Photo by Bo Zhang via Uplash.

Sept. 8, 2024 marked the end of an olympic summer in Paris. The stakes were high, as Paris had not previously hosted the Olympics since 1924. Between broken records and social unrest, let’s dive into my main takeaways from Paris 2024!

1. Marketing in Paris

Paris has been in the spotlight all summer with these Olympic Games, which have shown Paris in a spectacular and elegant light. Indeed, it all began on the very first day with the ceremony on the Seine, which despite the rain sent out a strong message to the whole world. The urban marketing worked, and the visual spectacle outshone the sport, with the use of mythical sites such as the gardens of the Château de Versailles, the Eiffel Tower and the Palais Garnier. The magnificent city of Paris was worthily represented, and as a reward, 12 million spectators from all over the world attended the games–an all-time record. 

2. 126 Medals for Team USA

The American delegation was sparkling this year, taking a well-deserved first place on the medal table in terms of overall medals won. Once again, the USA demonstrated the power of sport as soft power, and this dominance only seems to be increasing. This year, the USA won 13 more medals than at the last Olympic Games in Tokyo, with a total of 126 medals, including 40 gold, (equalling China in the number of gold medals, but with a greater number of medals overall).

3. Paralympics: a catalyst for change

The Olympic summer came to a close with two exciting weeks of Paralympic Games, marked by an all-time record for the largest number of participating delegations. The sporting performances were once again breathtaking, but the real challenge of the Paris Paralympic Games was to raise public awareness. Indeed, the Games served as a bridge to create a sense of unity not only between different countries but also with communities of people with disabilities. Some politicians even asked themselves how they could do more to help those living with disabilities. Valérie Pécresse, a French politician, expressed her desire to renovate Parisian transport systems to adapt them to be fully accessible. That’s what the Paralympic Games are all about: bringing us closer to isolated communities and inspiring positive change.

4.  When sports meets business

As with every Olympics, money is king, and the Olympics were particularly expensive, costing in excess of 10 billion euros. Indeed, with such a huge investment, the French government confiscated over a hundred student housing units for more than 3 months, and increased the cost of bus and metro tickets by almost 2.5 times the normal amount. These controversial decisions gave rise to numerous demonstrations and social demands.

5.  Hypocrisy in the land of human rights 

Every Olympiad brings its share of controversy, and this year’s Olympics were no exception. France has a reputation for openness, yet Muslim athletes were banned from wearing the hijab (a sign of belonging to Islam). This ban has also been criticized as anti-feminist. Further fueling these concerns, Steven Van de Vede, a Dutch volleyball player convicted on three counts of rape involving a minor, was allowed to participate in the Olympics. Although, the opening ceremony showed France to be a country of love and tolerance, these contradictions have been believed by many to run counter to the very spirit of sport.

Honorable Mention: Snoop Dogg, Paris Olympics true mascot

World-famous artist Snoop Dog made a sensational contribution to the magic of the Olympic Games. Snoop Dogg was hired by NBC as a presenter to cover certain sporting events, as well as a promoter for the Olympic Games. He seemed to be everywhere, and his charisma and humor brought a lot of levity. His energy was so iconic that these Olympics will be remembered as part of Snoop Dog’s legacy.

As a longtime fan of “The Bachelor” franchise, I anxiously awaited the announcement for who would be named the next “Bachelorette” in the Season 28 finale. Of course, it’s exciting to see how the season ends and who the bachelor ends up with, but it’s also equally exciting to see who the next Bachelorette will be, which is one of the season’s stand-out contestants. Season 28 of “The Bachelor” featured Joey Graziadei, a 28-year-old tennis pro from Pennsylvania, as the lead. Graziadei  was looking for his future wife among 32 contestants. 

Graziadei’s season was one of the most popular with the season finale bringing in 6.31 million viewers, which is the most watched Season Finale in the history of “The Bachelor” franchise. The fan favorite contestant was Maria Georgas, who I was also hoping would be selected since her unfiltered and authentic personality shone through in Graziadei’s season. However, Jenn Tran was announced as the lead for “The Bachelorette” Season 21. Tran is a 26-year-old physician assistant and was loved by the fans during Graziadei’s season due to her compassionate and sweet personality.

Jenn Tran is Vietnamese American, making her the first Asian Bachelorette, and first Asian lead of any “Bachelor” franchise season. 

“Growing up, I’ve always wanted to see Asian representation on TV,” said Tran, in response to this historic moment, “And I feel like it was really sparse. Any time Asians were in the media, it was to fill a supporting character role, to fulfill some sort of stereotype, and I always felt boxed in by that. And now to be here today, standing in this position being like, I am going to lead my own love story. I am going to be the main character in my story, I just can’t help but think about how many people I’m inspiring and how many lives I am changing.” 

“The Bachelor” franchise has faced controversy in the past and criticism due to its lack of diversity and racism scandals. In the 21 years the show has been on air, there have only been two other leads of color, Matt James and Charity Lawson. During James’ season, there was controversy that the show had perpetuated racial stereotypes in James’ storyline after he spoke out about how his father, who is Black, was presented as an absent father. The former host, Chris Harrison, exited the show after he defended Rachel Kirkconnell, a contestant on James’ season, who had attended a party at a plantation and liked social media posts with the Confederate flag in them. 

For many years, the cast of “The Bachelor” has been overwhelmingly white and homogenous. I can remember watching prior seasons with majority white and stereotypically beautiful contestants, many of whom were former pageant contestants or NFL cheerleaders. Of course, the contestants themselves did nothing wrong. The fault lies with the casting and production. The lack of racial, body type and socioeconomic diversity in the shows remains exceedingly obvious. Over the past few seasons, there has been greater racial diversity, but often these contestants have been given unequal storytime editing and screen time. Jokingly, I’ve often mentioned to my friends that it seems like they only keep the Asian contestants on long enough to be tokenized before the white lead chooses another white contestant at the end. 

Not only are there issues with a lack of diversity in “The Bachelor,” but there are also issues of cyberbullying and harassment that contestants of color experience from fans and online users. Social media following can be viewed as a proxy for fans’ support for certain contestants, and white contestants see a greater growth in following after being on the show than contestants of other races, according to Bachelor Data. In addition to unequal support from fans, many contestants have faced online hate and racism. Rachel Nance, a contestant on Graziadei’s season who finished in the top three and is African and Filipino American, spoke out about the racially motivated hate she’s received from fans. Nance said, “I was nervous to talk about it because I know some people feel uncomfortable when they hear that racism is still going on in 2024. But I think people need to sit in feeling uncomfortable because, how do you think I feel getting those messages?”

It’s easy to write off the show’s casting and historic decision as trivial since, after all, it’s just a reality show. However, as an Asian woman, I believe that this moment is important and that more people should take notice of it. As Jenn Tran pointed out, Asians are overlooked in almost all forms of media, and when they are portrayed, they’re often stereotypical or relegated to supporting roles. I think it’s important for an Asian-American woman to finally be a star in her own story rather than a token who is overshadowed by white voices. I’m excited to see how her journey plays out and am hopeful that her season will be a turning point for reality TV to showcase more Asian contestants. 

You can catch the new season of “The Bachelorette” on ABC airing on Jun. 1, 2024.