German figure skater Nicole Schott competed in the women’s free skating competition at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea on Friday morning (Thursday in Eastern Standard Time).
Schott’s music selection was the score of the 1993 Oscar-winning film directed by Steven Spielberg Schindler’s List. While the music by itself is harmless, the context that surrounds it made viewers at home feel awkward.
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For those who haven’t seen the film, it stars Liam Neeson during Germany’s occupation of Poland in World War II, depicting the horrors of concentration camps run by the Nazi Party. Given that Schott was born and raised in Germany and was representing the German Olympic Team, the connection caused some viewers to cringe, even special correspondent Leslie Jones.
Um is this weird yโall correct me if Iโm wrong cause yโall know Iโm a dumb aโ some times. @NBCOlympics @Olympics pic.twitter.com/IPNon4VwcM
โ Leslie Jones ๐ฆ (@Lesdoggg) February 23, 2018
“Okay, my friend just told me she’s performing to Schindler’s List. What the fโ is happening right now? Is she from Germany. Do I got that wrong?” Jones said as she commented on the broadcast of Schott’s performance.
She captioned the video “Um is this weird y’all correct me if I’m wrong cause y’all know I’m a dumb aโ some times.”
Jones wasn’t the only one to notice.
As someone who has a master’s in holocaust studies, I’m unsure how I feel about a German skater using Schindler’s List
โ Jon Panofsky (@jonp713) February 23, 2018
Next up from Germany and skating to “Schindler’s List”
Oh boy *logs into twitter*#Olympics
โ JeshaDevonne (@JeshaDevonne) February 23, 2018
Maybe don’t skate to the theme from Schindler’s List if you’re from Germany. It’s just a little bit #Awkward. #Olympics https://t.co/VgVlBfgfY6
โ Ann Dystopian Fan (@AnnDystopianFan) February 23, 2018
A German figure skater using a song from Schindler’s List feels like something that should have been caught by one of the first 55,000 people it would have had to go through to get here.
โ Scott Harris (@ScottHarrisMMA) February 23, 2018
first of all, nobody should skate to schindler’s list. second of all, some people REALLY shouldn’t skate to schindler’s list.
โ Hannah ๐ผ (@fromtexarkana) February 23, 2018
German figure skater performing to music from Schindlerโs List. Thats…not the choice Iโd go with. pic.twitter.com/0B0B3YK9uS
โ Sarah (@BookishFeminist) February 23, 2018
When you realize a German ice skater just performed to a song from Schindlerโs List. pic.twitter.com/eIcM3TSHIW
โ Diane N. Sevenay (@Diane_7A) February 23, 2018
“As someone who has a master’s in holocaust studies, I’m unsure how I feel about a German skater using Schindler’s List,” Jon Panofsky tweeted.
“Maybe don’t skate to the theme from Schindler’s List if you’re from Germany. It’s just a little bit #Awkward,” user Ann Dystopian Fan wrote.
“A German figure skater using a song from Schindler’s List feels like something that should have been caught by one of the first 55,000 people it would have had to go through to get here,” Scott Harris tweeted.
Photo: Twitter/@24Matins_de