Miscellaneous News

Blitzo said:

I think you're misreading the signs and causation a bit.

I recall she only became a more notable personality online (here and in other places, including Chinese social media) after some western/US individuals expressed anger and consternation at her choice to represent China at the winter olympics last time.

Being a cause of consternation and frustration in a geopolitical context is the primary element of her elevated profile. Ironically if the the usual suspects in the US had kept quiet about her, not many people would know who she is

Click to expand...

I understand that was the source of her original fame, but I would have expected at least some understanding - several years after the fact - of the nuances around her situation and background. Eileen Gu may have been unknown to the larger Western public in 2019, but her mother had been cultivating her business and sponsorship in China since the age of 9. It's hard to miss the fact that her switch to representing China over the US in 2019 coincided with a calculated advertisement push in China of her brand - and that, at the time, she was just 16 years old, not even an adult.

Any way, I don't want to speak too poorly of Eileen because she's likely been groomed by her mother for the role since birth. Separating her own opinions, her own self, and her own identity from her mother's business empire is not something I can currently do. I just hope that people here, at least, would have less of an idol worship take on Eileen and her "Chinese identity."