To say I loved the opening ceremony?

[scottishheather86]

I really enjoyed the show last night! It was bold and ambitious and all
Encompassing! It was a shame about the rain, but I think overall it was really great! But shocked how many utter miserable responses to it there have been!

I'm shocked that people are still complaining that there were trans people performing and a cheeky scene that insinuated a threesome! Love, passion and style are all big French themes! Can we get past the British stiff upper lip and just enjoy it for what it is?

Remember, we had David (not holier than thou) Beckham driving a boat up the Thames and loads of weird and quirky things at our opening ceremony, that would have gone over the heads of most of the rest of the world.

And yet many practising Christians found it offensive.

Poking fun at organisedreligion is a fundamental aspect of Enlightenment values. Voltaire and all that.

I didn't like it, found it boring and disjointed. I turned off before the horse so maybe it got better. However it's great you loved it. I think it's marmite, some like it, some don't. Looking forward to seeing the athletics now.

Only some organised religions though, right?

I mean, why choose just that one?

Perhaps they hadn't got the memo that in the UK, the Church of England now celebrate Queer Theory and are issuing dictats to reinforce that?

Probably because it is the dominant religion and has been rooted in French society for 1500 years.

Slightly off thread but I hadn't realised the table bit was about the Last Supper. I thought it was a Mad Hatters Tea Party, showcasing individual and creative thinking type of thing.

Why would France be showcasing an English literary classic? 🤔

Word on Twitter is that it is not even the last supper but another obscure painting of Dionysos cavorting in front of a last supper scene.

The feast of Dionysus, person in the middle is Helios.

I didn't see it, tried to catch up but both videos I started to watch showed lots of (boring) introduction and people talking. I just want the opening ceremony. I've read mixed reports about it.

I liked parts of it, the disco boats, and Celine was amazing. I watched her documentary last night so the way she sang considering she thought she might never again was amazing. I liked lady gaga too. It was a nice idea, and it did showcase Paris. The rain didn’t help and it went on way too long. Even half of it would have been too much

To be fair the only bit I’ve seen was Serena nearly throwing up on the boat and the guy failing of the side of the stage.

I watched parts of it and found it exceedingly boring. Reminded me of how bored I was at the evening show at the Puy du Fou.

I also felt the trans message was unnecessary.

https://www.france.tv/france-2/ceremonie-d-ouverture-des-jeux-olympiques-paris-2024/

You can watch the opening ceremony in full here but may need a VPN depending on your location.

I thought the blue man and the surrounding people was a feast of Dionysus bit. Mainly because Andrew Cotter said that's what it was in the commentary! If anyone thought it was something else, they obviously weren't paying enough attention to the commentators 😂

I didn't think it was a great opening ceremony though. I thought there were too many things that aren't French - e.g. Lady Gaga, minions, a John Lennon song - as if France doesn't have enough culture of its own to fill an opening ceremony so they needed filler. Found that a bit weird.

Turns out the Minions are French, as it happens.

Lady GaGa is a Canadian French language speaker, I liked that the diaspora was representated. It seemed fitting for a global sporting event.

The Minions creator, Pierre Coffin, is French.
Imagine is apparently played at every Olympics.
Lady Gaga just likes the French. Edited! Poster above says she is French Canadian. I didn’t know that.

I’m not sure if this is true, about the language but she certainly has some French heritage.

From IMDB

That’s a bit of a stretch. Mind you, so’s Celine Dion. Not that it matters.

Since the passing of Johnny Hallyday there isn’t really any French pop ‘superstar’. And he was only a star in France.

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Jean-Michel Jarre is well known outside of France.

He is known for his outdoor spectacular displays. I wonder if they are saving him for the closing ceremony.

The minions ( minion can mean cute in French) are French. Imagine I think was a message to the world about peace, a song everyone recognizes . There was quite a mix of French songs in the background right over the show and the eiffel tower at the end with lazers was lit to a tune from jean michel jarre. France has plenty of culture merci.

The lazer bit at the end was to music from JM Jarre

Ah, yes, I’d forgotten about JMJ. Popcorn was his big hit wasn’t it?