Paris 2024 Ceremonies - Verdict

[BigVic]

Thomas Jolly took a gamble and put the Ceremony outside an Olympic Stadium while parading the athletes on a boat rather than a traditional stadium march which was given mixed reviews.

It was a better Opening Ceremony than that depressing Tokyo Opening Ceremony we saw  3 years ago in front of an empty stadium and only 950 dignitaries. 

[Ikarus360]

Just a small reminder Jesus is also an important figure in Islam as one of the prophets (although not the son of Jesus as in christianity). Some groups of islam believers weren't much happy as well with what happened.
 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_in_Islam

[sebastien1214]

1 minute ago, Ikarus360 said:

Just a small reminder Jesus is also an important figure in Islam as one of the prophets (although not the son of Jesus as in christianity). Some groups of islam believers weren't much happy as well with what happened.
 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_in_Islam

Useful reminder, thanks. It is true that even I had forgotten it (but it does not change anything in my opinion)

[Ikarus360]

2 minutes ago, BigVic said:

Thomas Jolly took a gamble and put the Ceremony outside an Olympic Stadium while parading the athletes on a boat rather than a traditional stadium march which was given mixed reviews.

It was a better Opening Ceremony than that depressing Tokyo Opening Ceremony we saw  3 years ago in front of an empty stadium and only 950 dignitaries. 

Comparing anything to Tokyo is unfair given the nature of what happened 3 years ago. I know the organizing comittee was unfair on Mikiko but tbh everyone was shitless scared of that virus in 2020-2021 and we were in uncharted territories. Anyone would have had problems with this show.

I can compare it with Rio 2016, though. And in all fairness, Rio showed us that you can do a lot with small budget. I am embarsssed of being one of those which were harsh on Rio back in the day.

[Rob2012]

It doesn't surprise me in the least that religion has proved to be the only facet of society that can't take playful and non-malicious depictions for what they are. We had playful, irreverent depictions of French art, French history, French music and dance, French literature etc. etc. and nobody took offence.

It will be homophobia in some cases, in many it'll just be an unearned sense of exceptionalism that is a hallmark of all religion.

Fine.

Maybe it's best to leave this aspect of society out of Olympic ceremonies going forward. That of course means that sections like the solemn one on Notre Dame's rebuilding have to disappear too. A section which, incidentally, went on far longer than the very brief depiction of the Last Supper which none of us even spotted in the live thread (if indeed it even happened!)

As the lyrics of a great song  once said.... "And no religion too..."

Edited July 28 by Rob2012

[Ikarus360]

Not everything has to be solemn, which is something I loved of London ceremonies and Vancouver closing. but I also think there should be limits of what to show when you are doing a family/all ages event.

It shoudlnt be a concept hard to understand.

[Rob2012]

We had drag queens at an Olympic ceremony 24 years ago in Strayyiaaa. This is almost old hat now.

It's not even really my thing, so it's not like I'm being defensive. I don't watch or want to watch RuPaul's Drag Race, but loads and loads of people do. Having drag acts depicting artworks in an Olympic ceremony, one of which may or may not have been the Last Supper? Fine, seems pretty standard for 2024.

Edited July 28 by Rob2012

[baron-pierreIV]

So, the master footage of the entire Ceremony is supposedly MISSING.  It has not appeared on YouTube nor on the Olympic Channel.    Are they cleaning it up of the glitches caught on tape--including the whole "Last Supper" brouhaha?  (I for one, want to see the whole thing because I missed the whole pre-amble with the street urchins and the visit to the Catacombs.)  

Edited July 28 by baron-pierreIV

[Rob2012]

1 minute ago, baron-pierreIV said:

So, the master footage of the entire Ceremony is supposedly MISSING.  It has not appeared on YouTube nor on the Olympic Channel.    Are they cleaning it up of the glitches caught on tape--including the whole "Last Supper" brouhaha?  

The plot of the next Dan Brown novel

[baron-pierreIV]

1 minute ago, Rob2012 said:

The plot of the next Dan Brown novel

Tres clever, Rob!!

[Olympics2028]

3 hours ago, Ikarus360 said:

I can compare it with Rio 2016, though. And in all fairness, Rio showed us that you can do a lot with small budget. I am embarsssed of being one of those which were harsh on Rio back in the day.

There was nothing about Rio 2016 (in terms of its ceremonies) that didn't work because of its budget. If anything, if the 2016 OOC had spent less money BUT did the basics better, it wouldn't have been any weaker and might have have been even better.

Even if Covid hadn't caused spectators to vanish, same thing with Tokyo 2020/2021. Tokyo 2020 spent way, way more bucks than Tokyo 1964 did, but Japan's first summer games handled the basics better.

[Olympics2028]

1 hour ago, Rob2012 said:

We had drag queens at an Olympic ceremony 24 years ago in Strayyiaaa.

 

If planners of Olympic ceremonies feel a need to include drag queens, why don't they also have segments that feature WWE wrestlers or car manufacturers? Or a segment that features makers of widgets or home appliances?

Oops, I don't want to give OOCs any ideas. My bad.

[Rob2012]

2 minutes ago, Olympics2028 said:

If planners of Olympic ceremonies feel a need to include drag queens, why don't they also have segments that feature WWE wrestlers or car manufacturers? Or a segment that features makers of widgets or home appliances?

Or a segment on non sequiturs?

[guilherme b]

 

We already have the apologies, normally the resignations come after the games end.

[Rob2012]

Little God botherer wants people to lose their jobs because someone did an artistic parody of an artwork which probably wasn't even depicting what the right-wing media thought it was depicting. How very Christian.

 

 

Edited July 28 by Rob2012

[sebastien1214]

4 minutes ago, Rob2012 said:

Little God botherer wants people to lose their jobs because someone did a parody of an artwork which probably wasn't even depicting what the media thought it was depicting. How very Christian.

 

 

The same people who always end up shouting about cancel culture and who end up literally doing what they denounce. So ironic.

[Rob2012]

Just now, sebastien1214 said:

The same people who always end up shouting about cancel culture and who end up literally doing what they denounce. So ironic.

Yep, and I'm now in the position of defending the organisers of a ceremony I was lukewarm towards.

Maybe this was Paris' cunning plan all along...

[kevzz]

3 hours ago, BigVic said:

Thomas Jolly took a gamble and put the Ceremony outside an Olympic Stadium while parading the athletes on a boat rather than a traditional stadium march which was given mixed reviews.

It was a better Opening Ceremony than that depressing Tokyo Opening Ceremony we saw  3 years ago in front of an empty stadium and only 950 dignitaries. 

I’m sorry, even Tokyo is better than this hot mess in Paris. They did their best with the Covid situation and at least it’s a well thought out, dignified ceremony. 

Paris really messed it up big time with and utter lack of preparation and planning and it shows in all segments. It is the worst ceremonies ever and they really wasted this opportunity when it could have been a great one-of-a-kind ceremony. 
 

I feel it’s the French hubris that took them down. They thought they could get away with it but turns out they are the worst in the world and a laughing stock. Utterly disappointed in them as expected so much. 

[Rob2012]

 

[venuedesignlover]

Do we think this is putting a damp on the games? I honestly feel like Celine Dion, the Trocadero section, and the grand Palais section really saved the ceremony. Though the tone of the games isn’t really set in the way I was hoping it would be from the ceremony, those sections at least allow me to experience the games without too much distress from the ceremony

[Rob2012]

Just now, venuedesignlover said:

Do we think this is putting a damp on the games?

Nah

[guilherme b]

7 minutes ago, venuedesignlover said:

Do we think this is putting a damp on the games? I honestly feel like Celine Dion, the Trocadero section, and the grand Palais section really saved the ceremony. Though the tone of the games isn’t really set in the way I was hoping it would be from the ceremony, those sections at least allow me to experience the games without too much distress from the ceremony

Stay calm while the OC activates damage control mode. YouTube took down the opening videos and disabled all comments. 190,000 views for only 2,000 likes. Videos criticizing the ceremony with images are being taken down from the internet.

The problem was not the torch on the boat with international stars, but the fact that they seemed more concerned about dropping it in the water than enjoying the moment . In fact, if you look at the Tokyo ceremony, there were more people and excitement during the torch segment than in Paris.

 

 

[Michelle]

9 hours ago, sebastien1214 said:

Even if you are not sincerely and deliberately homophobic (which is why I did not cite a specific person because I was not going to go that far either), these are comments that encourage and legitimize openly homophobic speeches. Consequently, even indirectly, saying "we should not blaspheme in general" when we deliberately know that 80% of the comments explicitly allude to the presence of drag queens (therefore clearly homophobia), in this context even if you were thinking in a general way and not targeted at drag queens, it still reinforces the speeches of the 80%. And it contributes to making the debate more toxic. Whether you like it or not. Because with a minimum of intelligence, and I think you have it, you know perfectly well that the main problem of those who criticize this scene is not the fact that it was parodied, but that it was parodied with drag queens.

But Sebastien, we can’t have a world where if someone calls out or criticises a portion of a ceremony… they’re automatically labelled. People can have opposing views but be civil. 
 

im a Christian, and I found this element of the ceremony crass. However, at the time when I saw the drag queens walk on the catwalk, I called someone out for mocking .. and said it represented diversity. I stand by that. 
 

for me, I don’t like any religion being parodied. It’s just insensitive. 
 

Those calling out this section on social media, a lot of them are clearly homophobic. That is wrong and should also be called out. 
 

that’s my last word on this topic. I’d rather focus on the sports and the games experience. 

Edited July 28 by Michelle

[Ikarus360]

Milano Cortina is going to play it very safe after this mess isnt it? 

[JesseSaenz]

On 7/27/2024 at 2:45 AM, Citius Altius Fortius said:

May I ask you, what did you pay for your opening ceremony ticket?

€2,700!

Just to see it on a small screen! 

 

Those tickets should have been €100 at absolute most. Not even kidding.