Wow. What an amazing Opening Ceremony to the 2012 Olympics!
They covered British history and influence while highlighting many of the nation's true tokens. My favorite part was the constantly flowing history lesson. Apart from the amazing set design, something about the actors struck me. During the Industrial Revolution section many of the businessmen were running around in top hats. Did anybody else notice that some of these men were of Southeast Asian or African decent? Something tells me that kind of diversity wasn't present in the 1750s. The ceremony continued with various ethnicities seen in presentations of music and culture of the Great Britain, and of course, culminated with the welcoming of 204 nations from around the globe. All of this made me think of a BBC statement from the pre-ceremony broadcast. The tour guide of London noted that the city is now home to over 300 language groups. At that point I realized London truly is the international city of the 21st century. Not Paris, not even New York, though I consider both to be contenders. There is a reason that London beat out these cities for the 2012 bid.
The overall ceremony reminded me of this course. When the Bangladesh athletes entered the stadium, I thought of Brick Lane. When Jamaica and other caribbean nations entered I thought of The Lonely Londoners. The United Kingdom doesn't exactly have the best history of bringing foreigners to its country, but the artistry of the Opening Ceremony was its symbolism. Of course, part of the peaceful unity concept is fueled by the IOC (International Olympic Committee), but I honestly think it meant more for London. The Olympics are just an exaggerated form of the current city. The games celebrate the city's rich diversity, and I believe that the celebration of diversity is something we risk overlooking in this course. We talk often about the hardships of immigrants, but there is also something to be said about the beauty of London's rich diversity and immigrant population. Yes, there are many issues that face these communities. In fact, we're reading about some now in The Riots. I, however, challenge everybody to take a step back and admire the cultural hub that is London.
Oh, and don't forget to cheer on the 21 competing Longhorns! And Team USA in general.
And you can't forget the representation of The Windrush during the beginning of the ceremony
ReplyDeleteAhh yes! There were so many aspects that related to our course. It was wonderful!
DeleteThere's a photo of the vey dour Queen looking on with the caption: "Look at all those countries that I used to own." (Assignment--write a parody of the Gotye song replacing the tag line with this one).
ReplyDeleteExtra credit? :)
DeleteI'm so bummed I missed it!
ReplyDeleteAnother connection to our class: in one of the shots of a crowd for the torch, someone was holding a brightly colored sign that said "Brixton"!
ReplyDeleteThe whole event really was rather breathtaking in it's ambition of displaying a picture of England racked by intense cultural guilt over industrialization, but I thought that, especially in the context of this class, the vulnerability about their brokenness came across as incomplete. Well certainly, the triumph over industrialization is worthy of praise, the rather blasé overlooking of the racial and societal struggles that continue to rack the country seems almost insincere in light of a presentation focusing on the country's ability to find strength amidst weakness. Still, the whole event was spectacular and completely engrossing.
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