S18: Amy Purdy: Purdy Badass

[Woodrose]

Snowboarders Rule!

 

Louie Vito, the only other Olympic snowboarder to appear on DWTS (several seasons ago) is supporting Amy.  He sent this tweet:

 

Stoked to live tweet the @dancingabc finale tonight to support @amypurdygurl #DWTS #TeamAmy #PurdyHough @toyota pic.twitter.com/N29cNQEvN1

 

https://twitter.com/louievito/status/468454851597197314/photo/1

 

It includes a cute pic of the two of them.

 

I enjoyed Louie's time on the show, though he wasn't a great dancer (Amy definitely wins the 'Which Snowboarder Danced the Best on DWTS' challenge).  He didn't have much rhythm or grace, but he had a fun attitude and a good partnership with Chelsie.  Louie also did some very impressive acrobatic flips that I remember.  It's nice that he's supporting Amy.

[LadyMustang65]

But, yes, the downright nastiness I've seen has been unlike any other season.

 

 

Did you watch the first season when Kelly Monaco was called a slut (among other things and that was one of the "nicer" things) because she had posed for Playboy?  Or the season when Chaz Bono was on?  Calling him an "it," a "freak" and claiming that his mom was too embarrassed by her son to come to the show.  It's always been nasty.  This year just seems a bit more shocking, I think, because we expect people to be a bit less dickish when dealing with a person with a handicap.

[CED9]

This year just seems a bit more shocking, I think, because we expect people to be a bit less dickish when dealing with a person with a handicap.

As a disabled person myself, I find strangers react in a handful of ways. Total ignorance, overt niceness (fake), pity, or dickish. That's not surprising to me. What is surprising to me is the lengths people go with it when they can hide behind a computer screen. Particularly the people who say having the ability to change her feet gives her an advantage, when really, it's the equivalent of changing shoes for someone with feet.

I accept if someone can genuinely explain why they don't like someone or like someone else better, it's the baseless comments that are born out of fear that I can't stand. And then for someone to use opinion as fact. Can't stand that regardless of who it's towards.

[Bitsy]

Maybe it's because I don't frequent certain areas of the internet, but I have not seen personal hatred for Amy.  I saw on the DWTS official Facebook page that people were mad, mad, mad when they asked how people liked Amy's tango.  They were mad because of the use of the stool and because of overscoring and because they believe Amy and Derek are being given special treatment.  I wasn't going to read all 8,000 comments so I'm sure there were some personal ones in there because there always are.  But people have a right to get as fired up about Amy's performances/scoring as anyone else's on the show.  I'm a little surprised by the backlash, but what I've seen is very different than calling her names.

[Flick]

I'm a little surprised by the backlash, but what I've seen is very different than calling her names.

There's definitely been a personal backlash in relation to Amy. I haven't loved her dances and I haven't warmed to her as a person, but I'm content to say that or she's been lackluster for me and leave it at that. But even here there's been comments about Amy as a person or her time on a show that have crossed a line. Just last week people referred to her disability as her "issues" in quotations as if being a double amputee was something she was exaggerating. On the People article about Mark's injury there were several comments calling her something along the lines of a no legged freak. Yes, in the corner of the Internet I tend to stay in most people's frustrations have been directed at her performances, but even there it hasn't been completely free of comments that at best are in questionable taste but more appropriately would be classified as cruel.

[CED9]

To me, there's a difference between what you're talking about, Bitsy and deliberately tagging anyone in a negative comment for the purpose of them seeing it. That's what I take issue with ultimately, why tag a star unless you're just crying for attention?

Thankfully, as with any of the stars, the positive outweighs the negative. But it's hard not to focus on that one negative in a sea of positive sometimes.

The best example I can give you was from Twitter during Week 3. Someone (likely a M/M fan, but I'm giving benefit of the doubt here) tagged her in a tweet that said something along the lines of it would be more fair if Amy danced on her "stumps" since Derek just drags her around anyway. Other people retweeted it, and there's no way she didn't see it. It's not straight up name calling as much as it is malicious intent.

Does my rambling make sense? Lol.

[truthaboutluv]

I also visited her Instagram for the first time and there were a couple of very mean things there. I would like to say I'm surprised but let's face it, assholes live for the anonymity of the internet. Personally all I can do is feel pity for someone who takes a show as silly as DWTS this seriously. 

Edited May 19, 2014 by truthaboutluv

[smiley13]

I have not seen any more backlash against Amy than I have seen against Candace for being a Christian who is open about her faith.  I have seen her called terrible names.  Most comments about Amy have had to do with the judges bias towards judging her and the crap that Derek has pulled, not about her as a person.

[Flick]

The best example I can give you was from Twitter during Week 3. Someone (likely a M/M fan, but I'm giving benefit of the doubt here) tagged her in a tweet that said something along the lines of it would be more fair if Amy danced on her "stumps" since Derek just drags her around anyway. Other people retweeted it, and there's no way she didn't see it. It's not straight up name calling as much as it is malicious intent.

I've been involved in fandoms for long enough to tell you that just because you assume something is coming from somewhere doesn't mean it is. I've seen nastiness towards Amy coming from the fans of just about every couple that's been on the show and I've seen the same sort of thing towards Meryl from fans of just about everyone including Charlie. If you were actually giving anyone the benefit of the doubt, you wouldn't have tried to assign blame to any particular fandom and instead regarded them as an individual asshole which is what they are regardless of who they support.

[CED9]

You are right. My mistake. I was going more off of the strongest offenders seeming to be Derek/Maks supporters regardless of their celeb. It was dumb of me to drag that into my point. My apologies.

[Bitsy]

I tend not to look at instagram comments because they are a nest for trolls.  I did glance at a picture Maks posted of Meryl and they made comments to him about how ugly she is.  I'm sure it's happening to every single contestant on the show who utilizes social media. 

[kiddo82]

I think its fine for people to vote for her because they like what she represents and they like seeing how she copes with the dances. I personally have more of a problem with the judges ignoring mistakes and judging her based on how inspirational she is when they said they wouldn't. Maybe some accommodations should be made in the judging, but IMO those should have been laid out at the beginning. The few seconds the judges have after the dance doesn't seem like enough time to really assess that. 

 

Kromm's comment from Maks' reminds me of why I didn't like the personal story week when they first introduced it. It turned into a bunch of stories about losing loved ones. How am I supposed to decide which star crying about their loss is best? It just feels icky. This is a competition, and I do like being able to say I like this one and not that one.

First off, totally agree about story week. I hate story week for that very reason. I don't like the idea of judging someone based on things that are so deep and personal. Art is all about personal expression but at the end of the day it's a competition and someone has to go home. It's such emotional manipulation on the part of the producers.

Secondly, totally agree about the judging. This is the reason, for me personally, I've gotten turned off to the pair even though I understand there's nothing that Amy can do about it. I suspect it comes from a well intentioned place on the part of the judges but it's truly not fair to her. There comes a time late in the season when the good stars get nitpicked and the Bill Engvalls stop getting judged entirely. (They'll say something like "You know it wasn't very good but clearly America loves you." then hold up a 7. Really, what more can they say at that point?). I feel like Amy deserves to be among the nitpicked, not because I want to see her criticized, but because it's a sign of respect and she's proven to be good. We can argue about the table in the jazz routine from now until doomsday but there were obvious timing errors in that routine. Granted, I know even the perfect routines on this show aren't literally "perfect" and the judges do miss things but it just seems as if they still aren't quite sure how to judge her. I know a lot of people complain about them and how useless they can be but as someone who's been watching this show a long time and still knows nothing about dance I take a lot cues from their criticisms. I don't always agree with them but will obviously defer to them when it comes to technical merit. Their opinions do matter. Lately, however, I feel they've been more of a disservice to her for a neutral person like myself. Obviously if you like Amy you're still going to like her and if you don't it's fuel to the fire but there's a lot of people in between. Admittedly, there's nothing Amy has done to bring this on nor is there anything she can do change it.

[kitcloudkicker]

Amy's posted a shot of what looks like more aerial work (wearing the "swimming" feet) to her instagram, calling it "training for an upcoming project." It's pretty cool that the show may have inspired her to take her career in a slightly different direction.

[rulesoftravel]

That would be pretty amazing if she could do aerial work in addition to the snowboarding.   

 

My only comments about Amy had to do with the inability of the judges to not see her differently.  I don't think she wanted that and in the end it hurt her. 

 

But it did make me crazy that people should yell about her for a lift when she had no feet to actually feel the floor.       And I thought her contemporary dances were lovely.

[truthaboutluv]

How did it hurt her...she came in second. Yeah there were a couple of mean comments online, some disagreements on some message boards about her performances but at the end of the day she came in second and outlasted many people that most probably thought would have beaten her when the competition started. But really does it even matter - the season's over (thank goodness...) and she didn't win so moving on.

 

Speaking of Amy's Instagram, I noticed something odd some days ago. She posted a pic there and tweeted it, of her and her boyfriend in what looked like photobooth shots and made some comment like "quality time with this special one" (paraphrasing here..) Anyway, the comments on her account in response to the picture were interesting to say the least. People weren't nasty per se but there were a lot of "aww, no you and Derek should be together..." Which yeah, showed how much attention I was paying since I didn't even know shipping those two was a thing.

 

In any case, a few hours later, the picture was gone, as well as the tweet. I couldn't figure out if she removed it to avoid her boyfriend getting mean comments or if she figured she'd let people have their fantasy of her and Derek a little longer. In any case it was odd. And that picture was like the first time her boyfriend seemed to show up or get mentioned at all on her twitter/Instagram in like forever. 

Edited June 1, 2014 by truthaboutluv

[Bitsy]

Everybody gets shipped to a certain extent.  Had they lasted longer, there probably would have been a legion of Diana/Henry shippers.

 

With Amy, I know some people who saw Amy & her boyfriend on The Amazing Race got a negative impression of the two of them.  It was defined as an "on and off relationship".  And then there was more drama with the two of them on DWTS and some reaction shots of him in the audience that weren't too flattering.  So I'm not surprised that there are some die-hard Amy Purdy fans who don't have a good opinion of the relationship and feel the need to voice those feelings on her instagram.

[truthaboutluv]

Everybody gets shipped to a certain extent.  Had they lasted longer, there probably would have been a legion of Diana/Henry shippers.

 

 

lmao...okay now I must have this in my life.

 

With Amy, I know some people who saw Amy & her boyfriend on The Amazing Race got a negative impression of the two of them.  It was defined as an "on and off relationship".

 

 

I had checked out of TAR by the time they competed but they have been together for something like 14 years right? Then it doesn't surprise me that there has been some off/on periods.

[kitcloudkicker]

If she took the picture down she put it back up, cause I still see it. Hard to tell from the outside, but I hope they work it out - from other older interviews I've seen he seemed pretty supportive, and I know they co-run that adaptive action sports foundation together.

I think aerials might be a good place for Amy to explore, since she's so strong and flexible, with good musicality and performance expression - and it does remove some of the challenges of needing to stay balanced on her legs. I just like when it seems like people discover a new passion through the show - I liked that about Kellie Pickler too.

[truthaboutluv]

If she took the picture down she put it back up, cause I still see it.

 

 

I guess she just deleted the tweet that linked to it because that tweet is definitely gone.

[CED9]

Yeah, she took the pic down and put it back up the next day.

She was on Good Day LA a couple days ago, and mentioned that she wanted to focus more on getting her book finished, she just got a book deal, and her clothing line that she helped design as a one off for charity in 2012 is being brought back permanently.

She also said she wasn't sure if she would competitively snowboard again (at least in the Paralympics) but was planning a trip to Alaska for some big mountain shredding.

[CED9]

Amy posed for ESPN The Magazine's Body Issue. She is the 3rd Paralympian to do so. The issue comes out on July 11th.

http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/11132234/venus-williams-michael-phelps-marshawn-lynch-lead-body-issue-list

[truthaboutluv]

This is her picture in the magazine http://amypurdygurl.tumblr.com/post/91073090723/amy-purdy-espn-body-issue-2014-x

 

She looks amazing in my opinion. You manage to not really see anything while the pose showcases her physical strength and power so well. 

[CED9]

She looks fantastic! How she can do that while only holding on with one hand is amazing.

I guess this is the project she meant when she posted that aerial pic awhile back.

[smiley13]

What a tasteless picture.  I really do not understand why people degrade themselves.

[shoregirl]

I wonder why she didn't do something about snowboarding. That's what she went to the Paraolympics for. It could have brought more attention do that. But I guess she would rather be known for dancing than the thing that got her on Dancing with the Stars. ( I get that she may have not had complete say in the photos but I bet she had some)

[truthaboutluv]

She's holding a circular ring, that does not scream DWTS - it's not like she's holding ballroom dancing shoes. And her bio in the magazine talk about her snowboarding and her winning the Bronze medal. Also Venus Williams has nothing in her shot indicating that she's a tennis player. 

 

It's interesting to me how quickly a woman gets accused of degrading herself or the name calling starts when they dare to embrace any kind of sexuality/nudity but men often get a pass. Gee, I don't remember seeing too many comments about Val and Maks' little People shoot with only some fedoras hanging on their penises or their little gratuitous public bathing each other thing that they shot for some random product I don't even remember (I just saw this because Val appeared on The View after he and Elizabeth Berkeley were eliminated). 

 

ESPN magazine has been doing this issue for six years. Many incredibly accomplished athletes (including the most decorated Olympian Michael Phelps who is part of this current issue) have been a part of the issue.

Edited July 9, 2014 by truthaboutluv

[radishcake]

I can see how this conversation could get heated very easily so I will just say two opposing opinions have been articulated and they do not need to be rehashed. Please click LIKE on the post you agree with instead of starting a back and forth on women and their right to bare arms. :D

[legaleagle53]

What a tasteless picture.  I really do not understand why people degrade themselves.

 

One person's "degradation" is another person's "being comfortable in his/her own skin."

[kitcloudkicker]

ESPN has the full gallery up, with two more of Amy: http://espn.go.com/espn/photos/gallery/_/id/11143740/image/44/amy-purdy-bodies-want

[CED9]

I wonder why she didn't do something about snowboarding. That's what she went to the Paraolympics for. It could have brought more attention do that. But I guess she would rather be known for dancing than the thing that got her on Dancing with the Stars. ( I get that she may have not had complete say in the photos but I bet she had some)

Maybe because there was already another snowboarder in the issue (Jamie Anderson) that went with all snowboarding related pics, and Amy could do the other stuff, so why not let her? The ring was a way to show off her strength which is what the issue was all about, and the other 2 pics were with different prosthetics. Perhaps the different prosthetics were part of the idea too.

[kitcloudkicker]

Amy was featured in a prime spot (right after kickoff) Superbowl ad this weekend - it's rather lovely even though it really has nothing to do with a Camery. Including several shots of her dancing

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjUfygo5mzw

 

It was nice to see her get lots of twitter love from the Dancing with the Stars cast.