Olympic Opening Ceremony

[TheGreenKnight]

Watching the opening ceremony. AIBU in finding it boringly grim. Especially when compared to London 2012.

"There is a lot of Britain is best insular mentality on here."

On a British forum? Well stop the presses 😅 there's also a lot of self deprecation too. Now go to another forum based in whatever country and you will see similarities there. It's not a uniquely British phenomenon.

And as for "Just because someone else does something well that does not take away from you doing something well too." That is not an accusation that can be fairly levelled at Brits. Just look at the disparaging comments when they take pride in something like this or recently when the English were supporting their team. They're accused of arrogance when they enjoy the country's achievements and they need bringing down a peg or two. And there are always posters who act naive and say they haven't witnessed anti English or anti British sentiment and downplay posters feeling on that, however they apparently keenly pick up on any perceived 'anti-other country' rhetoric. Funnily enough.

I can honestly say I've not seen that here.

You do, however, have lots of posters eager to say how shit everything British/English is and how everything is perfect 'in my country', which they never name. And many British posters will eagerly agree with them.

I guess if saying that one event in Britain over a decade ago is superior to a similar event in Paris is considered a 'Britain is best mentality' then people will see what they choose to see.

I totally agree with this!

There’s good and bad in every country!

I don’t quite understand why you feel you are being slagged off tbh Devonbabs more than any other country anyway. And by whom in particular?

[Also, don’t want to start a back and forth, and I know all about the great William Wilberforce etc, but when I was taught about slavery at school in uk, it wasn’t mentioned how plantation slavery continued in the colonies, long after abolition in the British parliament, so the picture is slightly less b&w. ]

Thanks @TheTingleCreek564 . I wasn't comparing it to the French system or saying it was perfect at all. I didn't even mention France, nor would I particularly rush to watch it again, it was just a general musing. I worked for a French company for many, many years and Paris was a home from home. Both healthcare systems have their flaws and merits, for example many French colleagues criticised the French system for being wasteful compared to the NHS, but it is clear that the NHS has been chronically underfunded. The French taxpayer spent a lot more money on this ceremony than we did in 2012 and not everyone I know there is happy about it.

Paris is such a beautiful city and France has a very rich culture, and it must be very tempting to be very expanisive when you have so much, but for me fewer focal points would've shown this off better.

Just incase anyone missed it?!!

It is a hole in his tights

Funnily enough I was just reading some fairly pointed remarks about the ceremony made by French viewers in the comments sections of an online newspaper. Praise too but some criticism home grown.

If you are on Instagram or You Tube, have a look at Tatty McLeod’s verdict (British/French comedian) she’s very funny 😀

🤔🤔 I think not.

Maybe they are special chic tights a la francaise?

Because when I get holes in my tights, as I do all too often, they don't look like that!

Well, UK WAS the laughingstock of the world during covid and Brisish stag dos abroad are very famous, not in a nice way. It's not self-depreciation, but pure truth. Have you ever heard of disgraceful Spanish or German stag dos? In UK or abroad? I didnt either.
The London opening ceremony was cool, but chunks of it were only destined and understandable by people who have lived here for years and years or are die hard anglophiles... a bit how you would need to understand French culture and the sense of humour to appreciate segments of the Paris opening ceremony.

I don't agree with what you claim is 'pure truth' at all, but I don't want to go way off topic.

Staying with the ceremony, I take the point that much of the London ceremony would only have been fully appreciated by locals, and the same is probably true for last night. However, the Danny Boyle set still worked as entertainment and spectacle. I don't think that was the case last night. It was disjointed, lacking in atmosphere and really didn't showcase French culture and history to best advantage. The idea of using the city as the venue might have seemed good on paper, but just didn't work in practice.

But this is it- beauty is in the eye of beholder. Because YOU liked and understood the London ceremony, you assume the entertainment values were the same for everyone throughout. I remember sitting through bits surrounded by a bunch of European friends, none of us having a clue, and our English friend had to explain them to us, and I remember not caring that much at all- and it was not that fun. If you sit down in front of TV somewhere in Japan or Argentina, do you know or care about the Archers or the NHS? Not much more than people in the UK care about Japanese radio shows or how people in Italy pay for their health services.
I think yesterday was a very bold attempt at doing something very different. Some chunks definitely did not work, and it seemed to be done mostly with TV audience in mind and was hampered by the weather. I think it's kinda cool they didn't just aim at the serious bits. Some parts missed the mark or missed the mark with some audiences. But they also achieved some fantastic moments and ended up on a high. Some of it makes more sense to me today when I read up about it.
The one ceremony that for me managed to be accessible and impressive is China. But they are experts at exporting their culture and focus on the mass appealing bits.

I agree with your posts but related to the ceremony I’m looking at it from a spectacle and overall production pov

But this is it- beauty is in the eye of beholder. Because YOU liked and understood the London ceremony, you assume the entertainment values were the same for everyone throughout.

Well yes. As I said in my first post above, this is all very subjective.

I don't 'assume' anyone shares my views. But I do think the London ceremony was far better planned, much more atmospheric and generally way more entertaining than the mess we saw last night. From what I can gather, and not just on this website, that's by no means a minority opinion. If others disagree, and thought last night's was a well orchestrated and entertaining ceremony, great.

But to me Britain is best. I like some other countries. Not fussed about others, absolutely detest Paris quite possibly the worst place I’ve ever visited and last night reconfirmed everything I thought about the place other places in France are nice like the Loire Valley.

But the rhetoric by many is Britain is awful, if you show even the slightest sign of pride in Britain you a racist little Englander and we should all beat ourselves up because effectively we were by far the best at what nearly every other European country was doing. Quite frankly I’m fed up with this bollocks

Yes, I disagree. I thought it was a good ceremony. On par with 2012.
I thought using Paris as a venue was fantastic. Paris looked wonderful. I agree some parts were boring but it was 4 hours long and I thought parts of other ceremonies were boring too.
We have also used London as a showcase for multiple events.

really? Like fucking really? Any more stereotypes you’d like to roll out?

Britain's covid deaths were no more than elsewhere when you consider the excess deaths, the measurement was part of the issues. No country had a perfect record.

Why do you consider these stereotypes? there are plenty of townscities around Europe with restaurants barring UK stag dos in. For a good reason. You reputation preceeds you. And if you watched foreign news around the time of covid, UK was never shown as something to aspire to.
Maybe you personally have not been partying with Boris while everyone else was staying ar home or smashing pubs in Prague, but whether you like it or not, this is what Britain is known for and shows as in media, Shakespeare aside.

Yep and Germans are laughed at and known for stealing sinners, having no sense of humour, French for chainsmoking and shagging and being arrogant Americans for being rude and loud. - stereotypes - all countries have them based a bit on truth but are in no way reflective of the vast majority. Seem all these stereotypes on media across the world.

I watched the whole ceremony. I liked some parts and thought others didn't work at all. However I was just reading a FB post from CNN about it with comments from all over the world and the majority seemed to really love it. Most of the negative comments seemed to be from Brits, or Americans who didn't like the mocking of the Last Supper.

I was so embarrassed by the London one. Chavvy kids texting etc....

That's not the England I wanted the world to think we are. It was toe curling.

Why? You want to hide chavvy kids because you are a snob rather than being honest and reflect us as a nation.

Imagine saying the same about race or age.

Sun loungers not sinners lol

Of course. I just said that some of these stereotypes do manifest- like the stag one. You dont hear of Swedish stag parties being banned from pubs in Eastern Europe, or French. Binge drinking to the extent it happens in the UK is not the issue in most European countries. Does not mean that every Brit is a drunk idiot while abroad- but a proportion sadly is. Some of the stereotypes took their origins in something. Not that it has anything to do with the ceremony, but anyways.