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…