Begins Suzy Weiss, in "Was the Opening Ceremony Demonic, or Just Cringe? Don’t feel bad for Christians—feel bad for the French" (Free Press).
Ha ha. Very well put.
The whole three hours was like a bad brainstorm. Guys, what if the city is our canvas and we are the paint?...
I’ll give the French points for hustle and for Celine Dion.... But then there was the fashion show-come-dance party featuring a bunch of dolled-up drag queens, including... the singer Philippe Katerine, who performed nearly naked—but painted blue from head to toe like a giant chubby Smurf—from a silver platter filled with fruit. That section is what’s caused the most controversy; it appears the performers were lined up to emulate da Vinci’s Last Supper, except gay....
The choreographer has said he didn't mean "to be subversive, nor to mock or to shock." He says the message was supposed to be "love" and "inclusion," and Weiss observes that the Olympics are all about exclusion. Who is the very best, deserving of gold? It's a far cry from everybody gets a trophy.
I liked Weiss's essay, but I disapprove of the use of "gay" in "it appears the performers were lined up to emulate da Vinci’s Last Supper, except gay...." Why stereotype gay people, especially where your purpose is to construct an insult?
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96 comments:
The tranny Last Supper...give me a break. Plus the pail horse of death going down the river.
The London opening ceremony had all kids of demonic crap.
These people are telling you they hate Christ, and admire Satan, believe them.
The Lady Gaga number was very cool. Aaaaannnd...she's a Sprit Cooking Satan worshiper.
The London opening was awesome for 2 reasons: Mr Bean and QEII parachuting. I overlook everything else!
Insult? Good lord. Gay is as tame as you can get insult-wise. Frankly I thought it hit the tone perfectly. Very descriptive.
I know this is a blind spot for you professor, but the word gay does not have to be an insult. Any word can be used as an insult, of course. But I disagree. It was simply descriptive, and accurately so.
I find myself in this place thinking, measured in two parts: Am I the only one who's ever been to France? and You don't get to be surprised The Davos Global Uniparty Initiative is wrecking everything from the top down anymore...
"Why stereotype gay people, especially where your purpose is to construct an insult?"
I don't see the insult. Unless the insult is calling something what it is, what it appeared as to the entire world. Not that there's anything wrong with gay. But in this situation, in this presentation of it, there was plenty wrong with it. Not the least of which was that it was entirely out of place. The Olympics are not about the LGBTQ2++ movement.
The Free Press is a daily good read.
"Insult? Good lord. Gay is as tame as you can get insult-wise."
It's not a question of how insulting it is. It's the problem of stereotyping. There are plenty of gay people, and they're not all about whatever the hell was going on there.
I didn't watch it live, I watched a 20-minute promotional piece. Except for fat drag Jesus, it looked really cool and I think they did a great job of including the whole city in the ceremonies.
But why they chose to ruin it with a Last Supper parody (that they apparently are now denying it was, and fooling no one) is beyond me. How does the Bacchanal celebrate France? What aspect of French culture is this supposed to represent?>
In my lifetime the apex of Olympics opening ceremonies lies somewhere between Lake Placid utilizing the track outside the high school and Lillehammer filling in the holes they dug for venues after the games were over...
Althouse writes, "Why stereotype gay people, especially where your purpose is to construct an insult?"
Suzie Weiss could not possibly stereotype gay people more than the French avant-garde already have.
Full disclosure: I missed the last naked smurf supper but was subjected to the goat boy runway show...
Thinking back I was most offended by being subject to the I.M. Pei Sortie de la Boutique de Cadeux...
"It's not a question of how insulting it is. It's the problem of stereotyping. There are plenty of gay people, and they're not all about whatever the hell was going on there."
I take your point. So, what word would you use. Besides "whatever the hell was going on there."
https://www.theonion.com/gay-pride-parade-sets-mainstream-acceptance-of-gays-bac-1819566014
"fashion show-come-dance party"
I could be wrong, but doesn't this call for an Althouse correction?
"Why stereotype gay people?"
For political effect: in your face, normies. And how else are you going to highlight the gayness of your spectacle?
Prog identity politics depends on stereotyping identity groups, so the stereotypical presentation of those groups fits progressive views.
They could’ve celebrated the French Fries!
I suppose I'm grateful the Minions didn't have a threesome.
Anyways, of course degenerate globalists would mock Christians. Would they ever mock Jews in an international show? Not the Macron government, that's for sure. Muslims? Don't make me laugh.
My thoughts turned to how much fun comedian Jim Breuer could’ve had over there.
Leni Riefenstahl's Olympia was an astonishing achievement that elevated the documentary form to the level of high cinematic art. However, the filmmaker's goal was not artistic. As an ardent devotee of National Socialism, Riefenstahl's aim was entirely political. As propaganda Olympia brightly outshone her earlier film about the Party Rally of 1936. Who can say how much it contributed to the castration of the democracies, but Hitler got Czechoslovakia and Chamberlain got a piece of paper. Olympia could only have helped.
Today's fascists are exploiting the 2024 Olympics for the same goal, but to do it right, they'll need a film with the Leni touch, and it will need a catchy title. The Triumph of the Swill sounds promising.
is stereo-type = two-sided/dimensional = flat-character
not realistic [=3D]
In 1996, Atlanta and Billy Payne were widely mocked for the choreographed pick-up truck element of the opening ceremonies.
Talk about last laughs. Seems pretty classy in comparison now.
The French lost a lot of their fierceness when they got rid of Napoleon. He seems to have been one of the only Frenchmen ever to see defeat coming before it actually arrived, with enough agency to avert its damage. Well... he was a Corsican, so there's that. But aside from the exceptional Frenchmen/women who rise to the occasions as they present themselves - and there are plenty of them, great people to work with - their leadership seems always plagued by incompetence, puffery, and a singular lack of awareness to catastrophic events in their immediate sphere.
I really liked the recent uprising of crapping directly in the Seine, knowing their politicians would soon be swimming in it.
Mocking Christianity isn't "edgy". So, go after Judaism and show us how "subversive" you are. But if you do, don't expect the advocates of artistic freedom to defend you. And you'll find the blase elite "who cares?" types suddenly *will* care - a lot.
And then there's Islam. But you'll get killed if you mock them. So better, go after the Cuck religion.
In the old days, they just played a song, had the teams of each nation march in, and they lighted the torch. That's it.
Just get rid of the TV entertainment show and get back to sports.
Are trannies "gay"?
Some are. RuPaul is very clear that he is a gay man who performs an act as a woman. He is, or used to be, very clear that he is not transexual, does not identify as a woman and doesn't dress as a woman except in his act.
Some drag performers claim to be straight, attracted to women.
OTOH, other men claim to be actual women. As women, being sexually attracted to men makes them not gay.
So were the participants in this show gay? Who the hell knows. Unless you ask each of them how they identify. And even then you may come away not knowing or at least confused.
John Henry
"Plus the pail horse of death going down the river."
I may be going to hell in a bucket baby but at least I'm enjoying the ride. The Greatful Dead
tim maguire writes, "How does the Bacchanal celebrate France?"
I, too, do not buy the post-outrage don't-believe-your-lying-eyes explanation. Where was Dionysus? Where were the sexy Maenads? Where's the fucking wine? Not for two cents.
Celebrating France had been an insurmountable problem since 1715. Robespierre took a stab at it, and they shot him in the mouth. Too bad the instigators of this latest celebration of France won't also be shot in the mouth... at any rate, not with lead.
Yeah, Celine, she saved the whole show.
I was recently watching the AppleTV show 'Franklin' about Benjamin Franklin's time in France. I commented to my wife that it was hard to believe that any serious nation could have ever been so overwhelmingly effete. However, France hosts the Olympics as if to remind us that they haven't really changed that much.
It appeared slapdash to me. Very chaotic. But mildly entertaining.
The boat parade was weird. They had to get anything that would float out there.
I was happy none of them sank.
The French Y chromosome was nearly wiped out in WWI. Now we see what is left. No big surprise.
Ann Althouse said...
"Insult? Good lord. Gay is as tame as you can get insult-wise."
It's not a question of how insulting it is. It's the problem of stereotyping. There are plenty of gay people, and they're not all about whatever the hell was going on there.
I agree.
But the L, G and B need to understand that the powers that be are using them and lumping them in with the TIQ and especially the + and using them as a weapon to divide.
They need to get out there and denounce this crap or they will be smeared by this.
It's not Gay. Trans hate the Gays. How do they not know this?
>it appears the performers were lined up to emulate da Vinci’s Last Supper, except gay....<
Are we so very sure that The Last Supper wasn't gay?
Just say homosexual and stop stereotyping. The homosexual orientation is part of the transgender spectrum, where trans indicates a state or process of divergence... from gender (i.e. sex-correlated attributes).
Stereotyping is part and parcel of Diversity dogma under the secular Pro-Choice ethical religion. Throw another baby on the barbie, it's over.
Didn't the 2012 London games opening ceremony include a tribute to/celebration of Britain's National Health Service in the midst of USA's debates on ObamaCare?
It's not a question of how insulting it is. It's the problem of stereotyping. There are plenty of gay people, and they're not all about whatever the hell was going on there.
Geez, Professor, the L’s, the B’s, and, Hell yes! the G’s and Q’s decided long ago that they would closely ally themselves with the T’s. Intersectionality*, donchya know? Suddenly gays and people sympathetic to gays are all upset that a hare-brained stunt by the T’s is blowing back on them too. Awwwww. Too baaasad. They chose … poorly.
_______________
* It’s always been true that those in the middle of an intersection are at risk of getting run over from four different directions.
So it was all about "inclusion"? Really? If it was truly about inclusion, there would have been about 6 or 7 flamboyantly dressed and behaving gays in a cast of 100. No, this was about in-your-face domination and humiliation of Christians specifically and normals in general. And it was funded and gayly celebrated not just by the now post-Christian State of France but by the global leftist movement.
Sad really. Almost like "Last Bacchanal in Paris" before the Muslims take over and the beheadings are no longer simulated.
I think that the big insult is the suggestion the Paris Opening wasn’t epic. I finally broke down and watched the cauldron lighting ceremony. After watching a masked figure parkour across most of Paris with the torch, they finally get to the last stretch, and they can’t go 10 yards without handing off to another person. It was in a word, boring. The media folks telling us about the individuals carrying the torch barely had time to give us 15 seconds about them before they had to tell us the next person.
The cauldron itself seemed like a good idea. Highlight France’s achievement in flight and carry the cauldron on a hot air balloon. But it came off as boring, While waiting for the balloon to rise, I searched for the 1992 Barcelona games lighting ceremony and that is still epic. Spain out did France 30 years ago.
Comment est-ce qu’on dit “Goat Rodeo”?
The choreographer has said he didn't mean "to be subversive, nor to mock or to shock."
Then the choreographer is either a liar or an idiot. In any case, he should be fired, and all his closing ceremonies ideas should be scrapped.
But I'm glad they're not doing that, because it means instead that I will just completely ignore the Olympics, other than to mock them every time they trot out another lie / blatant stupidity.
Here's the rule: If you're going to show off your "courage" by going after "religion", go after islam.
If you don't have that much courage, and so go after Christianity, then you're a chickenshit loser.
So, you enjoy your bigotry's nd I'll enjoy watching you lose money
Note: Just because you're gay doesn't make you an art director.
Did China invent the compass, gunpowder, paper, and typesetting? Pehaps solely, but not uniquely. The IOC opening ceremony has become a cultural DEI showcase, so no one should be surprised that it would be hijacked by the trans movement on the premise of political congruence ("=").
Why stereotype gay people, especially where your purpose is to construct an insult?
The gay community has allowed themselves to be intersectionally connected to the trans movement push. They allowed the stereotype to be created.
It' the same way Dylan Mulvaney insults women with his ridiculous little girl dressing and over the top behavior. He is now a woman, intersectionally connected with all liberal women.
I'm still waiting to see the viewership numbers. The Olympics is becoming the new Oscars, and for pretty much the same reasons. Vive le choix !
PM @ 10:15: Whoa. Careful there!
Ice Nine writes, "Are we so very sure that The Last Supper wasn't gay?"
Hmmmm... Let's do an inventory.
Bread... Check!
Wine... Check!
Rainbow cupcakes with edible glitter... No check
n.n @ 10:17: “… on the premise of political congruence ("=").”
Increasingly your comments make sense to me. Should I seek professional attention?
When everything is about “equity” you know you’ve gone over the edge. Some things are good, some things are bad. Some things are right, some things are wrong.
I think Solomon wrote a book about it.
"fashion show-come-dance party"
I could be wrong, but doesn't this call for an Althouse correction?
I had the same thought. I can only conclude that the writer of the piece was a little uncomfortable with using the correct word so close to "gay."
“It's not a question of how insulting it is. It's the problem of stereotyping. There are plenty of gay people, and they're not all about whatever the hell was going on there.”
Are you saying there’s something wrong with what was going on there? Are you a transphobe or something?
A Peacock subscription allows you to watch only the sporting events and those without ads. Then you don't have to watch the bad show parts, like the opening ceremonies, or the sappy biography segments.
The choreographer has said he didn't mean "to be subversive, nor to mock or to shock."
How insensitive! He must be Heterophobic.
Or maybe just an asshole.
“In 1996, Atlanta and Billy Payne were widely mocked…”
Mock Atlanta all you want… but Billy Payne? One of Rock’s premier ticklers of the ivories?
They went too far there.
tim maguire said...
"How does the Bacchanal celebrate France? What aspect of French culture is this supposed to represent?"
There was a period before the French Revolution, around the reign of Louis XV, when French elites turned extremely decadent with all sorts of weird costume parties going on in Versailles and other palaces. Beheaded Queen was in large part a consequence to those debaucheries.
Of course there were other things going on about the same time. There was French navy and army contingent that was sent to fight for American Independence.
If French really wanted to ruffle some American Patriot feathers, they could make a gay show of Lafayette expedition to North America...
Patrick Henry was right!: "It's not Gay. Trans hate the Gays. How do they not know this?"
Just yesterday a London parade of Lesbians was attacked by men pretending to be women with the men that are pretending to be women screaming at the lesbians: "No one needs you anymore".
The trans movement is psycho and destructive and malicious, which is why it is so fervently embraced by the western left/dems/LLR-dems.
Bacchus
Greek god of wine and revelry, a later name of Dionysus, late 15c., from Latin Bacchus, from Greek Bakkhos, which is perhaps related to Latin bacca "berry, fruit of a tree or shrub" (see bay (n.4)), or from an Asian language. He was perhaps originally a Thracian fertility god.
- etymonline.com
Now you know why Macron called elections early. Had he waited until now the election results would have been even worse in the 1st round than they were. Glad I saw the Republic a decade ago, before Hildalgo ruined Paris and Macron ruined the rest.
MadisonMan said...
The London opening was awesome for 2 reasons: Mr Bean and QEII parachuting. I overlook everything else!
7/29/24, 8:50 AM
Thomas Jolly is no Danny Boyle.
The Olympics are not about "exclusion."
The Olympics are about continuity with the past. With the philosophy and virtues of Ancient Greece and the civilization that emerged from that world.
The iconography of the Olympic opening is built around the carrying of the torch to each new location, symbolizing that continuity.
The French thought it would be cute to subvert and mock that continuity. They thought the world would admire their cheekiness. Ha-ha!
Didn't work out that way.
Let's remember that France harbors child-rapist Roman Polanski ... on the run from US authorities for drugging, then raping and sodomizing a 13-year-old girl.
“The fundamental question of our time is whether the West has the will to survive."
- President Donald Trump, July 6, 2017, Warsaw Poland
"There are plenty of gay people, and they're not all about whatever the hell was going on there."
OK, what are they all about? What do they have in common, that makes them "gay"? Anything come to mind?
Oh, right. They just want to marry the person they love, and live happily ever after, like everyone else. That's what makes them "gay".
Once you stop calling homosexuality perversion, there is no perversion. If men fucking each other in the ass isn't perverted, what is? The concept of "sexual perversion" depends upon the idea that sex has a purpose, and that purpose is reproduction. Given that assumption, sexual behavior that is not directed toward reproduction is perverted. But if we are going to say, that a man fucking another man in the ass is not perverse, then we have given up the idea that the purpose of sex is reproduction. Or, indeed, that anything has a purpose. Do what you like, who gives fuck zero?
The horse on the river was awesome. The best part of the show. People equating that with some supernatural foolishness are desperate to read into things. The horse was great and commentors undermine the Last Supper complaint by making things up about a horse... fools.
So sexual depravity was a French invention? I think not, but that doesn't mean that the French aren't trying.
Actually, as a mockery of degenerate French elites before the Revolution, with their notorious costume shows, Bacchanal episode makes a lot of sense. Of course in that case it acquires a pronounced satirical aspect.
Incidentally, there is more about French involvement with the Last Supper fresco. In 1796, when Napoleon's troops occupied Milan, they used the room where Last Supper was painted as an armory and a stable. Reportedly, bored French troops would toss horse dung at the picture sometimes (atheism was the cult of the day then).
we have given up the idea that the purpose of sex is reproduction
One need not be gay to engage in non-procreative sex. There is no shortage of means to keep sex from being procreative.
This one is for RCCOLLIN… er Ocean:
https://x.com/DrEliDavid/status/1817684072547618959
Fitness maven Jillian Michaels is gay, I guess.....anyway she was mightily pissed off by the Last Supper grotesquerie, commenting that gays can't be asking for acceptance from religious people, while at the same time mocking their central beliefs.
Tru dat.
"One need not be gay to engage in non-procreative sex. There is no shortage of means to keep sex from being procreative."
While I tend to agree with that assessment, many on the Left seem to feel that further progress is required. Procreation still occurs more often than they would like. Anyway, my point is that the "normalization" of homosexuality requires the acceptance of sex that cannot possibly be procreative. One can certainly argue that people have always engaged in sex for reasons other than procreation, and that the acceptance of contraceptive use was essentially the acceptance of non-procreative sex. However, contraceptive use is inherently private, as was most homosexual behavior, until fairly recently. The logic at work here, is that, having ceased the active legal suppression of open homosexuality, we must now participate in the active social celebration of butt-fucking. And recruitment. And therefore pedophilia. And ... it goes on. For, how could it stop? What is desired must be permitted. What is permitted must be celebrated.
As far as calling the members of the tableaux "gay," it would have been le mot juste to call it "queer." It was definitely, proudly, queer--which as you will know if you have some familiarity with social justice culture, includes but doesn't mean just gay/homosexual.
Women are sexually receptive most of the time.
If the biological purpose of human sex were purely procreative, this wouldn't be so.
This is a quote from Barbara Butch, lesbian, who participated in the Last Supper tableau:
“Oh yes! Oh yes! The new gay testament.”
Here’s a fuller account of her statement:
“Similarly, Barbara Butch, a lesbian who donned a silver aureole halo crown headdress and low-cut dress while portraying the figure of Jesus in the Last Supper sketch, said the opening ceremony was intended to bring people together.
According to her Instagram profile, Butch is “a Love activist, Dj and producer based in Paris. My aim is to unite people, gather humans & share love through music for all of Us to dance & make our hearts beat (in unison)! Music sounds better with all of Us!”
Butch posted a screenshot image of her performance in the Last Supper parody above an image of Da Vinci’s original painting to her Instagram account with the comment, “Oh yes! Oh yes! The new gay testament!”
I, for one, loved the beheaded Marie Antoinette. Sic semper, y'all.
Come on man. The Olympic Games has always been a worship service for the Ancient Greek gods. The Spartans may have tried to make it into a warrior skills competition. But Zeus and the other crazy Greek gods always claimed it as their own and they still do.
If Christians have a gripe it’s about throwing a festival in honor of breaking the First Commandment. Not mocking the Last Supper.
I love it when people tell Christians what they should and should not be offended by. As far as the Olympics are concerned, there have been many Christian participants from Novak Djokovic just defeating Rafael Nadal 6-1, 6-4 in this Olympic year to the subject of Chariots of Fire, missionary Eric Liddell who won a gold medal in the 400-meter sprint and a bronze medal in the 200-meter dash, both in world-record times during the Paris Olympics 100 years ago.
You want to be offended because you think the Olympics, rather than inspired by the ancient games, are a religious tribute to Greek gods - that’s your look out.
I’m offended by, as you put it, by the mocking of the Last Supper.
A Peacock subscription allows you to watch only the sporting events and those without ads.
Yep. No yammering. No 'special interest' features. Just sports.
The CBC does a good job of covering events, too.
The Athens opening ceremony was also amazing.
A nice post titillating the impotent and frigid.
If you set out to piss off the squares, you shouldn't be upset if the squares are indeed pissed off.
The CBC does a good job of covering events, too.
That’s the way we do it- watch from other nations. That NBC overbids to be the Olympic network then tries to herd us to primetime to watch the stuff they think we want to see has been an abomination for decades. Eff you NBC…
Roast their peacock on a spit…
Howard: "A nice post titillating the impotent and frigid."
A Dream Post for you. An obvious attack against Christianity while making sure to steer far clear of any criticism or parody or mockery of your Islamic Supremacist political allies....
...which is precisely what a dhimmi like you has done at Althouse blog for years.
From Monseigneur le Duc d'Anjou's essay that was published today in the Journal du Dimanche:
... I refuse to accept that France must conform to the model presented [in the opening blasphemies of the Olympic Games]. Our country is worth more than blood and scathing burlesque. Before being the mother of revolutions and shameless progressivism, France was the eldest daughter of the Church as well as the homeland of Letters, the Arts and refinement. As long as my House remains, and with the support of many French people of good will, we will never cease to show that another path is possible, that greatness is worth more than sarcasm, that Beauty is worth more than ugliness, that Truth is worth more than lies....
From Monseigneur le Duc d'Anjou's
=================
is he character from 3Muskets?
"Women are sexually receptive most of the time. If the biological purpose of human sex were purely procreative, this wouldn't be so."
Well. I would guess you are making an argument on the basis of one or another of the many "theories of evolution". However, such theories necessarily exclude the very idea of "purpose". Human sex has the properties that it has because those properties optimize the reproductive success of humans. Except, of course, in the cases, too numerous to enumerate, in which they clearly do not. Evolution makes a very clear prediction. It predicts, that while a powerful sex drive will enhance reproductive success, any mutation tending to divert that drive into non-reproductive activities will necessarily die out very quickly. Thus, homosexuality is possible only briefly, and can never become widespread. The evident truth of that proposition goes a long way to explaining the popularity of evolutionary theory, at least among academics.
Nonetheless, I return to the fundamental axioms;
1 - The purpose of a man, is to love a woman.
2 - The purpose of a woman, is to love a man.
And by the way, my experience does not support the claim that "Women are sexually receptive most of the time". Unless by "sexually receptive", you mean susceptible to rape.
I didn't see any gay imagery. I saw men degrading women and Christianity by appropriating grotesquely sexualized versions of female bodies.
The Last Supper is not a gluttonous orgy. It is a memorium, a farewell, a momentous religious sacrifice demonstrating Christ's obedience to taking on our sins and suffering for them. It is a rejecting of the body and wordly comforts so we can be saved from our sins.
Look at what France has lost, but don't look with pity.
There was a fifth great Chinese invention- the bamboo backscratcher. It is the only one of the five to be developed to its full potential.
tcrosse said...
If you set out to piss off the squares, you shouldn't be upset if the squares are indeed pissed off.
No you are trying to use reason and logic, which apparently makes you either a white supremacist or a Christian Nationalist
Ha. He is de iure the King of France, Louis XX.
But I'm replying here because I've just now noticed that the commenting software is changed! I wonder how long this has been going on.
"gay" as an insult? Unless going back to the common definition prior to the co-option of the word by sexual fetishists, it IS appropriate to use it as an insult. Ditto for "queer".
Apply your analytical talent to two related questions: 1) Why does it take a massive social effort to indoctrinate everyone with the notion that homosexual preference and behavior is normal, if not better? 2) Why does it matter so much to the LGBTQ+ crowd that their fetishes and behavior be endorsed?
They don't want, never wanted, "tolerance".
I don't know why thet chose that parody to represent France. France pioneered aviation, modern medicine, science and mechanics. The meter and the kilogram.
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