2024 Paris Olympics megathread

[garbon]

I watched it so I didn't have to watch any more swimming.

[Sheilbh]

Although Marchand is very impressive (though yeah too many swimming contests that are basically pretty similar )...

[Maladict]

Fourth - and my main point - it's just so tired and lazy.  I mean making a mockery of The Last Supper with drag queens would have been edgy in the 1980s, might have got you prosecuted for blasphemy in the 1960s (not up on French blasphemy laws from the 1960s), but in 2024 I feel like the only ones who would get seriously offended (not the online trolls) would be your great-grandmother.

I feel we've slid a long way back towards the blasphemy days.

[Barrister]

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.

I went back in this thread and realized I never commented on the opening ceremonies.

First of all - the idea that it wasn't intended as a Last Supper parody is laughable.  Obviously it was.

Second - yes a lot of right-wing trolls were just looking for something to be offended by.

Third - no, they never would have done anything like this for Islam.

Fourth - and my main point - it's just so tired and lazy.  I mean making a mockery of The Last Supper with drag queens would have been edgy in the 1980s, might have got you prosecuted for blasphemy in the 1960s (not up on French blasphemy laws from the 1960s), but in 2024 I feel like the only ones who would get seriously offended (not the online trolls) would be your great-grandmother.

I don't think anyone has ever beat the 2012 London opening ceremony, with Rowan Atkinson / James Bond and Her Majesty being involved.  And that includes beating the 2010 Vancouver games with Wayne Gretzky in the back of a truck in the rain for some inexplicable reason.

It wasn't about the last supper painting. Not everything lines up with your religion of choice dude. We literally couldn't care less in France.

So my main critique was "tired and lazy".  So look - it's right there in my text. (Just for you )

Olympics are interesting.  It's obviously about the host country - but how they want to express themselves to the world.  So while France is obviously not going to pretend to be Canada, or Afghanistan, in their opening ceremonies, I think they do kind-of care how the world sees it.

So look (this one was just for me) - I've read the comments that it's intended to be a representation of Dionysius.  I don't find that very credible  The Last Supper is one of the most famous paintings in the world.  It was been copied / parodied / homaged countless times.  Which on the one hand goes to the point it's certainly not something that should be against the law or prohibited or anything.  But on the other hand is clearly the context of the image.

But again I'll go back to "tired and lazy".  I mean Madonna courted outrage in the 1980s using religious imagery.  Putting a crucifix in a bottle of piss was considered outrageous at the same time.  But using drag queens in a representation of "The Last Supper" to me just doesn't seem very edgy or cool anymore.  Like I said - it seems like it was designed to offend my grandmother.

[Gups]

I watched it so I didn't have to watch any more swimming.

.

Word

[garbon]

During BMX, I didn't know the announcer felt it necessary to wonder about pillow talk between the one racer and her male partner who was also racing.

[Zoupa]

So my main critique was "tired and lazy".  So look - it's right there in my text. (Just for you )

Olympics are interesting.  It's obviously about the host country - but how they want to express themselves to the world.  So while France is obviously not going to pretend to be Canada, or Afghanistan, in their opening ceremonies, I think they do kind-of care how the world sees it.

So look (this one was just for me) - I've read the comments that it's intended to be a representation of Dionysius.  I don't find that very credible  The Last Supper is one of the most famous paintings in the world.  It was been copied / parodied / homaged countless times.  Which on the one hand goes to the point it's certainly not something that should be against the law or prohibited or anything.  But on the other hand is clearly the context of the image.

But again I'll go back to "tired and lazy".  I mean Madonna courted outrage in the 1980s using religious imagery.  Putting a crucifix in a bottle of piss was considered outrageous at the same time.  But using drag queens in a representation of "The Last Supper" to me just doesn't seem very edgy or cool anymore.  Like I said - it seems like it was designed to offend my grandmother.

You have the director of the whole thing saying it was an hommage to greek bachanals of old. The Olympics were greek after all. Also I don't remember a blue naked dude in the last supper...

Right wing folks seem to go out of their way to:
1- make everything about their latest culture war pet-peeve
2- get offended by it

It's not France's fault that none of pearl-clutching crowd seem to have a classical education. 

[Barrister]

So my main critique was "tired and lazy".  So look - it's right there in my text. (Just for you )

Olympics are interesting.  It's obviously about the host country - but how they want to express themselves to the world.  So while France is obviously not going to pretend to be Canada, or Afghanistan, in their opening ceremonies, I think they do kind-of care how the world sees it.

So look (this one was just for me) - I've read the comments that it's intended to be a representation of Dionysius.  I don't find that very credible  The Last Supper is one of the most famous paintings in the world.  It was been copied / parodied / homaged countless times.  Which on the one hand goes to the point it's certainly not something that should be against the law or prohibited or anything.  But on the other hand is clearly the context of the image.

But again I'll go back to "tired and lazy".  I mean Madonna courted outrage in the 1980s using religious imagery.  Putting a crucifix in a bottle of piss was considered outrageous at the same time.  But using drag queens in a representation of "The Last Supper" to me just doesn't seem very edgy or cool anymore.  Like I said - it seems like it was designed to offend my grandmother.

You have the director of the whole thing saying it was an hommage to greek bachanals of old. The Olympics were greek after all. Also I don't remember a blue naked dude in the last supper...

Right wing folks seem to go out of their way to:
1- make everything about their latest culture war pet-peeve
2- get offended by it

It's not France's fault that none of pearl-clutching crowd seem to have a classical education. 

Are you aware that the French Catholic Bishops made the following comment:

"The opening ceremony," the French Bishops' Conference acknowledged, "offered the world last wonderful moments of beauty, joy, rich emotions, and universal acclaim," but "included scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity, which we deeply deplore."

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2024-07/french-bishops-lament-scenes-mocking-christianity-at-olympics.html

And I've said a few times I wasn't offended, just thought it was "tired and lazy".

[Zoupa]

You find it tired and lazy even though it doesn't even refer to christianity? Ok. 

[Josquius]

It was fine in 2021 for the Tokyo Olympics, it is still fine in 2024.

AFAIK, she's not trans, never identified as a male, she's always been a woman. She's stronger than other people but not all, too bad.

She almost certainly has an XY chromosome but not the receptor that creates external genitalia. It's called 5-ARD.

IOC did test with a cheek swap up until 1996 but discontinued the tests despite more than 90% of female athletes supporting them.

But the IOC doesn't give a fuck about women and is happy to see them smashed up rather than undertake a simple test or have to decide on a policy

These tests were found to be unreliable and the science said this was a pretty poor way to test gender.
As science has progressed so too has how sports do gender tests.
This is about protecting women by not excluding a handful of them for something they have no control over and doesn't even give them an advantage in itself.

[Jacob]

So people sitting on one side of a table is automatically a reference to Jesus, essentially? And a reason to be offended if you disapprove of the type of people sitting at the table?

That's a bit of a stretch IMO.

[Tamas]

So this intersex boxer allowed to fight among women who made their last opponent give up after 46 seconds. Their next opponent will be a Hungarian lady who is apparently busy posting all kinds of offensive stuff, making sure that all valid concerns get buried about her disgusting bigotry like calling the intersex person a mongrel.

EDIT: I may be wrong it may be randos posting crap on her social media pages.

[Barrister]

You find it tired and lazy even though it doesn't even refer to christianity? Ok. 

The French Catholic bishops (and me) thought it referred to Christianity.

My view from over here is the event planners didn't expect the reaction they got and pivoted to "well it has nothing to do with Christianity" afterwards.

[Zoupa]

You find it tired and lazy even though it doesn't even refer to christianity? Ok. 

The French Catholic bishops (and me) thought it referred to Christianity.

My view from over here is the event planners didn't expect the reaction they got and pivoted to "well it has nothing to do with Christianity" afterwards.

What is it with right-wing folks that give them a propensity for always thinking it's a conspiracy or "they're lying"...

I think you're infinitely more familiar with Da Vinci's painting and are also way more receptive to the culture war BS our southern neighbours revel in. As mentioned previously, the director said it was a greek bacchanal. As mentioned previously, the literal blue painted dude representing Dionysos should have been kind of a huge hint, but you guys see what you wanna see I guess.

[garbon]

So people sitting on one side of a table is automatically a reference to Jesus, essentially? And a reason to be offended if you disapprove of the type of people sitting at the table?

That's a bit of a stretch IMO.

Christians are very self absorbed.