08.10.08
A Soulless Ceremony
It seems Ha’aretz, Israel’s leading newspaper, shares some of our views on the opening ceremony. Here are a few excerpts:
I should have been excited, but I wasn’t. I sat a few dozen meters from the track at Beijing’s Bird’s Nest Stadium and was one of the 91,000 lucky individuals who had tickets for the opening ceremony of the 29th Olympic Games, an event that dozens of millions of Chinese and many other millions around the world would have loved to attend.
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Still, from where I sat, the ceremony looked soulless. No doubt, the production was grandiose and the ceremony rich in color, but it was somewhat schematic and mechanical, even a touch militaristic.
Note: In the original Hebrew article (which was much better), the words “maybe even fascist” appeared after the word militaristic.
Share ThisIn my opinion there were two emotional moments that stood out. The first was when giant Chinese basketball player Yao Ming walked alongside a little Chinese boy who barely reached his knees. The second was when members of the Spanish delegation started to dance while circling the stadium, ignoring the pleas of Chinese organizers that they complete their round.
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Yimou was quoted in the ceremony’s program as saying his aim was to put together a happy event. Going by Friday’s final product, he failed.
Fili said,
August 10, 2008 at 18:13
Yeah, I just read the same article this morning. I disagree with most of the criticism in Israeli newspapers and media regarding the Chinese. It baffles me how Israelis who suffer the most from negative world media coverage do the same to others with very little understanding of whats’ going on and with no ability to look beyond the cliches and stereotypes into the more complicated picture of things.
Soul-less ceremony? fascist organization? how much more cliche can you get? I’m sure if it was any more “spontaneous” people would have said China’s losing control.
Anyways, it’s nice to see fellow Israelis (or Hebrew readers) covering China
Mul said,
August 10, 2008 at 22:07
I don’t know about a sweeping label of “fascist” to describe the opening ceremonies, but they definitely could have gone without the goose-stepping flag soldiers. Definitely not done with any sense (or care) of how it would be perceived by the rest of the world.
ODB said,
August 11, 2008 at 09:35
Maybe that’s why the word was only written in the Hebrew version and cut by the translation team for the English version.
ODB said,
August 11, 2008 at 09:40
This is how George Orwell described goose-stepping:
One rapid but fairly sure guide to the social atmosphere of a country is the parade-step of its army. … The goose-step, for instance, is one of the most horrible sights in the world, far more terrifying than a dive-bomber. It is simply an affirmation of naked power; contained in it, quite consciously and intentionally, is the vision of a boot crashing down on a face. Its ugliness is part of its essence, for what it is saying is “Yes, I am ugly, and you daren’t laugh at me.” … Beyond a certain point, military display is only possible in countries where the common people dare not laugh at the army.
ODB said,
August 11, 2008 at 10:05
Added a picture - The Ministry of Silly Walks.