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.

Nothing, I only wish we'd done it colouring.

Would really like to know what the "it was awful/cringey/boring" people would have had instead in the ceremony...

Why do people keep saying there wasn't enough sport in it? FFS every hour of every day for the next however many weeks are going to have sport in them, can we not have three hours to celebrate all the other things we're about for those of us who see sport as a pointless waste of time and effort?

thumb - if I'm being serious, which I'm mostly not here, I'd rather have had a lot of the money spent on sorting out the recession. Maybe that's because I don't understand enough about economics and I'm wrong to think we won't get as much back in tourism etc. as we're spending.

I thought it was highly entertaining shite, though, so not sure I fit your criteria.

sheep kills macca and turns him into macshepherd pie

ColouringIn What is wrong with constructive criticism? How do you think progress and improvement come about?

Whinging is pointless complaining about petty things, with a national event you are likely to have a number of different views, particularly when you go for something different. You cannot reasonably expect everyone to have exactly the same opinion.

I don't think of it so much as a celebration of the industrial revolution, more marking that it happened and it was a huge change in all of our lives. It was hardly glitzy leg kicking was it, no one was singing "yay we love working in t'mill" were they? Most of the performers we dirty and sweaty and poor.

For me it was contemplation of how far we've come. How much life has moved on for us, and the realisation that other countries are still going through things like this today.

Our children don't need to work. Our women have had the vote 50 years longer that Swiss women! Our life in this country changed forever, and our country changed the worlds lives forever, whether we like it or not.

It happened, and it was acknowledged, as it needed to be.

I hadn't thought of it like that myinner - I did think it felt like a celebration of it, or at least a big focus on it in a celebratory context.

By contrast I thought the memorial was worked in beautifully, so I think it could have been done better, they had the ability.

Our role in the industrial revolution, great British music and literature, NHS, the fact that a Brit invented the www .......I'm feeling pretty smug right now. It's a wake up call for being proud to be British. Yes, we do have our problems but it's a great place to live. That's why we attract so many immigrants because they know it too. We should be proud.

Thing is though, LRD, while I do fully appreciate that point, I do think it was necessary to put on a good show (which I think it was).

I remember being in London for New Years Eve in 2003/4, and there was all this hype about the fireworks (Ken Livingstone in power at the time, iirc) - and it was shite. The fuss about it! Never mind the state of the economy and trying to keep spending down, everyone whinged about how bad the fireworks were. And I can pretty much guarantee if the LOCOG had done a penny-pinching job on the opening ceremony, more people would be whinging about it now than currently are.

Another expat here - and I loved it.

The Daniel Craig bit was not green screened at all - and it was fabulous. The music selection was fantastic and so carefully chosen. The volunteers were very impressive and obviously had fun. The public seemed to enjoy it, and my dh and ds loved it.

And the lighting of the Olympic flame was inspired - probably the best ever. No stupid stunt, or big celeb, but a true celebration of the youth fighting their way to the top of their sport. It certainly made me feel proud!

Ah, I don't remember the hype about that thumb - it passed me by. I know it's a fair argument.

I guess half of this thread is seriously about what we ought to be proud of in the middle of a recession/when we're a country (like most) that has stuff in our history that isn't so great, and the other half is just a bit of light-hearted chewing over what could have been different. In the same way that we're watching the sport and groaning when someone loses - doesn't mean we think we could do better!

The industrial revolution part didn't seem like a celebration to me either.

My mum's family went from rural Perthshire to the jute mills of Dundee. Did their lives improve? I'm not sure about that but all their lives changed enormously.

I was not expecting in anyway for this ceremony to be relevant to me but in so many ways it did as it played out many parts of my family's history from the industrial revolution, women's rights, WW1 and the NHS.

I really thought it was amazing.

I also liked the reference to equality in that this is the first games where every team has female participants.

I liked that too cod.

maybe the jubillee flotilla was so shit in order to pave the way for us to be in overwhelm-ment with this

Agree Thumb it's similar to Keynsian economics. Last NYE was spectacular and London became a serious stage for visitors. Previous to this, only Sydney and NYC were on the map, possibly Edinburgh too.

NYE is no longer an embrassassing let down, it's a tourist destination in it's own right to go to London and spectate. Personally I'll definitely be flying home and taking the family.

It was going to happen, once we got the Olympic vote to hold it on London. Whatever we did. You have to speculate to accumulate in some respects.

I will be interested To see the numbers generated though, and I only hope the government supported local and small business in preparation for the event.

I´ve just watched & thought it was great.

Elgar´s Enigma-fantastic.

Jerusalem-sob

The signing choir-more sobbing.

Abide with me-sob.

Muhammed Ali-sob.

I didn´t think it was celebrating the industrial revolution-just stating it as part of history.

And enough about Mary Poppins, and everything being from a different age!

Wasn't that JK Rowling reading a book under a giant inflatable Voldemort ffs?

How much more up to date can that be?

It was fantastic, went to watch it in Hyde Park with DH and DD's aged 9 and 6, they all loved it!

OP i think you're massively wrong. It was not seen through a prism of music from Danny Boyle's youth. The music used spanned decades, right up to Grime (not that I'm especially 'down' with that) but the point was celebrating our past, and our future.

The music added to the ceremony but included so many other celebrations of our history and our heritage. I was impressed that our country was so well represented to the rest of the world.

It may not have been to your taste, but to call it appalling is foolish at best.
To all the naysayers, what would you have done instead?

I'd have gone for Roald Dahl personally but am happy with Boyle's interpretation.

What about the spirit of enquiry - David Attenborough (someone the whole world would recognise just by his voice) could have descended on a cloud. No one has done natural history like the British.. everyone in the world has teenagers who text eachother - but it was presented as "aren't we all so with it and NOW"..

(not to be there in person, obv. JKR is actually alive until RD, but referencing children's literature.)

This American journalist at Sports Illustrated seems to have got it:

I like his write up