2024 Paris Olympics megathread

[garbon]

Incidentally for all I wasn't convinced by the first couple of hours jumping down the Seine, the last ten minutes of the Olympic flame and Celine Dion were incredible. Rewatched a lot of times - and particularly given what she's been through with her health, just an amazing performance from Dion.

A lot of times?

[Josquius]

Apparently lots of people triggered by the lgbtq+ artsy dance, African singers who dare not to use textbook French, and Philip Katerin as some sort of "sexy" smurf god.
It was interesting being spread across the city like so. Very different to the usual stadium based stuff. LA might as well just not bother.

[Duque de Bragança]

No one asked for textbook French from Nakamura.  Basic French would have been enough.  Her neo-sabir, based on suburban sociolects, franglais, and Bambara is weirdly comical in a way.

[Sheilbh]

A lot of times?

I don't think we need to put a number on it

[HVC]

How exactly does a female artist become a gay icon? Is their like a vote or something?


As I mentioned before I'm not really into the Olympics, but I do enjoy hearing about olympic failures and snafus. Schadenfreude I guess. Anyway, because of the rain cyclists have been going down left and right.

[Valmy]

I really liked how the opening ceremony showed off Paris and wasn't just inside some stadium. Brilliant idea. We will see what LA does to respond (if anything).

Really awesome. Hell of a show.

[Valmy]

Apparently lots of people triggered by the lgbtq+ artsy dance, African singers who dare not to use textbook French, and Philip Katerin as some sort of "sexy" smurf god.
It was interesting being spread across the city like so. Very different to the usual stadium based stuff. LA might as well just not bother.

Yeah well what did they expect? A military parade?

[Duque de Bragança]

Apparently lots of people triggered by the lgbtq+ artsy dance, African singers who dare not to use textbook French, and Philip Katerin as some sort of "sexy" smurf god.
It was interesting being spread across the city like so. Very different to the usual stadium based stuff. LA might as well just not bother.

Yeah well what did they expect? A military parade?

Yeah, the military parade is on July 14th. 

[Syt]

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/jul/28/paris-olympics-organisers-apologise-to-christians-for-last-supper-parody

Paris Olympics organisers apologise to Christians for Last Supper parody
Apology follows anger among Catholics and other groups at opening ceremony segment that resembled biblical scene

The organising committee of Paris 2024 has apologised to Catholics and other Christian groups who were outraged by a scene during the opening ceremony that evoked Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper painting with drag queens, a transgender model and a singer made up as the Greek god of wine.

The parody of the biblical scene, performed against the backdrop of the River Seine, was intended to interpret Dionysus and raise awareness "of the absurdity of violence between human beings", organisers wrote on X.

The committee was forced to apologise after the performance caused outrage among Catholics, Christian groups and conservative politicians around the world.

"Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. [The opening ceremony] tried to celebrate community tolerance," the Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps told a press conference. "We believe this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offence we are really sorry."

France has a rich Catholic heritage but also has a long tradition of secularism and anti-clericalism. Blasphemy is legal and considered by many to be an essential pillar of freedom of speech. Supporters of the tableau praised its message of inclusivity and tolerance.

The Catholic church in France said it deplored a ceremony that "included scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity".

Monsignor Emmanuel Gobilliard, a delegate of the bishops of France for the Games, said some French athletes had had trouble sleeping because of the fallout from the controversy.

Archbishop Charles Scicluna, the highest-ranking Catholic official in Malta and an official for the Vatican's powerful doctrinal office, said he had contacted France's ambassador to Valletta to complain about the "gratuitous insult".

The Italian bishops' conference said that what should have been a celebration of French culture took an "unexpectedly negative turn, becoming a parade of banal errors, accompanied by trite and predictable ideologies".

An article in Avvenire, the daily Italian newspaper affiliated with the Catholic church, said: "Don't take us for moralistic bigots, but what's the point of having to experience every single global event, even a sporting one, as if it were a Gay Pride?"

Matteo Salvini, the leader of the far-right League, a party in Giorgia Meloni's coalition government, described the segment as "squalid". "Opening the Olympics by insulting billions of Christians around the world was a really bad start, dear French," he added.

The Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, spoke of the "moral void of the west".

Some commentators said the controversy was another example of 21st-century culture wars turbocharged by a 24-hour news cycle and social media.

Thomas Jolly, the artistic director behind the flamboyant opening ceremony, said religious subversion had never been his intention. "We wanted to talk about diversity. Diversity means being together. We wanted to include everyone, as simple as that," he said on Saturday.

[Grey Fox]

It was an Asterix parody why are they apologizing. People are sorry too quickly nowadays.

[Duque de Bragança]

Didn't spot this at the time, but on countries sharing boats - I can only imagine the Portugal, Qatar and North Korea boat must have been a bit weird

Unfair for Portugal to be lumped with those two. 

The joys of the alphabet P,Q,R (epublic of juche Korea).

Enough to ruin a photo.

Follow-up:

[HVC]

The Brazilian big bird would fit right in with that picture

[Crazy_Ivan80]

It was an Asterix parody why are they apologizing. People are sorry too quickly nowadays.

or they could try and 'insult' some harder targets... But I guess they're afraid of real and literal blowback.

[Valmy]

I don't think they intended to insult anyone. It is just very hard to do anything in the age of social media and not have a reaction of outrage from somebody.

[HVC]

Just found out breakdancing is an Olympics sport now