Olympic Opening Ceremony 2012

Ok,

It isn't over yet, but I want to get this thread started now so people have a place to comment...

Am I the only person who thinks this opening ceremony is horrible? I am trying to watch the whole thing, but it just sucks... Why is it so slow? Why the politicizing? Where is the 'heart' of England... Surely it it isn't all cell phones, social media, crippled kids and fart jokes.

Where is the demonstration of national will, empire and perserverance? What about Monty Python?

Etc.

 

It's just starting here, but 4chan has a thread with over 2100 posts and most of them are raging about the Olympic Opener being crappy.

 

I just got off work, and was only able to steal glances of it every now and then. The little bit I saw LOOKED pretty cool, but I couldn't hear anything. Hopefully, I'll be able to watch the whole thing online later.

 

Maybe it's because I was raised in a British family with many of the cultural references in the opening ceremonies being a large part of my childhood and young adult life, but listening to people bitch and complain about it is REALLY bothering me tonight.

There was no way London had the money or resources to top Beijing in size or fireworks, so they focused on their history and culture. Could it have been done a bit better? Probably. But, personally, I'm glad they went the creative route instead of "hey let's just try to wow everyone with every move!" I saw and heard countless pieces of my childhood in those opening ceremonies, which was really the point - British culture is incredibly pervasive, and the country SHOULD be proud of it.

 

I thought the "Keep Calm, It's Only the Olympics" thing was funny, given how "Keep Calm and X" became a meme a few years back.
--- merged: Jul 27, 2012 at 10:43 PM ---

The biggest gripe of /b/tards is the overemphasis on multiculturalism, and from the getgo I can see why they think that. But I won't say anything either way until I see the whole thing.

 

Have any of them actually BEEN to London before? It's extremely multicultural. Extremely. Ugh.

I'm tired of hearing people bitch about this. I might have to ignore this thread if that's all it's going to turn out to contain.

Edit: I'd like to add that I'm extremely pleased that during their perusal of history, the women's suffragette movement was represented. The doctors during the children's hospital/children's stories portion were both male and female. The 9 year old who opened the Olympics with a singing solo was an amputee. There were a handful of dancers participating in wheelchairs. They had a deaf children's chorus singing and signing one of the hymns. Those are incredibly strong messages of inclusion that are often NOT seen in other countries.

 

Most of them are American, but there are some British on the boards who truly dislike that aspect. Personally, I'd love to go to the UK.

 

The whole point of the opening Ceremony is to entertain and impress the BILLION people who will watch it and, for the sponsoring country, to gain influence. Inside jokes don't play very well on international television.

I agree that the odds of topping the Beijing opening ceremony were slim... But then again why would England fight to host the Olympics if they were not prepared to spend what was required? I think the time could have been far better spent than it was. Sure, it would have been difficult to have more fireworks, etc. than Beijing, but that really wasn't necessary... Instead the London opening ceremony could have used the relatively unrestricted access to the global audience to emphasize democratic freedoms in a way that would be hard to miss.

While I support incorporating characters from popular culture such as Mr. Bean, I was disappointed in the lack of anything 'spectacular.' Sure, a bazillion choreographed dancers is too expensive... but surely they could have sprung for a few gymnasts or stunt people to do *something* exciting.

 

I will have to agree that its pretty boring so far.
I was expecting more

 

The colors are great, and I think it was pretty cool to watch from the kitchen table. Listen to the old time music that brought back memories. It's pretty cool to see the faces of the athletes and their emotions, their stories on how they got there. Hard work and a lot of competitions to make it there.
Wonder if Zen is enjoying the show?

 

The Industrial Revolution Scene was freaking amazing, especially with the forged rings. It's getting a little cheesy now, though.

 

I've taped it, and will keep an open mind after reading PonyPotato 's original post.

 

Oh man, ending it with the Dark Side of The Moon, love it!

 

I feel like I should apologize to Britain for the rest of the world.

Based on the attention span and taste of most of the industrialized world, it's not incredibly surprising that people are all "Man, this show sucks!" No napalm, no ninjas, no angry midgets in pirate garb on dirt bikes railing hot redheads in the ass while shooting grenade launchers loaded with fluffy kittens at people dressed like giant catcher's mitts. I can see how things like culture and history would be totally boring. God forbid we actually take the time to consider the location and heritage instead of trying to be wowed by "sky flowers" like the zombies in George Romero's Land of the Dead.

Also: Fuck China.

 

The culture was fine. The emphasis on teh interwebs and fucking rap sucks. This shindig is getting worse fast.

 

I'll be honest: I've only read about it. I'm not going to sit through the whole thing since it'll cut into my MacGyver time.

Either way, my drunken logic still stands on sober feet.

 

i watched off and on. i am indifferent about this sort of cheese product.
the problem with the olympics at this particular moment is one of unbelievable corporate excess.
the clip sums it up better than i could.
plus its andy moor from the ex. you know.

 

They *did* actually invent the Internet, you know.

 

Whoa... wait... now I actually have to watch this stuff. British rap? Jesus. That went south quickly.

 

That's not the point. If nothing else, the point is more of a generational one than anything else. My generation just has really shitty taste in everything, and the fact that the UK decided to spend an entire segment embracing that shittiness just irks me. But hey, your mileage may vary.