An opening ceremony of any mega event, as in the Olympics, is about projecting the host country’s traditions, maintaining the ethos of the games, and bringing some of the biggest sporting icons of the country together.
It’s impossible to carry off an event of epic proportions without displeasing someone, but it also takes quite a bit of carelessness to rub a massive group of people the wrong way.
Ceremony Details
The 2024 Paris opening ceremony for the 33rd Olympics game on Friday turned France’s capital into a colossal amphitheater. Paris wanted to set an example and set the tone of the game with an opening ceremony like never before, so they ditched the stadium or village and opted for River Sein instead. They wanted to provide spectators with a spectacle to remember.
The iconic River Sein served as a track for the athletes parade, and the ceremony began with the 6 km long parade of nations. Athletes from around 25 countries of the world and one refugee team sailed down the sea on boats despite the heavy rain.
Highlights of Oympics 2024
American pop super star Lady Gaga performed at the event. French metal band Gojira rocked out on platforms, jutting out from the concert amidst a pyrotechnics show and operatic accompaniment. Canadian music legend Celine Dion, who has been sidelined with stiff person syndrome, battled back to perform in front of the Eiffel Tower and helped close out the night.
Event organizers called the ceremony the biggest in Olympics game history, with more than 3 lakh people watching on the banks of the river and billions tuning in on television.
The controversial segment
The 4-hour Olympic opening ceremony was one of the most watched ceremonies in Olympic history, but it’s also one of the most talked about because of its inclusion of drag queens and the LGBTQ community.
The opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics has sparked a global controversy for its themed portrayals of religious and historical figures. The highlights include the headless Mary Annette singing with a severed head. Another performance paraded Leonardo Da Vinci’s ‘last supper’, and another man, painted in blue and covered with strings of flowers and fruits, was revealed as the center piece of an arrangement of food. Not to be missed, drag queens were dancing and striking poses around the queen in center.
‘The last supper’ is a depiction of a biblical scene of Jesus with his apostles sharing the last meal before crucifixion. Now it’s great to pay respect to something that is revered by Catholics the world over.
What France did was basically give their spin to it, so what was supposed to be an adaptation turned into a parody for the purists.
Why? Because the scenes had drag queens performing every character, and this sparked outrage across the world. Everyone is fuming at France’s seemingly insensitivity and treating something that is sacred to many as an act rediculing religious sentiment.
Reactions from religious groups and leaders
These videos quickly went viral on social media platforms, and the internet broke with many lashing out at the organizers for trying to execute something in what they called wokeness.
Fast forward to many days, and there’s been a marry-go-round of furry, explanations and apologies among political leaders, religious leaders, YouTube talking heads, Olympic organizers, and more.
Netizeins called the ceremony disrespectful, garbage and said they were mocking the last supper. Many have called out the performances as an insult to Catholics as well as Jews. They were also upset with the IOC, the international Olympic Committee, that allowed something like this to pass. Politicians, celebrities and common people called it a shambolic representation of a global event.They blamed the organizers for abusing the Bible and making a mockery of an iconic scene.
Twitter owner, Elon Musk has called this performance extremely disrespectful to Catholics.
The French bishops conference issued a press release criticizing the performance; it reads, The ceremony unfortunately included scenes of mockery and derision of Christianity and that Christians had been hurt by the outrageousness and provocation of the performance.
Jenna Ellis, the attorney of Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign, called the performance disgusting, perverted, sacrilegious display.
Cricket presenter Alen Wilkins slammed the event as the worst ever opening ceremony, writing on X that this is the worst ever opening ceremony of an Olympics game, absolute garbage to deliver to a global audience.
Iran summoned France’s ambassador for the blasphemous representation of Christ at the at the last supper.
Andrew Tate protested in front of the French Embassy in Romania.
Even Egypt’s Muslim leader, Al Azher, chimed in, saying that the depiction was insulting to Jesus in a reckless, barbaric way.
Organizer’s Response /Official statements and explanations
While the organizers have not accepted it as a version of ‘the last supper’. They have said that this portrayal was meant to raise awareness and show the absurdity of violence between human beings.
The IOC didn’t say anything initially, but the growing clamor forced Paris 2024 Olympics spokesperson Anne Descamp, to come out with an official apology to Christians and offended individuals around the world. She said that there wasn’t an intention to show disrespect to any religious group; on the contrary, they tried to celebrate community tolerance; furthermore, she said they were sorry if people had taken any offense.
Subsequently, that particular clip of the ceremony was taken down, although some fragments remain.
Olympics opening ceremony artistic director, Thomas Jolly, said in a media briefing that we wanted something that would unite people. We didn’t want anything subresive. It was meant to be a big pagan party that connected the current Olympics game back to the Greeks who worshipped the gods of Olympus, Dionysus, and the god of festivities, and it was all to celebrate the tolerance in the community.
Impact on the Olympics
The parody didn’t go so well; it chased away advertisers, money and viewers. They tried everything to backtrack this and gaslight people and make them believe that it wasn’t the parody of the last supper; according to them, it was about Greek taboos, and the intent was to celebrate community tolerance.
Balancing Faith and Inclusivity
The entire iconography around the last supper is an insult to Christian faith. The idea of this mockery is condemnable. It’s very important for the French to understand that if they are Catholics and if they think it’s ok to have black humor against their religion, they should understand there are other Catholics in other parts of the world who would be completely outraged by this mockery.
About the vulgar man in blue wearing fruits, it’s astonishing to see how a country, that is known for its sophistication can allow this kind of humor, as they call it, on national television.
Conclusion
The overall purpose of the Olympics is to celebrate athletic excellence and sportsmanship in the achievement of athletes from all around the world, and the Olympics also promote unity, peace, and respect among different nations and different cultures, and mocking a religious event just reflects cultural insensitivity. It is disrespectful and contraindicates the values of inclusivity that the event Olympics is supposed to be about.
These are the ideals that we stand for at SPHERE MEDIUM. We want to promote respect and understanding between all cultures.
FAQs
This is the 3rd time Paris is hosting the Olympics after 1900 and 1924.
To celebrate athletic excellence and sportsmanship in the achievement of athletes from all around the world, and the Olympics also promote unity, peace, and respect among different nations.
Thomas Jolly
Games Wide Open
29 million viewers
Since games started in Greece, it always goes first, and the country that hosts the Olympics comes in last.
The Olympic flag and anthem are played. Oath is taken from people involved in playing games. Opening of the Games and Olympic flame is lit up.
Useful Links
Here are some useful links
- International Olympic Committee’s Official Website – For more details on the history and purpose of the Olympic Games: Olympics – International Olympic Committee
- BBC News – Coverage on the controversies surrounding the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony: Paris 2024: Olympic Opening Ceremony Sparks Controversy
- The Guardian – Analysis and opinions on the cultural impact of the Paris 2024 opening ceremony: Paris Olympics 2024: Faith and Culture Under Fire
- Reuters – Information on the religious leaders’ responses to the ceremony: Global Religious Reactions to Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony
- Twitter – Elon Musk’s Reaction – Elon Musk’s tweet addressing the ceremony: Elon Musk on Paris Olympics 2024
- Boxing Fight Triggers Gender Row At The Paris Olympics 2024
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1 Comment
[…] This painting is said to be a depiction of the biblical scene of Jesus with his apostles sharing a last meal just before the crucifixion. As previously discussed here on Spheremedium in an article “Faith under Fire: Pairs Olympics 2024 opening ceremony sparks religious s controversy”. […]