The opening ceremonies of the Olympics have stirred a lot of controversy as a result of their tastelessness and offensiveness. Most notorious has been an apparent drag satire on the Last Supper, which by now everyone has seen:
French Olympic authorities have not been able to keep their story straight on this one. Some have claimed that the tableaux had nothing to do with DaVinci’s painting or the Last Supper itself, but rather was a reference to Dionysus. On the other hand, at least one spokesman acknowledged the “inspiration”:
A spokesman for the Paris Olympic said: “Clearly, there was never an intention to show disrespect towards any religious group or belief. On the contrary, each of the tableaux in the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony were intended to celebrate community and tolerance.”
They added it was not the first time artists had taken “inspiration from Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous painting”, adding: “From Andy Warhol to the Simpsons, many have done it before.”
Sure. Next time, do Mohammed. That would be really “tolerant.”
Another bizarre visual featured numerous images of a headless Marie Antoinette.
Then there was a bisexual threesome, and unconfirmed reports of testicular exposure.
For obvious reasons, the backlash was immediate. The IOC quickly tried to force Twitter users to delete videos of the ceremonies, and even censored some of its own posts.
JUST IN – Users on X are hit by the IOC with copyright strikes for sharing videos of the controversial Olympics opening ceremony: reports
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) July 27, 2024
French Olympic organizers have now issued a non-apology apology:
JUST IN: Paris Olympics organizers issue apology after they mocked Christianity during their opening ceremony.
Organizers say they are “really sorry” if they offended anyone, saying there was “never an intention” of offending Christians.
“Clearly there was never an intention to… pic.twitter.com/PFsO1QtM8l
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 28, 2024
Olympic organizers apologize to anyone who was offended during the opening ceremonies. It’s not really an apology though, it’s just another tiring attempt to say it was about inclusivity. It’s not inclusive when you mock billions of people’s religious beliefs. pic.twitter.com/xM305psf6y
— Ryan Gerritsen🇨🇦🇳🇱 (@ryangerritsen) July 28, 2024
“IF” it offended anyone is NOT an apology. It’s a declaration that they thought it was fine. This pathetic statement makes it worse. Imagine the backlash if the Olympics had mocked Mohammed and Islam.
Mark me down as not impressed with the “apology.” https://t.co/mLLiqSxSSs— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) July 28, 2024
The organizers hired a gay guy to plan the opening ceremonies. He no doubt thought he was being “edgy,” while the rest of the world found it tedious. We have seen it all before.
The obvious question, of course, is: what on God’s green Earth does any of this have to do with sports? How could anyone have thought that this was an appropriate way to mark the beginning of the Olympic Games?
It is a notable feature of today’s culture that many people are unable to leave sports alone or take them on their own terms. Sports must somehow be dragged into every political or cultural controversy. (Although, to be fair, I am not sure to what controversy Marie Antoinette’s sad execution is relevant.) Hopefully now that the games have begun, the nonsense will cease. And maybe whoever hosts the Olympics four years from now learn from the experience of Paris.
UPDATE: One person who loved the opening ceremonies was Jill Biden:
“So, last night, it was just spectacular,” Biden said in a statement. “The rain did not dampen our spirits…. Every step of the way, I was thinking to myself, oh my god, oh my god. How are we going to top this [in Los Angeles in 2028]?”
Sadly, they may find a way, although I don’t suppose Jill will have anything to do with it.
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