So Long, Paris

Well, it's 2024. I do most of my ranting on Facebook these days. BLOGGING has been reduced to a footnote, because people just don't take the time to read articles anymore. They want quick sound bites and sensational headlines. It's a shame really, since the written word has so many lovely things to convey when wielded properly. 

With that said, I give you the Paris Opening Ceremonies Rant

“In my English class, I teach that the danger/fear in art and music and books is not in the writing or expression of them but in the interpretation. You see, no matter the INTENT of the author or artist, it is the READER and the VIEWER who interprets the meaning.

One way to ensure that your intent is interpreted correctly is to invite criticism. No one actually likes criticism, so we attempt to avoid that by collecting around us a group of people who will agree with us and give us the blanket approval that we so desire rather than honest feedback.

Oftentimes as a result, the artist or the writer or the musician creates the product in a vacuum filled with only ‘yes’ men. And then when the art is released into the wild, and the consumer is the sole interpreter without any outside context, sometimes meaning is lost in translation.

(This is the exact reason you never ever have a fight or an argument or a serious conversation over text or on social media, because no matter what you intended, it is the receiver who interprets your meaning.)

Respectfully, as the viewer and the interpreter and a professional English teacher whose entire job lies in being able to accurately discern intent and interpretation, the opening ceremony to the Olympic Games was absolutely a depiction of Dionysus AND The Last Supper at the same dinner table. But really? It was just weird. Like ‘fever dream put down the pipe and maybe admit that those ‘special’ brownies you ate kicked in extra hard and stop watching “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” on repeat now please’ level of weird. Weird is all I’ve got.

And how about this for the Jesus people (of which I am one): stop expecting lost people to behave as anything another other than lost. The man who directed the opening ceremonies might not have had subversive or evil intentions. He might just have thought he was making a beautiful, colorful expression of art. Instead of boycotting, maybe pray for the thousands of missionaries who have purposefully made their way to the Olympics to meet people spiritually where they are not where they ‘should be according to us.’ Maybe try to open a kind-spirited conversation about why this might be upsetting for the cause of Christ in us. And then listen. (Or just share the gospel and let the Holy Spirit do His job.)

(Then tune in and watch athletes compete who had NOTHING to do with the opening ceremonies other than to show up and do what they were told.)

And artsy people (of which I am also one): how about admit the blue dude and the loose testicle and the threesome were maybe a little odd for the Olympic audience. Just maybe? Like in New Orleans at Mardi Gras or Pride parades, I’m totally expecting and preparing for it to be out there, but the opening ceremony for the Olympic Games? Muslim nations and Christian nations and my me-maw in Alabama were on deck watching. How ‘bout some discretion there, Bud? Let’s be patriotic or something.

Speaking of being patriotic, ironically, the blue dude, the drag queens, and the supper club weren’t even close to the most concerning thing I saw. The headless Marie Antoinette singing while holding her head mocking one of the bloodiest Revolutions and sanctimonious murder sprees in the modern age was the most disturbing thing about the entire weird show. That revolution was called the Reign of Terror. You think that Marie Antoinette was responsible for policy making and the ruling in France? She was murdered. You think only guilty policy makers were killed in that Revolution? That’s cute. That thoughtless and callous display of that dead woman was disgusting. And vile. And an embarrassment for France, not something to celebrate. (Ironically, this has hardly been mentioned.) But that was just my interpretation of the show, because that’s how this works.

So, you feel completely free to put your art out there, but understand that everyone, and I do mean everyone, is going to have an opinion about it that might not have been what you intended. Seek outside council. Be a clear, effective communicator. And give a little grace to the artist and the audience, because chances are they might both be wrong.”

~Mrs. C Said So

See also: The French Revolution is considered one of the bloodiest periods in modern history. The Revolution's bloodiest phase was the "Reign of Terror", which lasted from autumn 1793 to summer 1794, when around 30,000 people were executed for allegedly opposing the Revolution. However, most of those executed were commoners, such as day laborers, servants, and carters, rather than royals and nobles.