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Was the Olympic Opening Ceremony Sacrilegious?
The answer surprised me
I’m going to say something you probably haven’t heard in the last few days. I loved the opening ceremony to the Olympics. That is, I loved what I saw of it. I came in late, so I did not see the beginning.
By now, you’ve probably heard about the controversy surrounding the opening ceremony of this year’s Olympic Games in Paris. It started with what looked like a parody of Da Vinci’s famous painting, The Last Supper. A group of what looked like cross-dressers appeared at a table, with a halo on the central figure, appearing to mimic Christ and the Disciples. A great big silver cover, like a fancy restaurant might use, is lifted to reveal a blue man with red hair and nearly nude except for a few strategically placed clusters of grapes. And then they marched like models on a runway. After all, it is Paris, one of the fashion capitals of the world.
Let me go on record as saying I did not like that part. Apart from that, to me, it was the greatest spectacle I have ever seen in an Olympics opening ceremony. But for that scene, I could only think, “Why?” Why, on a world stage, with 3000 athletes from 215 countries, and who knows how many people worldwide, would they mock or parody not just a painting but a scene that for Christians is one of the most important in Jesus’ life?
I went searching for answers, and now I have to say it was an object lesson in one of Jesus’ wisest sayings, “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment” (John 7:24 NRSVUE).
It was not about the Last Supper.
That is what most needs to be said. I know it looked very similar, especially that rotund cross-dresser with a halo behind him. Or her. I’m not sure the correct pronoun. The scene does not match up exactly, and I don’t just mean the cross-dressers. I mean most of the others in the scene don’t match the poses or positions of Da Vinci. Is there any blue man in Da Vinci’s painting? No. I had no idea what that blue man was doing there. It turns out he represented Dionysus. According to the Olympics social media…
