The most unsuccessful debate in the entire history of "DaDebatov". There was no argument at all. Latynina looked almost ready to kiss Kononenko on stage. Probably that was our mistake. When we were deciding on the participants, I was working from the following assumptions: Latynina and Parker have a serious personal dislike for each other Latynina is famously sharp-tongued Parker always speaks calmly and with an air of not caring, but he likes jokes that skate close to the edge, so I thought he would provoke Latynina Both of them stir strong emotions among bloggers and have very clearly defined camps of supporters and detractors. So I was expecting an entertaining clash, complete with personal attacks. Didn’t happen. "Barshchevsky is wonderful," "Kononenko is a writer, so let him write," "any struggle right now is pointless" and where was all the stuff about Parker being an agent of the bloody secret police (Cheka/KGB-style political police)?! about spoiler tactics?! about black PR?! Nowhere. "Latynina is wonderful," "I’m giving her flowers," "we’ll try to change something" and where was all the stuff about loser liberals?! about privatization?! about personal ambition??!! about idleness and empty talk?! Nowhere. The audience was openly bored. Maxim answered in monosyllables. Latynina dodged questions and kept drifting off into stories about various Chechens, whose names—and the stories from their lives—meant nothing to anyone. And certainly had nothing to do with the topic of the debate. In short, we picked the wrong guests. Both are vivid personalities with whom you can stage a fiery polemic, but they had nothing to say to each other. I was surprised by Latynina’s such overwhelming victory. Once again I was convinced that predicting the outcome of our debates is impossible. And from the stage, a debate looks completely different than it does from the audience. I suppose I should write something about the Sieg Heil thing. So I am. I didn’t understand what they wanted. I mean, I understand why various girls, trembling with excitement at their own daring, disrupt things for me by hanging little signs off the balcony. They want people to notice them and come meet them. Why a grown man would want to do the same thing is unclear. Just to get some publicity on LiveJournal? There are more interesting ways to do that. Especially since topics of "various kinds of fashism" aren’t taboo at our debates at all. Come to a debate featuring Kuryanovich or Belov and say whatever you want. Promote yourself till you turn blue. That’s what debates are for—so everyone can promote themselves. And as for "let whoever has the courage throw us out," that’s just ridiculous. Of course no one is going to throw them out. It’s like showing up at a movie theater with ten people for a Brad Pitt film. Turning on the lights and yelling: "You’re all losers. And Brad Pitt is a loser. The only cool guy is Orlando Bloom. And anyone who disagrees can try to throw us out of here." People will get annoyed, but they obviously won’t start fighting. People just don’t care that much. They simply came to the movies. Usually in couples. They are clearly not prepared to fight anyone. If you want to get into a fight, then you should go to places where there are concentrated gatherings of a) only men b) men united into some kind of groups or teams. Something like that.
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