a winning dog, even before he is born (which is kind of unsettling). However, I think that a level of the competition comes from the dogs themselves as well. When the dogs are in "show-mode" they definitely click into the zone, and they have to perform in the ways that they have been told and trained. They may not KNOW what is at stack, but they definitely know if they do a good job or a bad one. In sports we always put the glory on the athletes, we rarely give credit to the equipment designers, trainers, nutritionists, physical therapists or anyone else behind the scenes who play a role. I think that in every arena, whether is be the Westminster Dog Show or the World Series, every star-performer is the avatar of many, many people, but at the same time, has his/her own level of independence and an intrinsic drive to win.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I would have never thought to think of the dogs as avatars! The competition comes from the trainers, and I always focused on that. The trainers using dogs as avatars was a really good observation. The trainer's competitiveness and desire to win is reflected in the dogs manner and performance in the show. Trainers spend months training their dogs to be able to compete for a number of reasons. One of them may be that the owner is not an athlete or good at physical activity. Instead, they project their views and their competitive streaks through the dogs. the dog show always attracts a large crowd and it basically is the Olympics for dogs and dog lovers. I've seen Best in Show and it really is a great movie, I definitely recommend it-Nicole Thompson Guild 132
ReplyDelete