WWTBAM Bored

So what did y'all think?

I attended the Opening Ceremony for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Back then, the ceremony was staged for the athletes and those spectators in the stadium. It was a spectacle that happened to be televised. Nowadays, it is a made for TV event, with little regard for the inconvenience of those in attendance who can't comprehend what the TV audience is seeing.

I bristled a bit when the NBC commentators introduced "and now for the protocol part of the program." The entire ceremony is supposed to be protocol; don't cut that out.

All that said, there was some really cool stuff going on. The drone show was amazing (and actually kind of scary if you think about this technology.) I really, really liked the bit with the pictograms. That was so creative and energetic.

The torch lighting was predictable and meant to be politically correct, though I'm glad that host cities aren't trying to outdo each other for ingenious methods of lighting the cauldron.

The only part that made me cringe was the rendition of "Imagine". I really detest children's choirs, and have had more than enough of watching children holding hands and swaying in kumbaya moments.I guess that's what the ancient IOC aristocrats think they are obliged to show.

The NBC commentary was perfunctory, with occasional bits of interesting trivia. But the athlete interviews were just awful. "How proud do you feel to represent your country right now?' asked over and over again. And next time, please lose the remote feed to the parents.

OK, so am I a grumpy old man? I'll be interested in hearing the rendition of national anthems. There was quite the controversy with the London games that the arrangement of the US anthem was "less than muscular"

Agreed that the drone thing was totally cool. I only watched part of it now and then.

Didn't watch the ceremonies for no particular reason.

You're right about the Hollywoodization of everything. We were at the 92 Albertville Olympics, including opening ceremonies. It was a recognition trip with Kodak back when peeps still did that sort of over the top thing (how the mighty have fallen...)

Anyway, it was one of the most amazing spectacles ever. Ever. Everything was amazing, and we were on the show floor close to the athletes as they came around. If you remember these were the Cirque du Soleilish performances and the whole night was too cool and astounding.

But, this may have been the beginning of the extreme flashy productions that the openings have become.

bazodee wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 24, 2021 5:49 pm

The NBC commentary was perfunctory, with occasional bits of interesting trivia. But the athlete interviews were just awful. "How proud do you feel to represent your country right now?' asked over and over again. And next time, please lose the remote feed to the parents.

This "Tell us how you feel..." line of questioning has become the standard in almost every post-game interview session across several sports. Most players usually just say they are "happy to get the W and it was a great team effort". Many misuse the word "surreal" to describe the feeling.

It's a lazy question that is not going away any time soon.

So how did you feel posting your remarks about the opening ceremonies?