Johnny with David Barba (left) and James Pellerito--
or "Butch" and "Grams," as Johnny calls them--
at the New York premiere
of Pop Star on Ice, June 2009.
Special Friday fun! We present the third in a series of interviews translated from the incredibly fabulous Japanese Mook Book. Today's selection is the interview with David "Butch" Barba and James "Grams" Pellerito, conducted by Akiko Tamura in New York City in May 2010, and presented on pages 70-71 of the Mook.
Butch and Grams are, of course, the brilliant visionary team who first realized that Johnny Weir should be filmed pretty much 24/7, and therefore The Cabal offers them our undying gratitude and also complimentary cupcakes and Tatty Terry Robes of Transcendental Glory, plus matching glue-gun-welded tiaras.
Both are fascinating men with excellent credentials. From their bios on the Pop Star on Ice website:
David Barba
Pop Star on Ice Writer / Director / DP / Editor / Producer
David was born in Monterrey, Mexico, and raised in Mexico City. Half Mexican and half Scottish, he received a BA in Feminist Studies from Stanford University. After working in the film industries in New York, London, and Mexico City, David attended Columbia University, receiving an MFA in Film. His short film ADIOS, PARA SIEMPRE (2006 HBO Urbanworld VIBE Best Short Film) shot on location in Mexico City, has screened at festivals worldwide and on television on Showtime in the U.S. and AXN throughout Latin America. POP STAR ON ICE is his first feature.
James Pellerito
Pop Star on Ice Writer / Director / DP / Editor / Producer
James was born and raised in Vicenza, Italy, near Venice. James moved to New York to attend Columbia and received a BA and MFA in Film as well as an MA in Art History and Cinema Studies from NYU. He worked for many years at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, in the Greek and Roman Art Department. His short film MAREE (TIDES), shot on location in Venice, was screened in over one hundred festivals worldwide and won awards at over twenty-five festivals, including Berlin, Rhode Island, and Cinequest, qualifying it for Academy Award consideration in 2005. POP STAR ON ICE is his first feature.
In the Mook, the interview is titled, "What Is Impressive About Johnny Is His Recovery Power."
Editorial note: As I was working on these translations with the amazing Akiko Nakata, I was struck by the marked contrast between the Mook interviews and the NY Mag piece. Interviewer Akiko Tamura, an accomplished sports journalist, guides each interview with thoughtful questions and an attitude of respect, and she draws out equally thoughtful answers and comments from her interviewees. She is engaging but never intrusive, and thus her work allows her interviewees to speak for themselves, and lets the reader really "meet" these people through their own words. Her upcoming Mook interview with Johnny, and her own essay about him in the Mook, is journalism at its best.
When the BGJW series began, there was no way to know whether or not Johnny would make it to the Olympics. After following him all this time, you must be very thrilled.
James: We never doubted his abilities and his ambition. If we were concerned about anything, it was the unpredictability of figure skating. No matter how excellent a skater may be, you never know what will happen to him at a competition. So in that sense, yes, we were thrilled!
You have been with Johnny for a long time. What most impressed you about him?
James: We have been following Johnny closely for four years. What we were most impressed by was his recovery power. After the 2007 Worlds in Tokyo, he was so down that he was thinking of quitting. He decided he needed to change something, so he left Pricilla and came to Galina. It was a huge decision that required a lot of courage, but he came to that decision all on his own. He missed the 2009 Worlds, but in the next season he medaled at both the GP Finals and the U.S. Nationals, and was chosen to go to the Olympics. We found his recovery ability really amazing.
David: And you can say that even if you have only watched him during the Olympic season. At the Cup of Russia, he was getting very nervous about competing after a ten-month-long interval. At the NHK Trophy, he was backed into a corner; he would have been finished if he couldn't get better scores. And many people said, "Johnny is finished." As we show in our documentary, Johnny was in bad shape in Japan, fighting terrible flu. However, he earned a medal, and it enabled him to go on to the GP Finals. Of course, he was a little lucky, too, but any skater needs good luck sometimes.
That luck gave your documentary a fabulously dramatic development.
David: Indeed. As a result, it did.
James: Another thing that impresses me about Johnny is his honesty and frankness. He expresses himself so clearly and openly, yet he always leaves a good impression. After listening to everything he might say in a whole day, day after day, our impression of Johnny never changed. This is something we could not find in any other skater.
Where does he get his personality from?
David: No doubt from his parents. They are totally different from Johnny, but they encouraged him to have his opinions. Thanks to them, Johnny grew up naturally and freely, just—Johnny. He is honest and frank, and we can't ever dislike him no matter how clearly he expresses his varied opinions! A lot of his fans are probably attracted to that part of his personality. Since many skaters only say non-controversial, politically correct things in public, Johnny's frankness feels fresh.
James: At the same time, Johnny is respectful of others. He never condemns anyone. If he criticizes another skater, it's only because he has experienced something really terrible from that skater. Usually he only has positive things to say about others.
 |
James and David at the LA premiere
of Pop Star on Ice at OutFest, July 2009. |
Did you ever have any challenges in filming Johnny and/or his coaches? What were you most concerned about? David: We cared a lot about our relationships with the coaching team. Galina is a world- famous coach, Viktor is an Olympic medalist, and Nina is his wife and Galina's daughter. They are a coaching team and a family, into which we had to enter for shooting.
We never forgot the fact that most of all, Johnny is a skater: He is an athlete, not a reality-show star. We were always very careful to be aware of when it was OK to film, and when we should not be there.
Galina is, like Johnny, extraordinarily frank, and she spoke out clearly whenever she found something she disliked. She was easy to understand and we were grateful to her for that. We had no friction, but we did try to be very sensitive. We think Galina is an amazing person who, as a coach, gave Johnny what he needed. It was very important for us not to disturb her and the others on the team.
James: Especially during the Olympic season. We were extremely careful never to disturb Johnny's training for the Olympics. We were aware that that was the real priority for everyone. On the other hand, when we were in Russia or Japan to film Johnny at competitions, we wanted to successfully shoot scenes we needed for the documentary, and we were always hoping for Johnny to perform well enough to be on the podium. So there was a lot of pressure.
David: Shooting a documentary always requires, “Hurry up and wait!” We never know when and how a good chance to film will come. Actually, we were waiting almost 24 hours a day!
What did you think about the result at the Vancouver Olympics?
James: It was a total shame. David and I took the short program scores as an obvious message from the judges: "We don’t want to give him a medal." We felt like deflated balloons.
The last group for the free skate usually consists of five or six skaters. This time, Johnny was to skate as the fifth competitor in the last group, and Plushenko was to skate right after him. When we knew the order, we thought it couldn't be better for Johnny. Honestly, at this point, we thought a medal would be almost impossible anyway. So we watched Johnny's free skate with just the hope that he would perform his best. Our hearts were just full in realizing that we were finally at the Vancouver Olympics after following Johnny for four years. It was a rare opportunity for us to relax and just get to watch him perform without having to worry about filming.
After watching his performance, we thought it might actually be possible to see him on the podium. So did the audience; so did the coaches. But no—it wasn’t to be.
[Note: James and David did not have permission to film at the Olys, so they were able to simply enjoy being spectators.]
David: After the short program, the judges' message was clear. Still, we were shocked that Johnny ended in sixth place after such an excellent free skate. We felt that it was derogatory toward Johnny. He should have been at least fourth place. But we are so proud of him that in that performance; he proved himself to be a top athlete as well as an artist. The elements he did in the program were exactly the same as those that Evan Lysacek did.
I'm sure that Johnny was the only skater of the night who performed so perfectly that he made us forget to count the number of his spins and jumps. Under the 6.0 scoring system, it would not have been a surprise if he had received some 6.0s.
If you look at the scores on the short programs, there are only small differences among the top three skaters, and large gaps between these three and the other skaters. It was obvious that the judges wanted those top three skaters to medal. However, we feel Johnny performed better than the fourth- and fifth-place skaters. We love Nobunari [Oda], but that night, unfortunately for him, the laces on his skate broke and he had to stop for a while in the middle of his performance. But his points and Johnny's were almost same—that astonished us.
James: I can only say this: What has been lost since the current scoring system was adopted is the ability to highly evaluate a skater who performs as if all the elements were very easy.
The 6.0 scoring system rewarded the skaters who could perform difficult elements and make it look effortless. Brian Boitano, Kristi Yamaguchi—all the great skaters in the past were like that. So is Shizuka Arakawa. Watching her jumps, I feel as if I could jump like she does—she seems to jump so easily, with no effort at all.
The current system tends to award high scores to skaters who look like "I am doing something very very difficult." Johnny’s basic skills are so excellent that he seems to do everything naturally and effortlessly. His triple combination looks like a piece of cake. His transitions are always beautifully done and never leave the audience thinking, "Oh, he’s working really hard." And so the current scoring system is unfavorable for skaters like Johnny.
David: Nonetheless, he didn't show his disappointment even after he saw the scores. He reacted calmly. His graceful attitude was highly valued by his fans. That's one reason why he got so many new fans after the Olympics.
Last question: Do you think there is anything Johnny needs in order to become the top skater in the world—if he wants to continue competing?
David: We asked Viktor the same question. He told us that the only thing Johnny needs, technically speaking, is quads. Some people say that if he would behave in a more "politically correct" manner, the judges would treat him more favorably—but that wouldn't be Johnny anymore. And he wouldn't be willing to betray himself just to be loved by judges.
James: It would be possible if he skated a program composed solely to get more points under the current scoring system. But I don't agree, as some have said, that his Olympic programs lacked the elements necessary to win.
David: Johnny is so gorgeously "showy," both on and off the ice, that he is often misunderstood, but his efforts and concentration as an athlete are tremendous. Especially during the Olympic season, his concentration was almost unearthly. He is never a superficial young man whose interests are mostly in fashion—there's no doubt about that, we can assure you, after having watched him all these years more closely than anyone else has.
James: It isn't possible for anyone to skate both a clean short program and a clean free skate in the Olympics just because he's lucky. To achieve that, Johnny trained harder than ever before during these years running up to the Olympics. The present ISU officials probably did not want him on the podium. If we were asked what we thought he lacked to make the podium, our answer would be: Politically correct behavior. On the other hand, NBC and other television networks recognize that U.S. figure skating needs some star figure skaters like Johnny. That's why they asked him to broadcast as a commentator.
David: The U.S. itself needs a star skater, whose name and face are recognized and remembered not only by figure-skating fans, but by people all around the country. Johnny is that star skater.
Paris, Johnny, James, and David
during the Q and A after the screening
of Pop Star on Ice at BAM
(Brooklyn Academy of Music) in New York,
August 2009.
Twitter voting roundup!
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Hey! Johnny Is skating in Yu-Na Kim's fabulous show,
All That Skate, in Los Angeles in October!
Everything you need to know about tickets
and special gatherings of The Cabal
is right here!
Weirlandians for Life organizer Gary Podschun
notes that we're a little more than one month away
from the Chicago AIDS Walk,
and WE STILL NEED AT LEAST TWO MORE PEOPLE
TO OFFICIALLY FORM A TEAM!
Please visit the group page here for more info.
We hope to see Johnny well-represented by his fans
at the walk on October 2!
Coming soon: More in the series
of translated interviews from the Mook Book
courtesy of the fabulous Akiko Nakata!
copyright 2010 / Binky and the Misfit Mimes / Lynn V. Ingogly / all rights reserved
