Olympics opening ceremony draws criticism of being an absolute shitshow: “reductive” and “sleazy”

Reaction to the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games has been divisive, with online comments referring to the production as a shitshow, many people seeing it as “reductive” and some even criticising it as being ‘Satanic’.

On Friday night, 300,000 people watched live from the Siene riverside as an armada of boats carried athletes along in the pouring rain. Wet, wet, wet and dripping with tackiness, there were giant sails depicting detail from classic artworks, emulations of Christian imagery and bacchanalian feasts partaken by drag queens and transexuals, a daggy-looking Dionysus who looked more like Papa Smurf, a headless Marie Antoinette, and basically everyone seemed to be presented with a lesson in Deconstructing Art & History 101.

Performances by Lady Gaga and Celine Dion – while great on the artistic delivery front – were predictable and patronising. 

But it was online where the real shitshow hit. Far-right commentators criticised the inclusion of drag and trans performers, along with the tasteless recreation of the Last Supper (or Greek bacchanalia, which it looked more like) which some felt bordered on “Satanism”.

Even if the directors did just want to portray a diverse array of people enjoying good times, they couldn’t have picked a more tone-deaf scene. While people are stuck at home and not affording the month’s rent, let alone a trip to Paris to watch this decadence, the last thing they really want to see is a bunch of aristocrats partying hard.

But what else would we have expected? Artists in France, from Renoir to Toulouse-Lautrec, Pierre et Gilles to Jean Paul Gaultier, have always taken on a somewhat tacky aesthetic.

Another prominent political element to the commentary online was the Israel-Gaza conflict. Against a backdrop of ongoing atrocities in Palestine, many viewers celebrated the presence of Palestinian athletes, with one reporting: “The delegation from Palestine was massively cheered as it passed along the Seine river in Paris.”

Organisers have since apologised to Catholics and other Christian groups who complained about the parodies while also stating that their decision to go with all the deconstructed performance and presentation was to achieve “community tolerance”. Yeah right.

Italy’s deputy prime minister labelled the Paris Olympic opening ceremony as ‘sleazy’. We agree.

Italy’s deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini, meanwhile, branded the scene insulting and “sleazy”, adding: “Opening the Olympics by insulting billions of Christians across the world was a really bad start.”

What else would we have expected? While a culture such as Italy’s has always presented art and performance in a tasteful and stylish manner – something they call bella figura – artists in France, from Renoir to Toulouse-Lautrec, Pierre et Gilles to Jean Paul Gaultier, have always taken on a tacky aesthetic.

Lisa Andrews & Antonino Tati