Raygun - Ridicule vs. Respect
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| Raygun@Paris2024 |
Don't be afraid to be different. Go out there and represent yourself, you never know where that's gonna take you..... I was never going to beat these girls on what they do best — their power moves. What I bring is creativity. (Rachael Gunn, 9 August 2024)
Adele calls Australian breakdancer Raygun's Olympic routine 'fucking fantastic' (10 August 2024)
Breaking is all about originality and bringing something new to the table … and this is exactly what Raygun was doing. (Martin Gilian, Olympic break dancing judge, 12 August 2024)
Getting zero points on purpose in three rounds for an academic study subsidised by the taxpayer both at a university and Olympic level isn't funny and isn't 'having a go'. (Aboriginal Professor Megan Davis, 12 August 2024)
This [vilification of Rachael Gunn] has got to stop (Paper Crane of Hope, 12 August 2024)
Contents
- Performance
- Attacks / Ridicule
- Defence / Respect
- Impact
- Consideration
- References
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Abstract: A wave of international and local ridicule was directed towards Australian Olympic breakdancer Rachael "Raygun" Gunn following her performance at the 2024 Paris Olympic. Analysis of the social media frenzy and personal nature of the attacks towards Ms. Gunn is presented, alongside instances where the athlete was both officially and otherwise defended. Concerning aspects of the attacks include claims of cultural appropriation and intended mockery made against Gunn, and the virulent public shaming by media and individuals on social media platforms such as Reddit, X, Facebook and Instagram, including academics such as Aboriginal Professor Megan Davis. The controversy surrounding the performance resulted in unprecedented publicity for the sport of break dancing, alongside a wider community introduction to terms such a b-boy and b-girl and revelations around both the physical and creative aspects of break dancing in the 21st century. Whilst Raygun's performance was novel and generated ridicule, it was also genuine and deserving of respect for the individual involved in representing her country at the Paris Olympics. Finally, the Raygun case is a sobering lesson in media manipulation and the power of social media public shaming, whereby grossly false accusations can be posted and subsequent fact checking debunking is ignored.
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| Google screenshot, 14 August 2024. |
1. The Performance
On Friday, 9 August 2024, 36 year old Australian Rachael Gunn participated in Round 1 of the Women's Break Dancing competition at the Paris Olympics. She was a member of Australia's official Olympic team. Ms. Gunn, like all the other break dancers in the competition, made use of a pseudonym - in this instance Raygun. On the day she entered the competition arena dressed in the an official Australian green and gold track suit and cap, rather than the normal break dancing attire of nondescript street clothes. This was a clear patriotic move on Gunn's part, and was specifically referred to by her as she began the competition rounds, pointing to the Australian coat of arms on her top (see image below).
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| Rachael Gunn @ Paris Olympics, 9 August 2024. |
The competition involved an initial 3-round break dancing face-off between two competitors, with the winners moving on to the next round. As the Canadian TV Network report noted:
....She failed to register a point in her battles against USA's Logistx, France's Syssy and Lithuania's Nicka, losing 18-0 on each occasion. It's fair to say that subsequent commentary on the internet wasn't entirely polite about Raygun's performances (CTV News 2024).
Raygun's performance was artistic rather than athletic. She herself noted going into the competition that she was very much aware of her abilities and prospects:
I was never going to beat these girls on what they do best — their power moves. What I bring is creativity. (Rachael Gunn, Instagram, 9 August 2024)
The two opponents faced each other twice and were judged by a panel of nine. There were no points allocated as such, but rather a decision by each judge as to who was the winner of the encounters. Where all nine judges awarded the round to a winner, the "score" would be 18 to 0. This was the case with Raygun - she was soundly defeated by all three opponents. It was not as though she failed to earn points - which she did - it was simply the winner-takes-all scoring system which allocated all the points in any round to best performance. According to the olympics.com official results website, the details are as follows:
- Round 1 - 12.13pm, Raygun vs. Logistx, USA
- Round 2 - 1.03pm, Raygun vs. Syssy, France
- Round 3 - 1.45pm, Raygun vs. Nicka, Lithuania
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2. Myth busting and debunking
Shortly after the completion of Raygun's Olympics knockout round event of Friday, 9 August 2024, social media trolls began circulating false rumours about her. These involved the outcome (zero points earned), Raygun's eligibility (accusations of a corrupt selection process), alongside aspects of her personal and professional life. The most significant of these were quickly debunked, i.e., proven false, or revealed to be malicious personal accusations with no foundations. Some of these are discussed below.
* Myth #1: Raygun's routine was so bad she scored zero points.
Truth: False. According to the Paris Olympics break dancing judging system rules, and as mentioned above, when judges deem one break dancer a clear winner over another, they are obliged to allocate a score of 9 - 0. If there is no clear winner due to the complexity of the 5-section voting system, they can allocate scores of 8-1, 7-2, 6-3 or 5-4 in favour of an athlete (Ansari 2021). Therefore, Raygun would have scored points for her routine from various judges, but due to the aforementioned points allocation system, these point were not released as they had no impact on the selections for the next round.
* Myth #2: Raygun's husband was a judge at the Olympics qualifying event.
Truth: False. According to the Associated Press Fact-check webpage of 13 August, Raygun's husband was not a judge or involved in the Olympics selection process (Wark 2024).
* Myth #3: Raygun and her husband were founders of the Australian Breakdancing Association and heavily involved in the Olympics selection process.
Truth: False. This accusation arose out of a Reddit posting which went viral through X (Twitter), Instagram and Facebook, and led to the "corrupt selection process" assertions. The following questioning statement and response from X on 12 August 2024, for example, is full of errors, lies, accusations and distortion, all of which were subsequent debunked or rebuked:
In addition, there was an incorrect X posting by Autism Capital:
The story of how the Australian women’s breakdancer, Rachael “Raygun” Gunn, who scored a literal 0 in the Olympics is fascinating. How did she get there?
TLDR: The Olympics outsourced the break dancing qualifications to a third party called the World Dance Sport Federation who didn’t know anything about break dancing, they wanted to do Ballroom Dancing. The Olympics said NO to Ballroom, so World Dance said FINE we’ll oversee Break dancing instead. World Dance didn’t know anything about Break dancing so THEY outsourced to other smaller organisations local to the country, in the case of Australia, an organization called the Australian Breaking Association which was FOUNDED by Raygun and her husband. Who advised them to partner with this org? Rachael Gunn. Starting to see it? The Australian Breaking Association (AusBreak) runs a competition every year that only has 10-15 women show up, and obviously Rachael “wins” this and her husband becomes the team coach. Basically, Rachael elects herself as the Australian Olympic break dancing rep, and the rest history. A nice fat 0 for the history books.
Readers added context: Neither Rachael Gunn or her husband are founders of the Australian Breaking Association (Founded by Lowe Napalan). They are not involved in the ABA leadership in any capacity.
The accusations were completely false, and revealed as such in a Fact-check on 13 August by the Sportskeeda website (Sinhar 2024).
* Myth *4: Raygun set out to mock Australia in her routine.
Truth: False. This accusation was made by Professor Megan Davis (Lewis 2024, The Australian 12 August 2024). There was never any evidence for this vitriolic and deeply offensive accusation and personal attack by Professor Davis. For example, the inclusion of the Kangaroo Dance was a specific and special element of the artistic performance, and subsequently commented upon favourably by one of the actual Olympic judges. There was nothing mocking or culturally inappropriate about it in the context of the Paris Olympics competition.
* Myth #5: Rachael Gunn entered the Paris Olympics break dancing competition merely as part of a research project.
Truth: False. Rachael Gunn pursued break dancing since the age of 21, not simply as some academic experiment, but as a genuine personal artistic and physical pursuit. Yes, as an academic she also carried out research into aspects of break dancing in Australia, culminating in a PhD and academic article. But to claim, as many have done, that her participation in the Paris Olympics was merely a research project, rather than a genuine effort to represent her country on the international stage in the thing she dearly loved, is truly toxic and trolling. It seems that she was a break dancer first, before she considered any academic study of it. Like the claims by Professor Davis that Gunn sought to mock Australia in her routine, such personal attacks are nothing less than disgusting.
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2. Attacks / ridicule
The Paris Olympics were broadcast live around the world during August 2024, and, like all of those before, was the subject of much media attention. Unfortunately there were a number of significant controversies which tendered to garner public attention, diverting it away from a focus on sport-related achievements. It began with the open ceremony and its parody of the Christian Last Supper performance, which included LGBTI+ elements and subsequently drew criticism. This was followed by the women's boxing scandal involving the participation of two athletes who had been banned by the International Boxing Federation in 2023 after failing sex tests. They were males participating in the female section, and they subsequently went on to win the gold medals.
Much of the controversy over these two events had faded by the time Rachael "Raygun" Gunn stepped onto the break dancing platform. However, what happened during her brief 3 rounds almost immediately hit the news and social media platforms.
Indigenous Professor Megan Davis is perhaps the most damaging and controversial of the Raygun critics, with comments such as:
'A disgrace' .... “Getting zero points on purpose in three rounds for an academic study subsidised by the taxpayer both at a university and Olympic level isn't funny and isn't 'having a go',” Prof Davis said on social media. “(It's) disrespectful to other competitors. (The Australian, 12 August 2024)
In regards to this statement by Professor Davis, the following are the facts:
- Rachael Gunn did not get zero points on purpose. As outlined above, this was a quirk of the scoring system. She was obviously beaten by her younger, more athletic, opponents, and she knew this would be the case going into the Games. Yet she did her best, focussed not on athleticism but on narrative, and brought to her performance 15 years worth of experience in break dancing in order to represent Australia to the best of her ability, where no other representative had been able to be selected in the short period provided.
- Gunn's academic study of break dancing had nothing to do with her performance at the Paris Olympics. The fact that her studies may have been part of a research grant is therefore irrelevant. It is unclear why one academic would criticise another academic for such research.
- There was nothing "funny" about Rachael Gunn's participation in the Paris Olympics. She did not appear as a comic act, but as a genuine competitor and representative of her country. The fact that the media edited sections of her routines in order to make them appear humourous is beyond reproach. Professor Davis should have been aware of the media manipulation being undertaken in regards to the Raygun phenomenon and not made such an accusation.
- Rachael Gunn was clearly "having a go" for her country, and publically proclaimed that all along.
- Rachael Gunn's performance was no "disrespectful' to the other competitors. There are many instances in the history of the Olympic Games where individuals from specific countries have participated though they are at a level lower than the top athletes. There is a tradition in the Olympics where representation overrides relevant level of experience / talent / skill. This has never been referred to as embarrassing or disrespectful.
- Rachael Gunn's performance at the Paris Olympics was not "a disgrace." It was, for many of us Australians, a proud moment. Yes, the media interpretation did contain humour which was taken up by people around the world. But that did not diminish the genuine nature of the participation by this young Australian.
Whilst some elements of the Raygun performance may be, or appear to be, cringe worthy, amusing, silly, etc., many other elements are standard fare for break dancing. Unfortunately, due to censorship and rights issues by the International Olympic Committee, a video of Raygun's complete performances on the day were not made available after the event on social media. Only those aforementioned edited highlights were seen by the world at large. Any attempts to put the full performances up on YouTube, for example, were immediately pulled down. Therefore, the public who did not see the original presentation or have access to it, were only shown snippets and photographs, the majority of which were of the most controversial aspects. They were biased and inflammatory. And the social media and traditional media responded accordingly, feeding off the material like vultures on a rotting carcass, unwilling to show due respect and place the performance in its true context. The truly athletic elements were meaningfully excluded. The two photographs include above in this article reflect some of those censored aspects.
Raygun Breaking Bad, Media Watch, ABC TV, 15 August 2024, YouTube, duration: 2.33 minutes.
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3. Defence / respect
Whilst the ridicule over Rachael Gunn's performance was in many ways overwhelming, it was quickly, though not immediately, followed by both official and individual defence. The most prominent defenders were the manager of the Australian Olympic team, one of the official judges of the competition Martin Gilian, and a former coach of the Chinese team who, most significantly, praised the fact that Gunn's performance had given the sport unprecedented media exposure. The various defenses highlighted the following elements of the debate and facts surrounding the performance:
- Gunn was the best Australian female breakdancer eligible for the Paris Olympic competition. Obviously she was likely not the best Australian female breakdancer in Australia at that time, for nobody knew who that was, despite claims on social media that there were many such individuals out there. Unfortunately, such individuals had not participated in the relevant competitions over the years which lead to Olympic eligibility for Gunn and others.
- Gunn recognised that her age and physical condition was a disadvantage in the context of an Olympic competition. As such, she decided to focus on artistic elements, rather than athleticism, which she knew she could not compete against. The competition judge noted that, and commented upon it as a positive aspect of her performances on the day. The fact that it did not result in publically released competition points was an unrelated matter, as outlined above.
- Gunn did the best she could do as the representative of Australia. As such, she appears to have expanded her performance to include local elements such as the Kangaroo Dance. For this patriotic move she was subsequently both ridiculed and accused of cultural appropriation. She was not deserving of such treatment. The kangaroo is an internationally recognised symbol of Australia. Many such symbols derive from historic precedent and can be accused of being examples of cultural appropriation, whether they be based on cultures such as British, Indigenous or other.
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4. Impact
On 17 August 2024 the present writer viewed a video entitled Can Woke Hollywood be Unburdened by What Has Been? by the famous US YouTuber (with over a million subscribers!) Nerdrotic, when, at the 8.50 minute mark a brief clip from the Raygun Paris Olympics routine was used as a background to the commentary. Such was the widespread pop culture spread of this event and its now iconic status - something which was, frankly, hard to take in at the time. It is now so embedded in US pop culture that the clips and images will, very likely, continue to appear in such presentations as representative of something ????? which is not clearly defined. Is it obviously more than simply ridiculing the Raygun performance, but, at that moment the writer was unsure what precisely it was representing. Is it some sort of misogyny, or opposition to what such YouTubers refer to as the Woke Mind Virus, which is an extremely broad topic covering all manner of things across the modern day political and social spectrum?
The previous day, Rachael Gunn had made a public statement regarding the controversy. It clearly repeats and reflects many of the positive comments made above by the present writer.
Raygun breaks silence over Olympic break dancing backlash, New York Post. YouTube, 16 August 2024, duration: 1.38 minutes.
Rachael Gunn: I just want to start by thanking all the people who have supported me. I really appreciate the positivity and I'm glad I was able to bring some joy into your lives. That's what I hoped. I didn't realize that that would also open the door to so much hate, which has frankly been pretty devastating as well. I went out there and I had fun. I did take it very seriously. I worked my butt off preparing for the Olympics and I gave it my all. Truly I am honored to have been a part of the Australian Olympic team and to be part of breaking's Olympic debut. What the other athletes have achieved has just been phenomenal. A fun fact for you - there are actually no points in breaking. If you want to see how the judges thought I compared to my opponents you can actually see the comparison percentages across the five criteria on olympics.com. All the results are there. I'm going to be in Europe for a few weeks for some pre-planned downtime. But I would really like to ask the press to please stop harassing my family, my friends, the Australian breaking community and the broader street dance community.
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5. Consideration
Rachael Gunn was primarily a dancer who, since the age of 18, had participated in break dancing. The fact that in 2024 it was included as a sport in the Paris Olympics was both a novelty and an innovation. For one such as Gunn, who at the age of 36 was not in prime athletic form, consideration of the reality of her physical state was not done when it came to criticising her. Gunn was not a typical Olympics athlete, but rather a female breakdancer. And anybody needs to look at the "sport" of break dancing around the world to see that many of the participants are not necessarily in prime physical shape. And they do not need to be! It is very much an amateur activity, which also has a semi-professional and competition element. But Olympic sport? Well, that can be argued. In the opinion of the present writer, if it is to continue as an Olympic sport, then countries need to put in programs whereby their local break dancers can participate on the international stage at the highest level of both physical fitness and breakdancer ability. Had Gunn participated in such international competitions previously? Yes, but only in the Oceania competition. And the fact is that she was the best of those available. It is obvious that if break dancing is to continue as an Olympic sport - and that looks unlikely - then the Australian Olympic committee, and Olympic committees worldwide, will need to look around amongst their break dancing population for younger and more athletic participants. Gunn is to be congratulation for the guts and drive to get to the Paris Olympics and participate in the break dancing competition on behalf of Australia. Though her performance has been ridiculed by many who are not aware of the subtleties of the sport, and as a result unwarranted personal attacks have been made on her, it is hoped that the opposing support and recognition of her achievement will win out.
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An off the cuff rave & rehash .......
On the 9th of August 2024 Australian breakdancer Rachael Gunn stepped into the arena at the Paris Olympics, dressed in the only Australia uniform she add - a somewhat daggy green and gold track suit - for three break dance challenges again three different opponents from overseas. Gunn was a 36 year old Australian who had been break dancing since the age of 21 and her she was facing off against much younger and more athletic female break dancers. She knew this, and had planned with her coach to include more artistic elements in her routine than normal, as opposed to a more physical routine. At the end of the three challenges, which was viewed live or delayed by millions around the world, she was subject to international ridicule. This ridicule arose largely because the world had never seen break dancing as an Olympic sport before. When you mention break dancing to most people you think of young Black Americans on the streets of New York doing flips and spins and turns on concrete, or young people in general around the world doing this, because the former is where break dancing came from. But in 2024 we have break dancing on TV not as a dance, or street activity, but as an Olympic sport, with female and male competitors. This was the first time that it was ever in the Olympics and it may be the last. As such, there was a very much hurried campaign by countries around the world to select participants. Rachel Gunn was selected through a legitimate public process to be Australia's representative in the female competition. Now there is no denying that Rachel Gunn was probably (I do not know) not the best female breakdancer in Australia, and there were / are obviously a lot of females around the country who are good break dancers.
Gunn had been break dancing since 2008 and participated in numerous competitions, which is why she eventually got selected. It wasn't a case where we've had female break dancers in Australia for years as part of an official Olympic federal government supported program to nurture Talent. No, we didn't have any of that. And that is why she ended up being in Paris. Personally, I feel "Good on her." She had a go at it. She knew that she it would be difficult, but she got out there. She added artistic elements as she knew the judges were looking for that sort of thing. And these elements included things such as a kangaroo dance, which is very Australian. She made every effort she could to be fit and to be able to represent her country. She wore her country's clothes during the competition. She didn't just walk out there in nondescript street gear. She was a proud Australian.
The vast majority of the viewing population and people around the world had never seen anything like this before. And the fact was that she was open to ridicule very early on. Once the social media trolls got onto it with statements such as: "This is this is embarrassing" (for who? Them?); "This is horrible." "Why did they pick HER?" "Obviously she shouldn't be the one there." "There is obviously corruption here." All of a sudden the trolls and the media started attacking her; rumours were spread; statements were made, even by Aboriginal Professor Megan Davis of the United Nations panel, who said words to the effect: "I know she meaningfully meant to mock her country," which is a disgusting, disgraceful, outrageous and wrong statement.
So this whole episode of Raygun episode it went viral, and remains so as this is written (16 August 2024). Why? Because people were just totally oblivious to the the status of break dancing in in the world in 2024; to its new status as an Olympic sport, and not just a simple, street dance competition. The relative amateur nature of some of the participants, including Rachel Gunn, was evident, even though she had been break dancing for some 15 years. And because it was new, people did not understand the scoring system whereby one faces off against three opponents and only the winner gets points. The loser doesn't get any. So when all of Raygun's opponents proved better than her in the eyes of the judges, she scored zero. No big deal..... She did her best, and was beaten on the day.
Postscript: On 8 November 2024 Rachael Gunn announced her retirement from the sport of break dancing.
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5. References
Abraham, Ellie, Olympics fans stunned as Aussie break dancer 'Raygun' does a 'better' performance at closing ceremony, indy100, 13 August 2024.
Ansari, Aarish, Explained: Breaking rules, moves and formats, Olympic.com, 3 November 2021.
Australian breaker Raygun earns mixed reviews, praised for 'courage' and 'character' after viral performances at Paris Games, CTV News, 13 August 2024.
B-Boy Dojo, The traditions behind BGirl & BBoy names, bboydojo.com, 2023.
Brewis, Harriet, Raygun’s family hit back at Olympic judges over brutal breakdance score, indy100, 14 August 2024.
Cunningham, Katie, ‘It doesn’t reflect us’: Global mockery of Raygun’s Paris Olympics performance affecting Australian scene, local B-girls say, The Guardian, 14 August 2024.
Fletcher, Harry, Olympic star Raygun hits back after becoming viral meme with breakdancing routine, indy100, 10 August 2024.
Lewis, Ollie, Aboriginal leader accuses Raygun of getting zero points ON PURPOSE and brands her a 'disgrace', Daily Mail, Australia, 12 August 2024.
Maguire, Ken, Breaking community defends b-girl Raygun and is hopeful for return to Olympic program, Associated Press News, 12 August 2024.
Nasir, Noreen, Cringy moves and a white b-girl’s durag prompt questions about Olympic breaking’s authenticity, Associated Press News, 11 August 2024.
Ritchie, Hannah, Olympic breaking judge praises Raygun's 'originality', BBC News, Sydney, 12 August 2024.
Sinhar, Bias, Fact Check: Are RayGun and her husband founders of the Australian Breaking Association? Rigged Olympics selection claim debunked, Sportskeeda, 13 August 2024.
Snape, Jack, ‘Don’t scratch the floor’: Australian breakers battle for Olympic spots, The Guardian, 27 October 2023.
This has got to stop! Therapist reacts to Raygun backlash, Paper Crane of Hope, YouTube, 12 August 2024, duration: 8.38 minutes.
Travis, Emlyn, Adele calls Australian breakdancer Raygun's Olympic routine 'fucking fantastic', Entertainment Weekly, 12 August 2024.
Wark, Tom, No, Raygun’s Olympic selection not an inside job, AAP Factcheck, 13 August 2024.
'Zero points on purpose' - Megan Davis slams Raygun, The Australian, 12 August 2024.
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Last updated: 9 November 2024
Michael Organ, Australia
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