To have allowed my dc watch the Olympic opening ceremony?

[Creepingivy]

I was shocked at the library scene leading to a threesome.

The mocking of Christians in the last supper scene.

The feminization of males & the sheer number of transvestites on parade. And a child thrown in the midst of them.

This is a sporting event, why the need to have it so highly sexulaised? My dc were thankfully howling with laughter at parts "the smurf man" singing (complete with his painted bulge) had us all in stitches.

I feel there was a social conditioning agenda to the opening ceremony & it was completely inappropriate given that it is for family viewing. Sexulaised behaviour should not be displayed to children.

Minions were the brainchild of a Frenchman

Yep, the animation studio that designed the minions is French.

Pierre Coffin

With the level of outrage here, perhaps it should be aimed at toddler-level comprehension. The Wiggles, perhaps?

it diddnt bother me can understand why parents would think it too much but the whole thing was generally a mess

like michael jonson said some people didnt get to see alot sprea out like that it was more like a festival with things happening all over the place

I don't think it is usually Christians that are objecting tbh. It comes more from the right wing, little Britain traditionalist than church attendees. (Although, I will admit there is a crossover: some racists attend church too)

It's the same sort of middle class "respectable" people who the BBC uses to interview expressing they'd be horrified if a black family moves next door or such like. They just use the "poor mocked Christianity" argument to disguise and push an anti-Islam agenda

I used the word transvestite in a conversation with my teen daughter the other day ( not meaning to be offensive, just referencing a man wearing women's clothing ). She called me homophonic for using the term. I honestly had no idea the term was no longer in use or could cause offence and definitely did not mean any.

It has split opinion for sure, but in France they absolutely loved it and it was very well received there. I think what’s most important is that the hosting country enjoy it the most – it’s a huge deal for them and they should perform it in a style best for them, which they absolutely did.

Well done to them, I’m certain they won’t give a toss what anyone else thinks, as they shouldn’t.

I liked the bit where they hung the flag upside-down.

I lost it at the description of the blue guy as "Papa Smurf on crack". 😂

Ha ha, someone (almost) dogwhistled "so-called feminists" on Mumsnet! 😀 This has made my day. Shout out to Owen Jones.

Homophonic? Using words that sound the same but are spelt differently? Stare and stair. Bear and bare.

Words matter.

There had to be one

😂👏

I don’t think you can expect an international event to meet your cultural norms.

It’s not astounding that a ménage à trois and French kissing were depicted in a French cultural display. They’re a secular state and religious satire is highly cultural in France. And the continent is known for being more sexually open than we are (I don’t think you can topless sunbathe on Blackpool beach!).

I think it’s a really good example of how social and moral standards are not the same from one country to the next - on the whole French society is more relaxed about some things than British society. (As an example, I was watching TV in France with my French in laws a few years ago and the show depicted full nudity and sex at about 8.30pm I think?).

attitudes to religion in France are very different as well.

i thought it was great, was different and showed off Paris wonderfully.

I was thinking about the athletes and how standing on a boat in the rain is probably not the best preparation for taking part in the Olympics!

I agree ! That’s why I used the “ “ as I know it will be right wing little britainers who probably haven’t been to church recently!!

I did think the director of the ceremony was being deliberately provocative to ensure it was noticed, now it doesn't really bother me as no kids and I'm liberal minded but why the Dionysus character needed to be bulging, why the drag artists when it doesn't even make women's clothes look good due to lack of hips, why the menage a trois ... to annoy 50% of the world? And what with the man in sparkly pants on ballet points? Only women wear points (why not a sequence with some beautiful classical ballet?)

Mostly it was so drawn out, the drag bit was obviously to fill the gap as the got people off the boats ready for the flag etc and the mechanical horse was great but way too long ...

The odd thing with me is I don't have an issue with drag etc but in context and this was weird because for fashion, where was the "normal" men's wear!

YABU, I thought it was a fantastic show but a shame about the weather especially for the performers and crew. I don't think there is any problems with a child watching that, children won't sexualise it anyway. Why not mock religion a bit (although I'm not sure it was), we don't all believe the fairy tales in the various religious books.

I ended up turning off.

I just found it really sad, to be honest. As some other pps have said, why does sex have to be shoehorned into everything?

I’ve watched every opening ceremony since Barcelona as a child, love seeing the torch get lit etc…this time I didn’t get that far. This opening ceremony was bizarre, highly sexualised, boring at times. It just seemed like a drag showcase for a disproportionate amount of time. What did it actually have to do with the Olympics? Sporting greatness? The ambition to be great? Focus on the athletes? Nations coming together in unity? There wasn’t the same kind of excitement as I’ve come to expect from the Olympic ceremony.

Yeah they’re usually a bit twee, sanitised etc but there was nothing good at all about what I saw last night. It was just really really fucking tacky and smutty. And no, not appropriate for my children to watch. We had Grandparents in their 70s staying too and they also asked if we could switch it off as they found it inappropriate (and were most likely upset about the Last Supper, as they are religious). No other OC has been this sexualised. It used to be a “safe” event. This was the first year Eurovision got too much for our family as well. Honestly…I hate the way this world is going.

And by the way, I’m not homophobic, prudish, white or right wing or any of the other things people that didn’t like the ceremony are being accused of. I just remember a time when things were nicer and, as a first generation immigrant from a former French colony who knows the culture well, I’d expected France’s contribution to have been a bit classier, to be honest. This was trash and the opposite of inspirational.

Me and dh decided we must be getting old after it finished.
Spoke to my gran this morning and asked her what she thought, "all a bit queer" she says. So that's all the confirmation we need.
It's velcro slippers and humbugs from here on out for us two.

I reckon they must have done some workshopping to identify all the phrases in French that are used internationally and made sure to include all of them.
Carte Blanche
Menage à trois
Son et lumière
Avant-garde
Femme fatale
Parkour (parcours)
Deja vu (for the interminable bits)
Cliché
Comme ci, comme ca

It was like Eurovision on crack

@OpizpuHeuvHiyo That makes a lot of sense. Went straight over my head