[image from tumblr.com]
Today in “Reasons Why I’m Ashamed of My Future Field of Work”, “Why I’m Embarassed into be an American”, or even more harshly, “How Did You Get a Job Doing Anything in this Field”, Matt Lauer reminds us why people liked Ann Curry better than him and if you don’t have anything productive or nice to say, maybe you shouldn’t speak at all.Oh, Matt. Your commentary through the whole London opening ceremony was absolutely unnecessary and I could’ve done without, but I understand. It was just so spectacular that you just couldn’t stop yammering on about absolutely nothing. Never mind that you, as an official commentator for the Games, are not only representing NBC, but the United States. Never mind that you have once again become a punchline for being terrible at what you do. Never mind that those who turned into NBC were treated to the sounds of your annoying voice and even more annoying face, rather than the sights and sounds of Great Britain. Us lucky American audiences got the Matt Lauer Show featuring the London 2012 Olympics.
For those of you who had the misfortune of not being able to find a Lauer-less stream online, the opening ceremony was amazing. It was absolutely beautiful, and it reminded me just how much of my life has been influenced by British pop culture. I had the opportunity to watch a livestream of the ceremonies online, as it was happening live in London. The BBC commentators were respectful of what was taking place, and only gave info when it was absolutely necessary. However, I missed half of it because of lagging video and other obligations, so I figured I would just DVR it and watch it later.
Looking back, I should’ve had it on mute.
I’m going to be completely honest. I don’t like Matt Lauer. I preferred Ann Curry, and I don’t like him for what part he supposedly played in her departure from NBC. Also he has an annoying nasally voice. However, I respect him as a journalist, and because he’s become a pretty big name in broadcast journalism, I figured that I’d give him a chance. That sentiment quickly flew out the window.
From start to finish, Lauer was just droning on about nothing (of all the British jokes in the world, telly jokes), and I felt myself getting more and more annoyed as the broadcast continued. When he and Meredith Viera talked through the beautiful segment on childrens’ literature, I was just about ready to start writing my angry email to NBC. Do you have no kind of respect for others and their artistic vision? It’s one thing to praise Danny Boyle for his vision, but to praise his name on and on without allowing those who haven’t seen it yet to fully take it in? It’s rude. It would be like a band teacher or theatre director talking to the audience through a show without allowing parents and peers to view it.
By the time the broadcast was over, I was absolutely livid with not only Matt Lauer, but NBC. Is this who you send to represent our country overseas? Someone who is so disrespectful to others that they would talk their way through a 2-3 hour opening ceremony, make fun of the names of countries, among other things? Wow. I really hope that for the sake of NBC, that Lauer didn’t offend anyone in another country, because based on last night, he’s not very diplomatic. Can someone please remind him that this is an international event, and not the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?
And for God’s sake, you’re a journalist; You don’t know who Tim Berners-Lee is? You couldn’t even think to Google it? There were at least 2 hours between the live broadcast and the NBC delayed broadcast!
[Image from tumblr.com]
Perhaps one of my favorite reaction tweets of the broadcast was from Twitter user @jeremycowart: “If commentary Olympics existed, Matt Lauer wouldn’t even be qualified to compete.” The sentiments were repeated all last night, as one of the trending topics last night was #ShutUpMattLauer.Do better, Matt Lauer. And for the love of all things that are holy, don’t you dare run your trap through the Spice Girls’ performance at the closing ceremony. Or you’re going to have a very annoyed, very feisty young journalist to answer to.
