To think the Opening Ceremony was truely appalling and here's why

[kate2mum]

Danny Boyle - a cool dad in jeans who thinks of the world through the prism of music of his youth. He sees everything through music.
Had Viv Westwood been in charge, for example, the history of the UK would have been seen through fashion.
But, no, a billion people have to listen to the personal playlist of a Nick Hornbyish (oh, they are friends!) music trainspotter.

Shame if you don't see the world through that sort of music - but I guess you had to be there, and DBoyle probably was.

Tribute to NHS!!! Sorry, but I didn't know everyone who works for the NHS were all angels and volunteered for free instead of working for one of the biggest employers in the country. And just remembered this event is about SPORT and the way it can transform, so why oh why demonstrate 100's of "sick" children - to demonstrate how "caring" the NHS is.

Then children's literature done by the man who bought us Trainspotting - initially I thought the scene was still about the NHS turning into a nightmare, but NO, the best way to illustrate childrens' literature is to show how truely scary it is! Yes, reading can be terrifying and books are a fearful place. Not a place of safety, or unlifting, not inspiring, not poetic, just a nightmare (where were all the positive characters???).

Only people Danny Boyle's age would thing Mary Poppins was appropriate..

My children fell asleep; they could have cut most of it, had David Beckham ride in on a motorbike, light the flame, and then have some fireworks.

Lighting designer was good though.

LRD - we know it was the biggest single change in human history because history means 'before now'. Presumably there may be something even bigger in future but we ain't got there yet. And unfortunately the legacy of the Industrial Revolution may mean that future is rather briefer than our past. Still, we invented it so we can be proud of it (before the planet chokes...).

Yes I liked that outraged. I explained who he was and what he had done to my DS who is 5 and asked him what he thought about that, my DS answered, 'oh, tricky'.

Dear OP.

YABU.

Why?

Well, if you were going to go on such a rant, then you forgot to mention the number of drug references throughout the ceremony. That way, I could really appreciate your miserable cynical attitude in its full glory.

Instead you missed the best Daily Mail Style complaint you could have used.

Well done, not only are you being unreasonable, you aren't very good at being unreasonable.

Hmm, I'd have chosen Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds as the Beatles song if it had been down to me...

edam, what I'm getting at is, historians (and indeed non-historians) could all disagree rather a lot about what 'the' biggest change was.

Not that history isn't in the past, which is one of those facts I have more or less grasped by now.

The only disappointment was the omission of "prince charming" in the music through the decades bit. I would have cut Macca for that.

Could have had Henry VIII chopping off a few heads and Cromwell racking some heretics. Mary burning some protestants, Ginger Liz trouncing the Armada, followed by some John Knox women-hating.

Not very uplifting, though. Don't think Auld Liz would have been amused.

Have an icecream OP

True, katie.

If I'm being serious, I think the industrial revolution was fine but got waaay too big a billing and I was sad that (IMO) we have an amazing scientific tradition, and get a huge number of nobel prizes per capita, and I would have preferred that as a lead-up to the WWW. But it is very personal, and it was at least very dramatic the way it was done. If, basically, a rip-off of Isengard.

LRD @ history being in the past, it was just a little hard to work out what you were on about.

Seriously, I know historians can argue about pretty much anything if they are in the mood, but the Industrial Revolution was a pretty big deal and it started here. If he'd done the move from hunter-gatherer societies to farming we'd have been there all night (and the historians would have had to shift over and leave the arguments to the anthropologists).

Could have had Henry VIII chopping off a few heads and Cromwell racking some heretics. Mary burning some protestants, Ginger Liz trouncing the Armada, followed by some John Knox women-hating

Reminder : this is the London Olympics in GB not the English Olympics in England. This is English history.

John Knox?

No, you're being fair edam, and I am being an arse.

I dunno, I just wasn't wild about it, but god knows there's a reason I don't organize parties.

I've just watched the start on BBC iPlayer, which I missed earlier - I think the transition from "England's green and pleasant land" to the Industrial landscape was amazing! And entirely see why it took so long, as they had to clear all the pastoral scenery away.
God it was good though! Just watching the Voldemort bit again... I did think that was a bit scary but very relevant. Could have had a bit of Sir Terry Pratchett in there as well, that would have been good... possibly less well known outside the UK though?

Wasn't John Knox Scottish...?

John Knox was Scottish and Cromwell is a pretty big figure in Irish history - although not exactly what you'd call popular... and the Tudors were Welsh.

Thumb I think Pratchett is so very British. Possibly a step too far - certainly for the OP who seems to have an issue with Mary Poppins that she is unable to explain...

John Knox

Ooopps. But still no N Irish.

The whole music section was dire - like an episode of Hollyoaks set to bad music.

Why were there no flying Dysons?

I thought it was amazing and do did teens.

Apart from poor old macca it was bloody brilliant.

It's not cool to run down every sodding thing in Britain it's so boring.

yabu. Misery guts.

I'm on my second watching at my 3yo DD didn't see it last night.

Knox was Scottish, but the Tudors were only half-Welsh (or Henry VII was, thereafter they're quarter-Welsh or one-eighth Welsh and so on. IIRC.)

We left out the Scottish verse of the national anthem too, I noticed.

May - it is the London Olympics. Not the British Olympics.

My nephew said his German girlfriend (19 yrs) loves Mary Poppins.