Is Raygun BRAT?

Academics are often bemoaned for being too elitist, locked away in ivory towers away from the public’s view but funded by the public purse. 

Rachael “Raygun” Gunn, an academic from Macquarie University with a PhD in the culture of breaking, literally went to the most public place in the world right now to engage with her area of research, representing Australia in the sport. She didn’t make it - she didn’t even earn one point. 

Queue the ugly memes.

Or, you could look at her reach. Once St. Vincent knows who you are and uses Charli XCX to explain you, then who needs peer review or a Prime Minister’s ‘pub test’?

Is Raygun brat?

— St. Vincent (@st_vincent) August 10, 2024

At 36 Gunn was often 20 years older than her competitors, and never pretended to be anything other than what she is. The selectors knew that, and chose her because of her approach to be distinct, to work within the artistic and creative encouragement of the sport (and the games). 

While the pile on directed at her has been awful, better it be directed at someone who literally is an expert in the history, culture and politics of Breaking than a kid also in the competition. The other Australian breaking entry, 16 year old Jeff ‘J-Attack’ Dunne, didn’t qualify either, but mercifully now that Gunn has taken the heat Dunne has been left alone to just enjoy having GONE TO THE FREAKIN OLYMPIC GAMES.

The Battler’s Prince(ss)

Of course a zero point result is disappointing. Gunn wasn’t trying for that result, but she took a chance on exploring creativity and nationality in a different way and it didn’t pay off. Not unlike hurdlers who go too hard and fall over. On the day you go with what you’ve got.

And as our true Olympic legends, Roy and HG proved, anyone at the height (or depth) of their powers can be made to look a bit foolish when taken completely out of context and replayed.

For the record, Roy and HG are in full Raygun support now too. As they put it the last episode of their Paris Podcast, “People, Medals, Cheese”, Gunn’s ambition was unique but to be revered, what Roy deemed to be so advanced that, “the judges couldn’t judge it, it was beyond them!” 

Interestingly, older athletes in other sports haven’t copped the flack- for example the 51 year old British skateboarder Andy MacDonald who finished 18th of 22 competitors.

Gunn knows that this is sport, not curing cancer. She also knows the value of sport, art, entertainment and all the other things in life that aren’t literal life and death but that make life worth living.

Where the love has come is in her willingness to have a go, and willingly be playful. Did that make her look ridiculous? Maybe? Could we all do with a bit of the ridiculous at the moment? Well, actually…

As for jokes about the kangaroo, Kath and Kim, Mr Gee, Humphrey B Bear and the like - were these playful nods to us up late at night watching along at the arse of the world or a happy accident? And why is the reaction so cringe? 

Remember being kitsch AF was very much the Australian Olympic brand for a while there - inflatable kangaroos on BMX bikes, anyone? 

Woke Me Up Before You Go Go

Argue if you want to about whether breaking should be in the Olympics. You can also argue about whether or not breaking is important at all. 

Given its relationship to hip hop and various forms of African-American cultures, we can ask how should it be judged and who has the right to do that? Is gatekeeping a form of respect, or further oppression? 

Is not taking seriously something that so many people DO deem to be serious a real question for you, or are you just piling on for the sake of it? 

Whatever you think, it’s more fruitful to send those queries, complaints and thoughts to the International Olympic Committee, or to your local academic accreditation board. I don’t think snarky comments on the socials will be seen by those who actually make the decisions. 

As for whether Rachael was the right choice to represent Australia, that’s a question Aus Breaking not Gunn personally - in the same way that if you feel someone is hired at work to do a job they aren’t suited to, questions need to be asked of the process, not of the person who applied and got it.

This is not ‘political correctness gone mad’ or part of a “woke agenda”. It’s someone who was chosen by their country to compete at a sport that the host nation wanted to host.

Will that stuff change in the future? 

Likely. 

That’s how the future works. 

Stuff changes. That’s the best bit of the future, actually.

Full disclosure, I know Rachael as a colleague and friend. I have worked with her at conferences and teaching and the like for years. She is excellent because she explores, she listens, she takes on feedback, she collaborates and she builds up others.

If a bunch of people watching have thought “bugger it, if she can do it then I can do too”, or even “I can do better!”, then great, get up, do it! 

Gunn has been an advocate for developing the sport locally for years at a grassroots level. She wants it to get bigger and for more people to be part of it in whatever way they want to. She’s become an unlikely star out of this, but I doubt her personal brand was the aim. If it was, there may have been less of ‘the sprinkler’. Or actually, maybe more. Surely she would have already locked in the sponsorship with Bunnings before leaving? 

In the best way, if Raygun has inspired more people to think about culture and its impact - what’s at stake and why we care - then that’s a win for everyone. And all that while in her green and gold trackie dacks - what a legend.