But I do like pageantry. So my wife and I watched the opening ceremonies Friday, a rolling street party with boatloads of athletes floating down the Seine, waving happily.
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| Metropolitan Museum of Art |
We found the opening dull.
"It must be dramatic if you're there," my wife kept saying, trying to give them the benefit of the doubt. To me, it seemed like standard Cirque du Soleil street theatrics with a few celebrity cameos thrown in, though I'm willing to assume the fault is with me. Like "The Bear," the opening ceremony is something everybody loves, but I just don't get. (Have you ever been to an Italian beef joint? Did you see a dozen people in the back, "yes chef"-ing each other? I just didn't buy the premise.)
Internalization of dislike — my negative reaction is my problem, not yours — is an important, though rare, survival skill. A more popular route is to become offended, get ruffled, register displeasure and try to rearrange life to suit your whims. A path I just don't understand. You go over someone's house and don't like the wallpaper, you don't then take your fingernails and try to claw it down.
Who does that?
A lot of folks. People are constantly getting offended and registering that offense. The opening ceremonies, which I shrugged off, drew howls of condemnation from the religious right.
“Last night’s mockery of the Last Supper was shocking and insulting to Christian people around the world,” Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, announced on X. I could give another dozen examples.
As you may have heard, they were wrong — even though the scene involved people at a table, the opening ceremony's artistic director has said it was supposed to be a Greek bacchanalia — Greece being the place where the Olympics originated. (The local Olympic committee, nonetheless, felt compelled to apologize.)
France is a truly secular society, as opposed to the lip service we settle for here. The French don't need to mock Christianity. They've done one better — they've exiled it from its position astride the body politic. It's against the law to wear a cross to public school in France — or a yarmulke, or a burqa, I hasten to add; don't want to get anybody into a quivering funk thinking they are being singled out.
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Since the last supper was the first seder of Passover, I think the Jews have more reason to be offended by that weird Olympic thing.
ReplyDeleteBut then, no one cares if they offend the Jews, as usually it's they want to kill us!
While there are unfortunate exceptions, Jews don't get as bent out of shape as Christians do, because a) we don't assume we're the top dogs who cannot be questions and, b) all those "How many Jews can fit into a Volkswagon beetle?" jokes inured us to getting offended over minor shit.
DeleteThanks for the laugh.
DeleteI detest that “joke”. I’ve heard and told some mighty salty topics, but I just don’t find genocide a topic of humor. I also didn’t understand why “Christians” were getting their panties in a knot over nothing. THEY are the ones reading false equivalence into it, but that seems to be their favorite hobby…
DeleteAlways heard that "Fifty-four!" was the first part of the punchline. Owned two VW Beetles in the 70s and 80s, smoked for 32 years, and have visited the original Holocaust Museum in D.C. An accurate answer to the "How many Jews?" joke is not even close to 54. No way.
DeleteClarks comment caused me to look up when Christians first started calling themselves Christians Before they were called Christians, Jesus of Nazareth's followers were called "disciples," which means "students". The term "Christian" (Greek: Χριστιανός), which means "follower of Christ", was first used in Antioch in the 30s AD, according to Acts 11:26 The term spread quickly, possibly to the dismay of some Jewish people who didn't want to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah
DeleteNice message!! Tolerance, wow, a lost art! I really enjoyed the Opening but don’t mind that you didn’t.
ReplyDeleteNo one remembers during ancient times that table service only offered seating on the one side of the table. In 1032 AD, Giuseppe Leonardo di Genoa had a small family shop when one day a large army was passing through. Without enough tables to accommodate and fearing backlash and negative Yelps (literally yelps from having his back lashed - not some rating app) - he proclaimed, "Please, be seated around the table. It's what we do in Rome, and when in Rome..."
ReplyDeleteSource Mr. Peabody
Mr. Peabody is an excellent and reliable source. I commend you.
Delete"The Bear" is a lousy show, and their poor portrayal of beef stands is the least of it. But for me, it's like watching a car crash...can't look away from the horror.
ReplyDeleteGreat insights about the I’m offended. . .” Never before thought about it being as “elitist” and self important as it really is! Love how you write and think — so real and relevant!
ReplyDeleteI don’t “get”The Bear either. I’m glad there is someone else out there that said it out loud!
ReplyDeleteI've never seen it, as I don't waste my money on cable, I'm a Luddite with just an antenna.
DeleteNeil, you replied to someone on here back in April, 2023 with the following, "What is obvious to you isn't so clear to folks whose minds are clouded by thought."
ReplyDeleteI only know the date because I wrote that quote down at my desk and refer to it several times a week. I don't actually say it to anyone out loud, but read is silently and smile. The quote seems relevant today.
I didn't plan on watching any of the Olympics until the manufactured outrage over the attack on Christianity seeped into my awareness. So I watched a clip. I also watched "The Last Temptation of Christ" (great movie) when the Legion of Decency told people not to. Got my coffee at Starbucks when they were accussed of cancelling Christmas.
ReplyDeleteI could never understand people who seem to regard taking offense at something as being one of life's great traumas, like losing a limb, or a child. Is it really that painful?
ReplyDeleteI remember earlier this year, erstwhile mayoral candidate Willie Wilson writing an op-ed for the Trib criticizing the decision to hold a transgender fashion show on Easter, and a number of people went berserk. I thought, jeez, is THIS all it takes?
Jesus. Can’t anyone just fucking disagree without being offended? I really like The Bear, at least the first two seasons. If it’s not 100% reality of a beef joint, who gives a fuck? Artistic license, based on reality is not reality. It’s a show for entertainment, not a religion, which is probably my problem with religion. Also enjoyed the the Olympic opening ceremonies, beautiful and if there’s a time for jingoism I guess that’s it. I think about the dedication of these young athletes, the work they’ve put in. You can question whether it’s time well spent but you have to admire the work ethic and their pursuit of their greatness. Chill out, enjoy it or not, but live and let live.
ReplyDeleteYou're joking right?
ReplyDeleteVitriol has replace baseball as America's pastime.
I hate the Olympics and wish they would go away. They were nice during the Cold Way but not anymore.
ReplyDeleteI've been reading your columns for decades. You hit this one out of the park!
ReplyDeleteThe Bear was never about "a beef joint". It's about the main character attempting to make his dead brother's former beef joint into a Michelin star dining establishment. Mr Steinberg, with your familiarity of & appreciation for fine dining you may discover a treasure of food porn watching season 3. Check it out!
ReplyDeleteGreat thinking and writing, Neil. Much of today's problems are worsened, if not created by, people that just don't like something - a song, chopped sandwiches, a new way to make your bed or organize the fridge, and other people. The deeply bitchy simply cannot fathom not complaining about something incessantly.
ReplyDeleteGo watch the Bear again. If you can't commit to the whole first season, try the Forks episode.