Global backlash over the Paris Olympics’ controversial opening ceremony continues as the Games begin.
Paris spent $1.5 billion to dazzle the world with the four-hour extravaganza, but even appearances by A-listers like Lady Gaga and Celine Dion were overshadowed by audience anger over what they perceived as an attack on Christian faith.
The segment, titled “Celebration,” began with a troupe of dancers and drag queens sitting in poses evocative of depictions of the Last Supper, the final meal Jesus is said to have eaten with his apostles.
Lesbian activist DJ Barbara Bucci, who sat in the center wearing a halo-like silver headdress, played along with the music.
But the unconventional scene has angered conservatives and drawn mixed reviews.
“What on earth was this? Drag queens mocking the Olympic Last Supper? Would they mock any other religion like this? A terrible decision,” Piers Morgan tweeted.
“This is a disgrace,” wrote Hillsong founder Brian Houston. “It ruins a spectacular opening with blasphemy.”
“The fact that they are openly mocking Jesus shows the power in His name,” Israel Folau wrote on Instagram.
“Fuck the Olympics,” boxer Ryan Garcia added. “Boycott them because it’s an insult to Jesus Christ.”
“The Paris Games are a disgrace and a stain on the Olympic Movement,” UFC champion Islam Makhachev wrote.
The most controversial part of the opening ceremony.
The event also caused an uproar in the host country on Saturday, when French bishops condemned it as a “mockery of Christianity.”
The rain-soaked parade on Friday evening “offered wonderful moments of beauty, joy and rich emotion and was widely praised,” the French Bishops’ Conference said in a statement on Saturday.
“Unfortunately, however, the ceremony contained scenes of mockery and ridicule for Christianity, which we deeply regret,” the bishops said.
“We think of all Christians on all continents who have been hurt by the extremes and provocations of certain occasions,” the bishops added in a statement co-signed by the Sacred Games, a Church-funded sports programme.
French conservatives and far-right politicians were also appalled, seeing it as a “woke” show with LGBT+ performers and a very racially diverse cast.
For the opening ceremony, athletes sailed 85 boats down a six-kilometer stretch of the Seine River – the first time the Summer Olympics were held outside the main stadium.
Entertainers such as French-Malian R&B star Aya Nakamura performed from the riverside venue, while Quebec-born Dion closed the show with a sizzling solo from the Eiffel Tower.
Julien Audoul, a spokesman for France’s far-right National Rally party, called the ceremony a “plunder of French culture”, while conservative US entrepreneur Elon Musk slammed it as “a huge act of disrespect towards Christians”.
Show director responds to criticism
The show’s artistic director, Thomas Joly, who is gay, vowed last week that the ceremony would celebrate “diversity” and “otherness”.
He said at a press conference on Saturday that his intention “was not to be disruptive or to ridicule or to shock.”
“Above all, I wanted to send a message of love, a message of inclusion, not a message of division,” he added.
“In France, we have the right to love how we want and who we want. In France, we can believe or not believe (in religion). In France, we have many rights,” he added.
Conservatives abroad, such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who sees himself as a defender of “traditional” European values, on Saturday denounced the “weakness and decay of the Western world” displayed by the opening ceremony.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the show a “mockery of a sacred Christian story” and a “giant gay parade.”
Russia banned so-called “gay propaganda” in 2013 but was barred from the Paris Olympics following its invasion of Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron defended Jolie, saying the ceremony had “made our compatriots very proud.”
Zinedine Zidane carrying the torch during the opening ceremony (Photo: Stephanie Lecoq/Pool/AFP)
The music, costumes and new outdoor format received mixed reviews: French sports newspaper L’Equipe called it “one to be remembered for a century”, while Le Monde said “this extraordinary opening ceremony met a challenge its opponents thought impossible”.
But critic Arifa Akbar, writing in the UK’s The Guardian, said there were some “completely bizarre curatorial decisions.” “Paris is known for its good taste, but this looked like a mishmash of costumes thrown together at random,” she said.
Writing in The New York Times, critic Mike Hale said the ceremony felt “bloated” and “degrading” and that it was “lacking in humor and too much pretense.”
About 300,000 spectators watched from the riverside, and while many maintained a positive attitude despite the rain, others complained that they spent most of the time staring at screens and a monotonous procession of boats, with singers and dancers scattered along the route.
American Olympic legend Michael Johnson supported the format, writing to X, “I’m not sure the crowd experience was great, but I think the athletes enjoyed this Opening Ceremony.”
Iga Swiatek, the world’s number one ranked women’s tennis player, was also a big fan. “Just watched the opening ceremony (I know, I’m always late with these things). Hopefully the tears will stop before the next match,” she wrote on social media. “The fire, the last moment… I literally can’t cry. One of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. You have no idea how much of an inspiration you are to people.”
@CelineDion.”
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) also praised Jolie’s work. “Every Olympic Games is like throwing a stone at the building,” Christophe Dubi, the IOC’s secretary-general of the Olympic Games, told reporters. “This time we’ve thrown a mountain. And I’m not talking about a small stone.”
–AFP
