I once heard it said, 'The British love to complain about the weather, but take offense if non Brits join them in doing so'. One naturally assumes therefore, that the offense taken would be greater when the Brits themselves are full of praise for something local and non Brits think otherwise. I therefore tread with caution as I air my views on the London Olympics Opening Ceremony 2012.
The ceremony reminded me a bit of jumble sales or car boot sales where you can find anything and everything . A bit of this and a bit of that, with no real theme or coherence but with hidden gems sprinkled somewhere in the haphazard arrangements. While it has been described by the media as 'spectacular', 'amazing', 'a feast for the senses' and 'a celebration of British culture and history', I'm seriously wondering if this was the same ceremony I watched. The one I watched was disjointed and uncoordinated but with lots of sparkle and amazing effects - like the beautiful lush green English countryside pastures, the fascinatingly breathtaking chimneys and of course the cringe-worthy act with 'The Queen' jumping out of a helicopter....seriously??? Apparently HRH actually enjoyed watching 'herself' pulling off such a stunt and so if it was good enough for The Queen, there must have been something about it that I missed or am still trying to get. But then again the sparkle and grandness of the whole event is understandable given that the budget was a whooping £27million!
The cast assembly was overcrowded and tedious to keep track of. Were they trying to fit everything they possibly could cram into the show while the eyes of the world were on them? Or maybe it was the chaos of it all that made it visually compelling and somewhat intriguing? Maybe the haphazardness was intentionally structured that way, orderly artistic chaos perhaps? I do not know if the athletes themselves were inspired or if the cuisine was palatable enough for the tastes of the billions who were watching that night. As Marina Hyde put it across in a local newspaper article, 'Tonight was Britain's opportunity to speak directly to the world, and -as befits a nation that declines to learn other languages - it did so in English'. This certainly was a different type of English. 'The kind of English' during the recent Jubilee Celebrations was more understandable and entertaining. Thankfully, Mr Bean probably brought a little more universal humor to the whole 'circus', although one could also ask about the relevance of his appearance on this particular occasional.
Putting together an opening ceremony to be viewed by billions around the globe is undoubtedly daunting. In this case it seems this opportunity to shine led to the cramming of everything British into a mushy blend of chaos in an attempt to showcase all the talent in existence in these Isles. In contrast, we can look at the not -so-distant past when South Africa hosted the World Cup. The songs chosen were in keeping with the theme of the event. Songs like 'Sound Of Victory' and 'Waka Waka' whose lyrics were befitting of a sporting event of that magnitude. The Chinese Opening Ceremony too was also spectacular and mesmerizing and understandable for billions. Maybe the question to ask is what kind of an opening ceremony would one put up for a worldwide audience given a budget of £27million?. Thankfully the ceremony was just a few hours long and theres more to the olympics than the opening night :)
